Engineering students’ information literacy instruction and blended learning course design

Introduction. This study focuses on the benefits derived from a blended learning course design in an engineering students’ information literacy course. The results of this study are also discussed within the context of professional development of the Aalto University Library’s information specialists working with information literacy instruction.

Method. This study draws from the experiences of the graduate engineering students participating in the Aalto University Otaniemi Campus Library’s “Tools for master’s thesis”-course. The data of this study were gathered by an online survey.

Results. The students connected a variety of different learning tasks with either the promotion of their personal inquiry, with sharing of experiences and practices or with the promotion of their overall learning. The engineering students also identified four positive ways in which the participation in the classroom enhanced the participation in the online environments. Respectively, the students identified four ways in which the participation in the online environments enhanced classroom participation.

Conclusion. According to this study it seems possible to generate a single environment enhancing fusion of both classroom and online environment learning tasks in information literacy instruction. The blended learning approach seems to generate new ways of both thinking and realizing engineering students’ information literacy instruction.