Information Literacy: The impact of a hands-on workshop for international postgraduate students

Abstract

This study examined the usefulness of integrating information literacy as an auxiliary workshop into a postgraduate Food Processing course, with the focus on course and subject related information. Given the diverse background of the students enrolled in this programme (86% are international students) and the importance of the skills to be acquired, it is crucial that these students are supported to be successful. Food Processing is a complex cross-disciplinary postgraduate programme and supporting the international students who take up this course is challenging. The workshop introduced the students to the special nature of food science and food engineering information to make them familiar with key resources in the subject area. Quantitative and qualitative data on the usefulness of the workshop were collected in the form of pre- and post-workshop surveys and interviews, respectively, and a comparison was made between the two course assignments for further evidence. The results indicated the workshop improved the students’ ability to identify discipline relevant databases, keywords and search terms, and their ability to evaluate information and cite the correct resources according to the standards and guidelines substantially improved. Another unexpected feature, but not necessarily surprising, was the students’ level of confidence significantly increased as a result of participating in the workshop.