Abstract
Background and Objectives: Higher education is the foundation of development and in new concepts of higher education, the emphasis is on lifelong learning. Information literacy and critical thinking skills both lead to students' lifelong learning. Therefore, students, especially graduate students, have a greater impact on the higher education system and its development. Also, graduate students are expected to have a good level of information literacy and critical thinking skills, given that they have been studying at university for many years and have gained useful skills and experiences over the years. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the multiple relationships of information literacy standards with critical thinking among graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz.
Methodology: The present study is a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population of this study is all graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, which was 4552 people, of which 204 were selected by simple random sampling. Data were collected using two questionnaires of information literacy Khalil Dezfuli (1397) and California Critical Thinking Test Form B (1998). The Information Literacy Questionnaire consists of 25 questions, including five information literacy standards, information need (5 questions), access to information (8 questions), information evaluation (6 questions), use of information (2 questions), and intellectual property rights. (4 questions) among graduate students. In the information literacy questionnaire, a correct answer is considered for each question. The correct answers were marked with the number 1 and the incorrect answers with the number zero. Thus, the minimum score obtained in this questionnaire is zero and the maximum score obtained in that number is 25. In the present study, to evaluate the validity of the Information Literacy Questionnaire, using the Torque Structures Analysis (AMOS) software, the confirmatory factor analysis method was used, the results of which showed the appropriateness of this questionnaire. The reliability of this tool and its indicators were also reported to be favorable. The California Formal B Critical Thinking Test is designed by (Facione, 1990 Facione,) to assess students' critical thinking. The test consists of 34 questions, some of which are 4, 5, or 6, with only one answer. Correct, and designed to evaluate critical thinking at post-high school levels. The California Critical Thinking Test Form B examines five components in students, including interpretation and analysis skills (9 questions), inference (11 questions), evaluation (14 questions), deductive reasoning (16 questions), and inductive reasoning (14 questions). . In the present study, to evaluate the validity of the test, the internal consistency method was used, thus, the relationship between each subscale and the total score was calculated, which showed the desirable results of the subscales. The reliability of this tool was reported to be 0.72. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24.
Findings: The correlation results of the present study showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between all standards of information literacy (except the standard of intellectual property rights and property rights) and critical thinking. Data analysis using multivariate regression (ENTER) showed that the components of information literacy (information need, access to information, evaluation of information, use of information) predict critical thinking and the component of "information evaluation" is the strongest predictor. It is critical thinking. Also, the multiple correlation coefficient (R) was equal to 0.42, which is a significant value, the value of the coefficient of determination (R2) was equal to 0.18. This means that predictive variables explain 18% of the variance of critical thinking. Also, data analysis showed that the standard of "intellectual property and property rights" has no effect on increasing critical thinking.
Discussion: Therefore, according to the findings of the present study, information literacy was shown to be a skill that can predict critical thinking. Paying attention to these two skills can be effective in advancing the goals of higher education. In addition, applying the framework of information literacy standards can provide the foundation for critical thinking and independent learning. It is recommended to hold workshops to acquaint all students with information literacy skills and to teach them these skills so that in the future, people can be delivered to the community who are at a high level in terms of information literacy and critical thinking skills, relying on their ability and training lifelong learners. Appeared.