Information Literacy as a Tool for Academic Tasks at Secondary School

Abstract

This research integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches, so it is a mixed study. It seeks to answer the problem of what characterizes the informational competence of eleventh year high school students in the process of searching for and evaluating information when doing their academic work? The main objective of research is to analyze the informational competence of students in the last year of basic education in Peru in relation to the search and evaluation of information for academic work using web search engines, which is linked to a competence related to the development of functional literacy in the Information Society. The study was carried out with a sample of eighty-five students in the last year of secondary education in a private school. The experiment consisted of a learning experience where the students had to read on Internet. This situation was a task where they had to search for and select information. Two techniques were applied to collect information: documentary analysis and questionnaire, both corresponding to the qualitative and quantitative approach respectively. The results confirm a relationship between reading skills and informational competence, specifically in terms of searching for and choosing relevant information to perform a task. The importance of eleventh grade adolescents learning to read strategically by putting into practice different reading skills in relation to the tasks assigned is emphasized. Finally, it is concluded that it is necessary to educate autonomy, judgment, and the ability to make the right decisions when faced with the information offered on the Internet.