Measuring the impact of information literacy e-learning and in-class courses via pre-tests and post-test at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University

KRATOCHVÍL, Jiří. Measuring the impact of information literacy e-learning and in-class courses via pre-tests and post-test at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University. MEFANET Journal. Brno: Facta Medica, 2014, vol. 2, No 2, p. 41-50. ISSN 1805-9163.

Basic information

• Original name: Measuring the impact of information literacy e-learning and in-class courses via pre-tests and post-test at the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University
• Authors: KRATOCHVÍL, Jiří (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: MEFANET Journal, Brno, Facta Medica, 2014, 1805-9163.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50300 5.3 Education
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: Webová adresa online verze časopisu
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14110/14:00077878
• Organization unit: Faculty of Medicine
• Keywords in English: Czech Republic;educational measurement; e-learning; information literacy; libraries;medical schools;teaching
• Tags: EL OK
• Tags: Reviewed

Abstract

The objective herein is to show that e-learning can be as effective a method of teaching IL activities as in-class lessons. In the autumn of 2012 and the spring of 2013, a total of 159 medical students enrolled in the e-learning course and completed the required pre-tests and post-tests comprising 30 multiple-choice questions on information literacy topics; another 92 PhD students from in-class courses took the 22-question test. The pre-test and post-test scores along with the number of students who correctly answered the questions were counted and the overall percentage was calculated. The final outcome was the extent of knowledge increase and the number of students with correct answers, expressed in percentage. On average, 95.5% and 92.5% increase in knowledge was recorded among the medical students and PhD students respectively; an average of 4.5% medical students and 7.5% of PhD students recorded low scores in the post-test. As for the number of correct answers, the average results of the 22 set questions shared among the study groups were as follows: 15 questions were answered correctly more often by medical students, 6 were answered correctly more often by PhD students and only 1 question was correctly answered in the same average percentage by both the groups. The results point to the need for proposing several key revisions. Among these include an exercise to be included in both curricula on online search for an article without full text availability via link service, while instructions on manually creating bibliographic references shall be added to the PhD course. Some test questions require revision so that they are based more on practical examples rather than mere definitions. The results thus assembled, and the follow-up discussion, can then help in convincing the advocates of in-class teaching of the beneficial application of e-learning in information literacy education.