Assessment of PsycLIT Competence, Attitudes, and Instructional Methods

Abstract

This study measured student competence in using PsycLIT, related attitudes toward PsycLIT to level of skill, and examined student preferences for various methods of PsycLIT instruction. The data analyzed were from the PsycLIT subtest of The Library Skills Test for Psychology Majors, which was administered to 145 senior psychology majors. Of the students who took the test, 88.8% reported that they had used PsycLIT, and 83% made competent or exceptionally competent scores. When asked to rate the usefulness of six different methods of PsycLIT instruction, students rated a workshop taught by a librarian as the most useful. These data also show a clear relation between better PsycLIT performance and attitudes of lower anxiety and greater confidence about using PsycLIT.