Assessment on Students’ Information Literacy Skills for Self-Directed Learning at the Open University of Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract This study assessed students’ information literacy skills for self-directed learning at the Open University of Tanzania. The specific objectives were to; assess students’ preuniversity information literacy skills; examine the variations of information literacy skills among students; and to investigate facilitators’ support in developing students’ information literacy skills. The study conducted at the Open University of Tanzania in Kinondoni Regional centre. The study employed mixed methods approach and sequential exploratory design. The respondents involved were; students, facilitators, librarians and Information Technology specialists. The participants were obtained through purposive and simple random sampling procedures. The instruments of data collection included were; interview, observation, focus group discussion, documents review, and questionnaires. Qualitative data were analysed through content analysis and quantitative data were analysed using descriptive analysis employing Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0. The findings indicated that some students had pre-university information literacy skills and others relapsed into information illiteracy. Based on information literacy variation some students posses’ high capacity for recognizing information sources while fewer had lower skills. Moreover, the study revealed ineffective academic support between lecturers and students. The study concludes that, the high or low of information literacy skills among students lead distance learning to be easier or complex learning process.