Students’ information literacy self-efficacy: An exploratory study

Abstract

The current study focuses on students’ information literacy self-efficacy and investigated whether students estimate that they know how to handle and evaluate the vast amount of information they find on the Internet. The objectives of this study are to explore: (1) to what extent does the openness to experience variable explain students’ information literacy self-efficacy?; (2) to what extent do the cognitive appraisals threat and challenge explain students’ information literacy self-efficacy? and (3) to what extent does the variable of motivation explain students’ information literacy self-efficacy? The research was conducted in Israel during the spring semester of the 2017 academic year and involved 136 students. Researchers used five questionnaires to gather data. Findings suggested that the personality characteristics of openness to experience, as well as threat and challenge, and motivation predicted students’ information literacy self-efficacy.