Opportunities and challenges of integrating information literacy as a credit-bearing module into first-year level academic programmes at the University of Venda, South Africa

Abstract

The influx of emerging technologies has challenged the way in which the information literacy (IL) concept is defined in the 21st century, e.g. the construct of IL has evolved and expanded to include digital literacy and media literacy. Most higher education institutions in countries such as South Africa and Tanzania regard IL as an optional skill, rather than an essential requirement for working efficiently. Because of limited collaboration between academics and librarians, it has been noted that library tutorials and IL activities are not sufficiently preparing students for the academic programmes at the University of Venda (UNIVEN). The limited or lack of collaboration between academics and librarians impact on many aspects such as academic programmes, library IL programmes, and students’ IL skills. For example, without collaboration, academics and librarians remain uncertain of the important aspects of IL to include into academic programmes to improve IL skills of students. This has culminated to less-effective IL programmes hence studies continue to report that in Africa IL programmes do not seem to be yielding significant results as both undergraduate and postgraduate students continue to show limited or lack of IL skills particularly in South Africa and Tanzania. Notwithstanding the limited or lack of IL skills among students, the integration of IL into academic programmes is not always a priority.

In the context of the foregoing argument, this study explored the opportunities and challenges of integrating IL as a credit-bearing module into academic programmes of firstyear level at the UNIVEN. This investigation was regarded as critical, in that most firstyear students at the UNIVEN are from historically disadvantaged schools, which means that some of them have not been exposed to libraries and academic writing learning activities before they registered at the UNIVEN. This study adopted the Information Literacy Integrated Model (ILIM) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) IL standards as the conceptual framework. The ILIM was regarded as useful in terms of accommodating the research objectives of the study. The IL learning outcomes, based on ACRL IL standards, stipulate that a literate student should be able to (i) find the information needed; (ii) evaluate information sources; and (iii) use the information for a specific purpose in an ethical manner.

The convergent research design adopted for the study involved both the quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The following sampling methods were used: (i) purposive sampling to select seven deans of schools, three early adopter academics and six information librarians; (ii) stratified random sampling to select 40 non-adopter academics from eight schools and 60 adopter students. The study used online questionnaires to collect data from the adopter students, the non-adopter academics, deans of schools, early adopter academics and information librarians. The latest version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Google Forms were used to analyse the collected data. The research findings showed that the UNIVEN has not been left behind as it has incorporated some aspects of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards in its IL programmes such as educating library users how to access, retrieve and evaluate information from the online library databases. For example, the early adopter students displayed improved academic literacy skills, compared to their nonadopter counterparts. It is apparent that, the content of the IL programmes does to a certain extent, provide the students with the appropriate skills for the digital information era. The research findings also revealed that the content covered in the existing IL programmes at UNIVEN equipped students with the skills to access information, evaluate information sources, use information effectively, understand legal issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically. However, the concern was that the IL programmes were not offered to all university students. In addition, it was found that the venues for IL instruction and the human resources for teaching IL were inadequate. A further challenge was the lack of collaboration between academics and librarians vis-à-vis IL instruction. The study recommends that the UNIVEN should: (i) develop strategies for IL programme awareness aimed at non-adopter academics and the university community in general; (ii) that a collaborative approach is used to improve the IL programme in line with technological trends; (iii) that university management should source funds from government and private stakeholders to use for the development of the infrastructure and resources – such as venues for IL instruction and emerging technologies suitable for offering IL programmes – at all levels of study; (iv) that the IL Integration Model (ILIM) and the ACRL standards are adopted for the integration of IL as a credit-bearing module in all first-year level academic programmes; and (v) finally, that the ILIM and ACRL standards should be used as a strategy to enhance the existing IL programmes. The current IL programmes are fragmented, as the UNIVEN library and the UNIVEN schools such as Law, Management and Nutrition, run their first-year students’ IL programmes independently. Therefore, the study recommends that the UNIVEN should develop a well-planned IL programme that will be integrated into first-year students’ courses or degrees. The planning needs to involve all relevant stakeholders, such as UNIVEN executive management, academics, librarians and student representatives. The well-planned IL programme needs to be developed in line with technological trends. Because South Africa has not developed its IL standards, the IL programme can be developed in line with the IL Integration Model (ILIM) and the ACRL standards, which were adopted for this study. In terms of further research, it is recommended to focus on the value and efficiency of the content of IL programmes offered in historically disadvantaged universities in South Africa. Such future research should take cognisance of the contextual needs of first-year undergraduate students. Piloting the IL programme prior to actual implementation may assist in establishing loopholes that may fixing.