Assessment of the quality of information literacy (IL) training among teacher trainees enrolled in selected Northern Malaysian Teacher Education Institutes
Issue title: Selected papers from the Asia-Pacific Library and
Information Education and Practice (A-LIEP) conference 2013
Affiliations: [a] Department of Library Science, Darulaman Teacher Education Institute, Malaysia | [b] Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Siri Sena Baba Hamid, Department of Library Science, Darulaman Teacher Education Institute, Malaysia. E-mail:sirisena@ipda.edu.my,sirisenababahamid@gmail.com
Abstract: Our case study examined and assessed the quality and effectiveness of
information literacy training employed by teacher trainees in their
follow-on research process. A sample of teacher trainees enrolled in
selected Malaysian Teacher Education Institutes located in the northern
region of Malaysia was surveyed. These Institutes' mission is to produce
trained teachers who will possess a comprehensive and accurate understanding
of information literacy core principles and skills, and be able to apply
those core principles and skills in their various follow-on research
processes. Many recent observers have reported that many, perhaps even most,
future Malaysian teachers, enter teaching practice without having adequately
learned the necessary core information literacy principles and skills which
can then be implicitly employed in their follow-on research processes. The
study recommends various reforms which are needed in official Malaysian
teacher training policies, programs and curricula, based on the case study's
findings, conclusions and recommendations. An Information Literacy Research
Process Model was developed and employed by the authors in this case study,
and then used to describe and explain trainee behaviors in searching for,
retrieving, organizing, evaluating and applying the obtained information
wisely and ethically, using learned information literacy core principles and
skills. The researchers studied these behaviors in the context of the
Malaysian teacher training curricula which is used by all Malaysian training
institutes. A sample of teacher trainees was selected from several of these
Institutes located in the northern region of the country. A ``mixed methods''
design was used for this purpose, consisting of (1) face-to-face interviews
and (2) document analysis, in order to perform a sampling of the examined
teacher trainees. The case study was strengthened by using two separate
phases of data gathering. The study's findings, conclusions and
recommendations will hopefully provide insights to the various Education
Ministry stakeholder groups (government policy makers, teachers, parents,
school administrators, etc.) so as to enable them to better move forward in
terms of defining sharpened, modernized and strengthened teacher training
reforms, then applying them, and finally realizing upgraded expected
positive outcomes - all within the framework of the overall Malaysian
National Information Literacy Agenda.
Keywords: Information literacy competency, information seeking behavior, basic information seeking skills, research process model, undergraduate trainee teachers, teacher education, Teacher Education Institute, Information Literacy Research Process Model
