Employing Cooperative Learning to Enhance the Library Literacy Skills of Students

Abstract

Tertiary students often fail to use quality academic library information sources such as journal articles in their studies. Reasons may include an inability to understand the importance of quality academic resources such as databases, poor teaching strategies that do not support and encourage active student engagement, and a lack of just-in-time training to develop and build skills to access and use academic resources effectively. Linked to the above, the pilot research investigates whether cooperative learning as a teaching strategy can be used to expose private higher education students to a library literacy programme that assists them to utilise academic resources and sources more productively. A cross-sectional survey design was used to determine the extent to which a library literacy programme, based on cooperative learning principles, can be applied in pursuit of academic excellence. Findings show that such a programme promotes active collaborative learning, since students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning through various practical learning engagements. The study recommends that the use of an active participatory approach, based on cooperative learning principles, be expanded to assist students in enhancing their library literacy skills.