Facilitating Students’ Intellectual Growth in Information Literacy Teaching

Abstract

To graduate as self-guided, motivated lifelong learners, university students must become information literate. Teaching information literacy (IL) skills has long been a core role of librarians. As information and communication technology evolves, the focus of IL teaching changes with it. When information first became digital, librarians focused on computer- and database-searching skills. With the advancement of the web, the information environment has become much more complex, even overwhelming, thus the focus of IL needs to shift to conceptual understanding and critical thinking. Teaching IL effectively at a cognitive level requires librarians to understand and consider the stages of students’ intellectual development . In addition, well-designed IL interventions can facilitate students’ intellectual development.

This column describes the development of an instructional session aimed at enhancing students’ IL skills by using socioeconomic data. It explicitly considers the current stages of students’ intellectual development and focuses on promoting intellectual maturation in the context of information use.