Delivered at the International PBL Congress, January 28 - February 1, 2008, Colima, Mexico. 2008-01-28.

1. PBL & Information Literacy:
How students interact with
information in a PBL
setting
Lorna Dodd
Liaison Librarian
University College Dublin,
Belfield, Dublin 4,
Ireland
Lorna.dodd@ucd.ie

2. Background
• Only Veterinary Medicine programme in Ireland
• Review in mid 1990s resulted in introduction
PBL in the 2 pre-clinical years
• Students attend traditional lectures & lab
sessions as well as PBL module

3. What is Information
Literacy?
“recognize when information is needed
and have the ability to locate, evaluate,
and use effectively the needed
information.” (Association of College
Research Libraries, 2000)

4. Why is Information Literacy
important in PBL?
• Self-directed learning
• Development of life-long transferable
skills
• Critical and reflective thinking

5. Identify
information need
Use the Identify the
information in an most appropriate
INFORMATION source
ethical way LITERACY
Evaluate the
reliability, Effectively
relevance, retrieve relevant
currency & information
appropriateness
of the
information

6. Rationale
• No reading lists for PBL module
• How are students finding information?
• Does this affect the way they use the library?
• Most of the literature comments on how PBL impacts the
library
• How does PBL impact students behaviours?

7. Methodology
• Data was collected regarding both PBL and non-
PBL experiences
• Data was collected from all student
participating in PBL using a questionnaire
 Quantitative data
 Open ended qualitative questions
• Data collected from 5 academic staff – PBL
tutors
 Semi-structured interviews

8. The Library
• 95% of students consider the library to be important in PBL
 “While other resources e.g. Internet are useful, information gathered
from the library is more reliable and often more relevant”
• Those who did not think the library was important in PBL also
experienced difficulties with PBL
• Half of students spent longer in the library for PBL because of the
way PBL affects how they find and use information
 “Requires more research”
 “Learning involved is more intensive”
 “Information is needed from a variety of sources”
• Staff feel:
– Students have a much greater need of the library in PBL
– PBL encourages students to use the library much earlier
 “PBL forces them to look into sections and shelves they wouldn’t have
otherwise done”

9. Information Literacy Skills
• 40% of students experienced difficulty finding information for
PBL
• Most students consider information seeking skills very important
or extremely important in PBL because:
 “You need to be able to find information…quickly for the next session”
 “As a qualified vet you have to do your own PBL”
 “[PBL] enables individuals to develop ability carry out research
independently”
 It’s pretty much the purpose of PBL to work things our for yourself”
• Those who value information skills were able to search for
information more easily
• Academic staff expect students to
 “Find their own resources”
 “Learn what type of resources are available”

10. Choosing Resources
Non-PBL work PBL work
• Use one or two resources • Did not prefer one single
as preferred resource but used a variety
of resources
• Select their own material
• Select their own resources
for PBL work did so
for non-PBL work did so
because of external
because of internal
factors – PBL
factors
 “PBL is based on your own
 “”[I] don’t follow
initiative”
lectures”

11. Main findings
All those who spent more time
Students who feel the library in the library for PBL
is important in PBL
display higher levels of considered information literacy
information literacy important in PBL
Students who
selected their own material:
Considered information literacy skills
more important & displayed
higher levels of
information literacy skills

12. Identify an Convert Learning Identify the
information need Outcomes into most appropriate
search strategies source
Identify what
Apply the kind of
information to information they
the problem & APPLYING need and which
integrate it into INFORMATION resource to find
their existing LITERACY TO it in
knowledge PBL
Evaluate the
Effectively
reliability,
Use the retrieve relevant
relevance,
information in an information
currency &
ethical way appropriateness
of the
information

13. The Coughing Horse
• Anatomy of the lung
 Factual Information –
Textbooks
• Allergens and treatment
 Current Research – Journal
Articles or Websites
• Is the information reliable?
• Is the information relevant to
problem?
 Location
 Availability of treatment

15. Main Findings
Start of PBL: As a result of PBL:
 Information literacy  Librarian is PBL tutor
delivered during  Knows problems & therefore required
orientation resources
 Talks to students about resources
they use
 Librarian in
 Close collaborative relationship with
support/admin role
faculty
 Information literacy delivered after
first problem – in context

16. Main Findings
• Facilitator/Tutor plays important role
 Results showed that facilitators differed
 Some recommended material and directed
students in finding information
 These students selected material
themselves less
 Displayed lower levels of information
literacy – never verified information by
checking another source

17. Conclusion
• Information Literacy should be consciously developed
Facilitators can -
 encourage students to think about information they need
 challenge students to critically evaluate the information
they find and the source
• Information Literacy can be:
 Included as a learning outcome
 An assessment criteria
• Involve librarians in curriculum development:
 Ensure there are sufficient resources
 Help students develop necessary skills

18. “Know where to find information and how
to use it. That’s the secret of success.”
Albert Einstein
Running or planning a
PBL course?
Don’t forget your
friendly librarian!!!

19. References
• Association of College Research Libraries (2000), ‘Information Literacy Competency
Standards for Higher Education’ [online], American Library Association. Available
from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm
.
• Dodd, L. (2007) ‘The impact of Problem-Based Learning on the Information Seeking
Behaviour and Information Literacy of Veterinary Medicine Students at University
College Dublin’, Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 33(2), pp.206-216
• Eskola, E (1998) ‘University students’ information seeking behaviour in a changing
learning environment – How are students’ information needs and use affected by
teaching methods?’ Information Research vol. 4(2)
• Oker-Blom, T. (1998) ‘Integration of Information Skills in Problem Based Curricula’,
64th IFLA General Conference, August 16-21, 1994, Amsterdam, pp.1-8, IFLA
• Rankin, J.A. (1996) ‘Problem-based learning and libraries: a survey of the literature’,
Health Libraries Review, vol. 13, pp.33-42
• Silen, C & Uhlin, L (2008) ‘Self-directed learning – a learning issue for students and
faculty’ Teaching in Higher Education.