| This mixed design study explored the effectiveness of employing some elements of problem-based learning (PBL) as an approach to teaching information literacy skills to 6 female and 12 male students enrolled in a first-year seminar course. The study examined if this teaching methodology facilitates information competency development and promotes academic engagement, intentional learning and self-directed learning. An overarching goal was to apply the knowledge gained from exploring the variables of information competency development, engagement, and self-directed learning to informing the structure of a first-year seminar on information literacy. Additionally, this study endeavored to discover through the voices of the freshmen how they experienced the research process, organized, and synthesized information during high school and during their freshman year and how they characterized academic engagement and self-directed learning. The research employed a quasi-experimental, mixed methods design consisting of quantitative and qualitative techniques exploring the effectiveness of a PBL curriculum as an approach to teaching information literacy skills. The results of this research indicate that integrating PBL into a curriculum focusing on information literacy facilitates the development of information competencies and promotes academic engagement in a first-year population.;Student performance on the pretest, posttest was analyzed using the paired two-tailed t-test. Results indicated a statistically significant difference between mean scores for the pretest and posttest when analyzing the 13 students who completed both tests t(12) = t -2.24, p = 0.045. As a result, the hypothesis was supported. The students defined an engaging classroom as encompassing journaling, discussions, debate, group work, active learning, and service learning. Prominent engagement themes included type of assignment/activity, student initiated engagement, and instructor initiated engagement.;The findings of this research suggest that a first-year seminar incorporating PBL should consist of a sequenced curriculum including information competencies reflecting the five student learning outcomes of the ACRL standards. Basic competencies should reflect the learning outcomes relevant to the ACRL standards such as topic selection, the formulation of research questions; an understanding of how key words and subject terms function; creating a simple search query; the functionality of databases; evaluating the authority of information; creating simple citations, basic plagiarism concepts, and synthesizing information into a product such as a paper or PowerPoint presentation. |
