Collectors, verifiers and reflectors: profiles of informational competence in first semester university students

Abstract

This article explores informational competence in first semester university students by using a renewed approach to information competence from a socio cultural perspective. In it, profile is understood as regular use that is both local and varied. We analyze the case of 285 students from two Colombian universities by using an observational tool (profile questionnaire, spoken transcripts, and interviews). We found that 55% of first year university students in professional programs were likely to gather information and that 78% of first year university students in technological programs tended to contrast and verify information while only between 3% and 4% would treat information critically. It is argued that when these students take up an academic task, they link their informational competence practices with their own personal and academic experiences; and that their age and educational background seem to influence these practices. The cases analyzed are placed within informational competence profiles: collectors, verifiers, and reflectors. These profiles are not fixed but fluid and they come together in different ways depending on the academic task at hand. We recommend more informational profile studies of both high school and college students in order to design educational policies on information competence.