Evidence Based Library and Information Practice


Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2011, 6.2 
 

59 
 

   Evidence Based Library and Information Practice  
 
 
 
Evidence Summary 
 
Investigation of Factors Affecting Information Literacy Student Learning Outcomes Fails 
to Undercover Significant Findings 
 
A Review of:  
Detlor, B., Julien, H., Willson, R., Serenko, A., & Lavallee, M. (2011). Learning outcomes of 

information literacy instruction at business schools. Journal of the American Society for 
Information Science and Technology, 62(3), 572-585. 

 
Reviewed by:  
Jason Martin 
Associate Librarian 
University of Central Florida Libraries 
Orlando, Florida, United States of America  
Email: jason.martin@ucf.edu  
 
Received: 25 Mar. 2011     Accepted: 25 May 2011 
 
 

 2011 Martin. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons-Attribution-
Noncommercial-Share Alike License 2.5 Canada (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/

 

), which 
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly 
attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the 
same or similar license to this one. 

 
Abstract 
 
Objective – To ascertain the factors 
influencing student learning during 
information literacy instruction (ILI) and 
create a theoretical model based on those 
factors. 
 
Design – Mixed methodology consisting of 
interviews and an assessment test. 
  
Setting – Three Canadian business schools. 
 
Subjects – Seven librarians, 4 library 
administrators, 16 business faculty, and 52 
undergraduate business students were 
interviewed, and the Standardized 
Assessment of Information Literacy Skills 

(SAILS) test was administered to 1,087 
undergraduate business students across three 
different business schools. 
  
Methods – The authors used an interview 
script to conduct interviews with librarians, 
library administrators, business school faculty, 
and undergraduate business school students 
at three business schools in Canada. The 
authors also administered the SAILS test to 
undergraduate business students at the same 
three Canadian business schools. 
  
Main Results – ILI works best when it is 
related to an assignment, part of the 
curriculum, periodically evaluated, adequately  
funded, timely, mandatory, interactive, uses 
handouts, provides the proper amount of 

mailto:jason.martin@ucf.edu�


Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2011, 6.2 
 

60 
 

information, and favourably viewed within 
the school. ILI student learning outcomes are 
affected by whether the students find the ILI 
beneficial and relevant, their year in the 
program, gender, status as international or 
domestic student, and overall academic 
achievement. 
  
Conclusion – Creation of theoretical model 
consisting of the three main factors influencing 
student learning outcomes in information 
literacy instruction: learning environment, 
information literacy components, and student 
demographics. 
 
 
Commentary 
 
The authors of this research study set about to 
understand what factors influence student 
learning outcomes in ILI and develop a 
theoretical model for ILI. Their findings are 
basic; anyone who has experience teaching 
library instruction, or any subject matter, 
would be familiar with the factors the authors 
state influence learning outcomes. Sadly, 
many of these factors are out of the control of 
librarians and teachers. However, the basic 
nature of their findings works to their favour 
in that they add credence to the inclusion of 
these factors in a theoretical model. 
  
If the authors had stopped with these findings, 
then they would have succeeded in 
developing a modest model, albeit one which  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

would need more research and evidence to  
bolster its credibility. Even “common sense” 
notions such as the idea that ILI should be  
given “just-in-time” and tied to an assignment 
benefit from credible supporting evidence. 
However, the authors include findings which 
seem to be not only outside their objective, but 
do not support their theory. 
 
First, the authors included a discussion of the 
differences in perception of ILI between 
students and librarians, library administrators, 
and teaching faculty. While this discussion 
might make for an interesting article in and of 
itself, it adds nothing to the overall aim to 
create a theoretical model of factors 
influencing ILI. Second, the authors 
administered the SAILS test to the student 
participants in the three business schools. The 
overall scores for the three schools were not 
good, and only two scores of a possible 24 
were statistically different. These results seem 
to not support the component of learning 
environment included in the authors’ model. 
The inclusion of this extra data muddles the 
true intent and purpose of the article. 
 
The authors’ theoretical model provides a 
starting point for researchers looking to 
understand what factors influence student 
learning during library instruction. More 
research is needed to validate the model and 
possibly find more factors within the three 
areas that influence student learning 
outcomes.  
 


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	Evidence Summary