Information use during the first college year: Findings from the NSSE Experiences with Information Literacy module

Abstract

Using data collected from over 17,000 first-year students attending 76 bachelor's-granting U.S. institutions, this study investigated how often students engage in activities associated with developing information literacy skills. It found that most students frequently used information sources in their coursework, but substantially fewer students critically and effectively used information sources. It conducted a latent class analysis which identified four distinct ways or types first-year students engaged with information sources. The study also conducted a multinomial logistics regression analysis to investigate which student and institutional characteristics were correlated with the four latent classes identified.