Information Literacy Development through Resource-Based School Projects: Malaysian Students Experience

This paper explores how upper secondary school (middle high school) students experience information literacy through resource-based school projects. It aims to understand whether these students have developed improved information literacy competencies after being exposed to various projects during their lower secondary grades. It also examines how, or in which direction of the "Three Directions Model" the students experience information literacy in their project journey. The research participants comprise of a group of seven students from a selected school in Shah Alam, Selangor. The research employs focus group interview data collection technique with the students. The findings show that the students in general have progressed in knowledge and various learning competencies as a result of repeated project work experiences. However, their mastery of fine information literacy skills was still low as information literacy models and literatures were not embedded in their project work instructions. It is recommended that information literacy models be clearly incorporated into project work instructions to assist the students to develop fine and detail information literacy skills. The findings are hoped to provide baseline information on information literacy development in learning contexts where information awareness is still low.