The main goal is to acquaint students with investigative procedures used by scientists and to develop decision-making skills. Learning outcomes associated with inquiry dimensions of science include generating a hypothesis, developing a plan for gathering data, and constructing evidence based on data (e.g., Schwab, 1962). When science is presented as a stable body of knowledge, learners are discouraged from developing their own explorations and explanations of observed phenomena (Schwab, 1962), thus inquiry approaches to teaching science are advocated around the world. From a disciplinary perspective, our interest focused on high school science students, because as an inquiry-based field of study, it would seem logical that information seeking skills, including critical evaluation of information, would be carefully inculcated.
Thus, despite clear evidence that sophisticated information literacy skills are beneficial to academic success, students are generally unsophisticated information seekers in academic contexts. This study was motivated by a recognized gap between the importance placed upon information literacy skills, generally within the literature on information literacy and particularly with respect to students' expected skill levels, and the actual skills that students are able to demonstrate.
The term “information literacy” is used in this paper to refer to the set of skills required to identify information sources, access information, evaluate it, and use it effectively, efficiently, and ethically. In an information society, where access to information and critical evaluation of that information is central to economic and personal well-being, information literacy skills are as essential as basic reading and writing. Leaving skill development to the post-secondary environment will not ensure that citizens are sufficiently skilled to participate fully in 21st century life, in workplaces or in their personal life contexts. The study is of particular interest to teachers of the curriculum applicable in the study context, but the broader implications of repeated indications of gaps in students' information literacy skills are a significant indicator that schools must assume a larger responsibility for information literacy instruction. Pressure on teachers to “teach to examinations”-that is, to focus on substantive content rather than on information literacy skills and information literacy skills deficits among teachers themselves-is a possible explanation for these results. The findings of this study, which we based on analyzing information seeking tasks and conducting interviews with students in three biology classes in a large urban high school, demonstrated a similar lack of skills. But even when educational curricula mandate skill development, many students are unable to demonstrate sophisticated information searching and critical evaluation skills. A vast body of research reflects deep concern with the level of information literacy skill development among secondary and post-secondary students. This study examined the relationship between curricula in secondary-level science classrooms, which support development of information literacy skills, and actual student skills.