Facing the thesis with positive thinking and dispositions to act: contributions of information literacy training for higher education students’ skills development

This study starts from the assumption that students need help when faced with the challenging task of producing a thesis or dissertation. When delivering information literacy training, librarians can introduce two kinds of contents that promote important skills development: dispositions included on the New Framework on Information Literacy and concepts from Positive Psychology, merging them to empower the necessary confidence in order to pursue the academic degree and conclude the thesis or dissertation. Based on a literature review about the concept of flow, proposed by Positive Psychology, as well on the dispositions to act, and related to each of the frames immersed on Information Literacy Framework, the study focuses on a case describing how a Portuguese university library responded to the needs of post-graduate students. The strategy was based on capacity building, as part of training in information literacy, as a manner of reducing stress factors and anxiety when faced with a challenging task such as producing a thesis. The analysis of the training contents, and on the results of students’ assessment of this training as well as their self-assessment, shows positive results regarding their empowerment, as they acquire skills to face the task of writing their thesis. The results show a major contribution, as these students’ assessment and self-assessment regarding training are upward of 3,9, in a 1 to 4 scale. Thus, training in information literacy skills is justified, not only because of new gains in skills but also because of the consequences in students’ behavior: the confidence they acquire and the possibility of converting a challenging task into a flow process. This case could be a good example of reflection and inspiration for other libraries wishing to enhance best practices in university students’ education.