Applying an information literacy rubric to first-year health sciences student research posters

Abstract

ObjectiveThis article describes the collection and analysis of annotated bibliographies created by first-year health sciences students to support their final poster projects. The authors examined the students’ abilities to select relevant and authoritative sources, summarize the content of those sources, and correctly cite those sources.MethodsWe collected images of 1,253 posters, of which 120 were sampled for analysis, and scored the posters using a 4-point rubric to evaluate the students’ information literacy skills.ResultsWe found that 52% of students were proficient at selecting relevant sources that directly contributed to the themes, topics, or debates presented in their final poster projects, and 64% of students did well with selecting authoritative peer-reviewed scholarly sources related to their topics. However, 45% of students showed difficulty in correctly applying American Psychological Association (APA) citation style.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate a need for instructors and librarians to provide strategies for reading and comprehending scholarly articles in addition to properly using APA citation style.

Investigating Health Information Literacy Assessments and Efforts for Students Taking Health Care, Nursing and Medical Courses: An Abbreviated Review of the Extant Literature

“…An article that described atool for assessing health information literacy also noted that: "[g]enerally, subjective or "perception-based" assessments of abilities often do not corre-late with "objective" or "performance-based" indicators of the respective abilities, i.e. with the results of achievement or knowledge tests" 12 . Studies indicate that given the limited nature of the skill sets of many students, and the simultaneous importance of students understanding how to use reliable health information materials for coursework and in practice, the skillsets of the students should be characterized, and interventions made based on that data in an effort to improve the relevance of the health information literacy instruction 13 .…”

Investigating Health Information Literacy Assessments and Efforts for Students taking Health Care, Nursing and Medical Courses: An Abbreviated Review of the Extant Literature

“…An article that described a tool for assessing health information literacy also noted that: "[g]enerally, subjective or "perception-based" assessments of abilities often do not corre-late with "objective" or "performance-based" indicators of the respective abilities, i.e. with the results of achievement or knowledge tests" 12 . Studies indicate that given the limited nature of the skill sets of many students, and the simultaneous importance of students understanding how to use reliable health information materials for coursework and in practice, the skillsets of the students should be characterized, and interventions made based on that data in an effort to improve the relevance of the health information literacy instruction 13 .…”

“…The literature showed a marked difference between the health information literacy assessments used among the "student" population and the general public. This work suggests that an area of additional investigation may be, how, and if, the institutional information literacy modules and training prepare students to work with the general public, or if they are more related to the academic landscape, while the general health information literacy assessments and potential support needed by persons with low health information literacy in particular, are more related to areas such as basic reading, literacy skills, and numeracy 19,12 . In short, more research is required to understand the big picture results that seem to be hinted at throughout the literature, which is qualified here as whether the health information literacy training of future health professionals translates into improving the health care results for patients, and also whether the skillsets are relevant to clinical practice 20 .…”

Critical Review of Online Resources Frequently Used by Certified Speech-Language Pathologists for Dysphagia Management

“…The quality of online resources can be determined by the author's credentials, the presence and appropriateness of supporting resources, relevancy to the subject, recency of publication, ease of site navigation, and professional appearance (Charnock, 1998). By utilizing a standardized metric to evaluate online resources, SLPs can develop a mental appraisal framework and determine how reputable an online resource may be (Eysenbach et al, 1998;Fogg et al, 2001;Goodman et al, 2018). Doing so may help SLPs choose quality online resources to guide their clinical practice in dysphagia management.…”