Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

The influence of personality and approach to learning on information literacy skills

Jannica Heinström, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

This paper will discuss the importance of accounting for differences in students' personality and approach to learning in higher education. In today's information society it is increasingly important that graduated students are information literate and know how to find and question relevant information. Students at their final stage of studies and in the process of writing their Master thesis are assumed to be mature and information literate enough to handle this. The Master thesis assignment requires independent work and analyses of a significant amount of information. Information literacy skills have however been shown to vary much at this stage. These results are based on a study of 305 university students who completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) measuring personality, the ASSIST-test (Entwistle, Tait & McCune, 2000) of approaches to learning and a questionnaire about information behaviour. The results showed that differences in handling information could be related to personality and approach to learning. The students with an open personality and a deep approach to their studies used much effort in order to find relevant information. They could also judge information critically. The conscientious students with a strategic approach to learning were thorough and organised in their information seeking. In their analysis of the obtained information they were however more superficial and less critical than the deep students. The nervous students with a surface approach to learning experienced many problems with information seeking and use. The results showed that information literacy skills should be taught more explicitly. The students' inner differences should also be accounted for in this teaching.

Key words:
Personality; Approach to learning; Information literacy

Objectives, outcomes and activities:
present resent research results in order to enhance discussion about information literacy and various methods of approaching information literacy teaching

Jannica Heinström has a Master of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland 1995, and Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK, 1998-1999. Currently she is a PhD student, Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University.

Contact: Jannica Heinström, email: jheinstr@abo.fi