A survey of incoming FHSU first-year students was distributed in 2020 and 2021 as the beginning of a longitudinal mixed-methods assessment of the information literacy skills students have when they first arrive at FHSU. Survey questions were designed around strengths-based and constructivist pedagogy, assessing students' existing knowledge to reveal appropriate starting points for library instruction in large-enrollment first-year courses. Survey questions were phrased as research scenarios assessing the skills of evaluating information, identifying source type, and conducting research strategies. Not enough data was collected during Fall 2020 to be statistically significant, however, the Fall 2021 survey resulted in 564 responses yielding a statistically significant sample size of the incoming class. Only data from Fall 2021 is reported. The results corroborated several similar studies finding that students self-report high confidence levels in their information literacy skills, yet vary on how accurately they performed those skills. The survey participants were most accurate at performing tasks of evaluating information, moderately accurate when identifying the appropriate information type for a specific research scenario, and somewhat accurate when constructing a research strategy.
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