Tracing Information Use Over Time: A Comparative Study of Undergraduate Engineers

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the patterns of undergraduate engineers' information use as they transition from students to emerging professionals. We administered a questionnaire to 54 undergraduate engineers at a large research university, and compared the information use of 2nd and 4th year students. The results showed that 4th year students reported using more genres associated with professional contexts, such as technical reports, and fewer classroom‐based genres, such as textbooks, than 2nd year students. However, a significant proportion of all students reported that they do not frequently use professional genres. These findings have implications for information literacy instruction by highlighting students' need for further training on the relationship between genres and tasks.