Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Sarah Inkpen

Abstract

A small rural university in the southern United States was unsure if its first-year student information literacy (IL) program was effectively preparing its rural students for the university’s IL learning goals. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the IL program is effective for rural students. Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) theory was used, which identifies key stages that students experience when solving information problems. The overarching research question for the study examined the effectiveness of the university’s IL program on incoming rural first-year students’ IL knowledge and skills. The study used archive pre/post assessment data of 78 rural IL program students from the fall of 2019 who participated in two fifty-minute IL instruction sessions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated for IL pre and posttests and provided indicators that participants developed the necessary IL knowledge and skills for the university’s learning goals. Paired-samples t tests provided indicators that students delivered a competent performance (M = 2.0 or higher) following IL instruction (M = 3.326, SD = .6899) as opposed to pre-IL instruction performance (M = .687, SD = .9769), a statistically significant mean increase of 2.639, 95% CI [2.369 - 2.908], t(77) = 19.467, p < .001, d = 2.20. The study’s results indicated the IL program’s effectiveness, helped address a gap in professional literature involving rural students’ IL knowledge and skills, and provided data to develop a policy paper targeting improvements in IL instruction, micro-credential tracking, stakeholder communications, and support for students throughout their degree programs to improve student learning. The study promotes positive social change that ensures rural students are equipped with IL knowledge and skills necessary for academic, career, and lifelong success.

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