Information Literacy in the First Year of Higher Education: Faculty Expectations and Student Practices

Information literacy is widely acknowledged as important for student success in higher education. Information literacy is the ability to sort through a large amount of available information, decide what is useful and believable, and apply it in an effective and ethical way. Faculty members have expectations regarding information literacy for students in the first year of college, while students have information literacy practices that may or may not match those expectations. In my study, I examined the alignment of faculty member information literacy expectations and student information literacy practices, focusing on freshman students and faculty members who teach freshman students in a required general education course at a public university in the northwestern United States. Using an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, I began my study with qualitative interviews of students and faculty members, used data from the interviews to develop a survey instrument, conducted a pilot study with the survey instrument, and used the survey instrument to administer an online quantitative survey to 106 students and 10 faculty members. The survey consisted of 42 items pertaining to student practices and faculty expectations as identified by student and faculty member interview participants. Survey data showed the percentage of faculty members expecting a practice was generally higher than the percentage of students carrying out that practice. Overall, the study findings revealed a gap between faculty expectations and student practices