Impact of attitudes,demographics and proficiencies on students’ perceived information literacy self-efficacy

Abstract

This paper investigates university students’ attitudes toward information literacy (IL), explores their perceived IL self-efficacy and examines the influence of demographic and academic factors, experiential factors, self-reported proficiencies and IL attitudes on their perceived IL self-efficacy. Guided by Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory and using a quantitative research approach, the study employed a 23-item validated IL self-efficacy scale to collect data from 406 university students in Bangladesh using a convenience sampling method. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and various non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data. The study found significant variations in students’ perceived IL self-efficacy based on several factors, including education level, participation in IL training, use of e-resources, English language, computer and internet proficiency, research experience, and frequency of using AI tools. The findings also revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between students’ IL attitudes and perceived IL self-efficacy. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of enhancing IL education to close the gap between students’ perceived and real abilities.