The use of the information skills process as a teaching methodology: a case study at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Abstract

Becoming information literate has been an educational concern that has been spurred by the change in information technology in the last twenty years. The school has been seen as the main player in allowing the learner to achieve this state of information literacy. Nonetheless, within the teacher-training offered at pre-service level (PRESET) in South Africa, information literacy has become to be seen as something needed by the student teachers for their own studies. This study looks at how the student teachers can be brought to an understanding of the relevance and importance of information literacy and the Information Skills Process, not only as a means of attaining the educational goals and aims as expressed in prescribed curricula, but also as a teaching methodology. A look at the literature on information literacy and its applicability in schools places particular emphasis on the process as described in key models. The rationale for choosing the Big6 model of Eisenberg and Berkowitz as the vehicle for the research is explained, and the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) as well as the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) of the South African national department of education (initially the Department of Education, but later changed to the Department of Basic Education) analysed in terms of information literacy. This analysis, together with interviews of lecturers involved in the training, was followed by an action research process with six students. The results of the analysis of the documents, together with an analysis of the answers by the lecturers in the interviews of the lecturers, and an analysis of the students’ reflections on the process, enabled conclusions and recommendations to be made. In particular, they confirmed the important place that information literacy, the information literacy skills and the Information Skills Process should play in both school-based education, and the training of student teachers.