NEWS FROM CILIP

The Drumchapel Project: Assessing Levels of Information Literacy

Information literacy is at the forefront of modern learning. Dr John Crawford, Library Research Officer at Glasgow Caledonian University said, “At Glasgow Caledonian University, we have a mission to attract students from deprived areas. Making links with schools in such areas helps us to understand the problems of potential students and how we can best help them”.

During 2003, Drumchapel High School in Glasgow co-operated with the University to carry out an innovative project to assess levels of information literacy among pupils from the school. For comparative purposes, data was also supplied by Hyndland Secondary School and Glasgow City Libraries.

Drumchapel High School, which is located in a Social Inclusion Partnership area, moved in 2002 to a new building which includes 5 dedicated IT suites, internet connections in every classroom and a Library Resource Centre which houses an IT Learning Centre with 20 computers. The school has approximately 660 pupils, many coming from unemployed or low-income families and few going on higher education. Over 10% of the school population are children of asylum seekers.

The project had several aims:

To find out what pupils really know about computers and the internet
To find out if pupils use the internet to learn
To find out what part teachers play in encouraging pupils to use ICT
To find out if pupils are using computers at home
To find out what their ICT skill levels will be when they come to university
To find out if pupils use Drumchapel REAL Learning Centre (part of the public library service)To help universities plan ICT skills training programme

The research was carried out in Drumchapel School by means of focus groups, a questionnaire on ICT use and a self-evaluation form on ICT skills similar to one completed by new students in Glasgow Caledonian University. The same questionnaires were issued on a more limited scale to pupils in Hyndland School. Teachers in both schools also completed, on a voluntary basis, questionnaires which concentrated on the purposes for which they required pupils to use ICT.

It was found that many pupils are knowledgeable about ICT, thanks largely to the tuition offered by the school but much of pupil use depends on the encouragement given by teachers. Pupils thought that computers were interesting to use and helped their schoolwork and few difficulties were reported but the lack of guidance on evaluation of websites and copyright regulations was noticeable. About two-thirds of Drumchapel pupils had access to a computer at home, a figure which is higher than the 37% reported by a recent Glasgow-wide study. However, the uptake of the REAL Centre’s facilities was low. Although the school librarians had completed NOF training on ICT issues, they were consulted by a minority of teachers and pupils in both schools, and it is recommended that more use should be made of their expertise. The self-evaluation of practical skills showed that older pupils, in particular, would have little difficulty in meeting most of the University’s ICT requirements for first-year students.

The outcomes were really good news for Drumchapel High School, as they showed not only that pupils’ ICT skills were comparable with those of pupils in more favoured areas but also that the School was the main centre in Drumchapel where teenagers learned to use computers.

Dr John Crawford Library Research Officer

Glasgow Caledonian University Library
Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 OBA

Telephone 0141 331 3847

Email jcr@gcal.ac.uk