Communication of Information in the Digital Age among Social
Sciences Students: Uncovering a Synthetic Indicator of
Performance
Maria Pinto
Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
Rosaura Fernandez-Pascual
Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, Universidad de Granada
Granada, Spain
Dora Sales
Department of Translation and Communication, Universitat Jaume I
Castello de la Plana, Spain
Abstract
Purpose: The paper aims to analyze the informational behavior of a group of
future professionals in the field of Social Sciences, in terms of their competence in the
communication-dissemination of information.
Methodology: The IL-HUMASS, EVALCI/KN and EVALCI/SK tests regarding
the affective (attitudes, motivations) and cognitive (knowledge, skills) dimensions are
distributed to a stratified sample of five universities and eight degree courses in Spain.
Infographics and non-parametric methods allow to compare the disciplinary profiles
with regard to gender, academic course and academic degrees. A ILCom synthetic
indicator based on Structural Equation Model includes the subjective and effective
dimensions to measure the holistic learning outcomes in communication-dissemination
of information.
Findings: Significant differences regarding the informational behavior of future
professionals in Social Sciences are discovered. The synthetic indicator allows
academic degrees to be ranked in order to identify those in need of initiatives aimed at
improving communication-dissemination competence.
Originality/value: The paper puts forward the first evidence-based study on
communication-dissemination competence among future Social Sciences
professionals, as no similar research has been found in the scientific literature. It is also
the first time that the definition of a predictive performance indicator, based on a
powerful statistical methodology, has been proposed.
Practical implications: Findings must be taken into account to design effective
learning programs. This methodological approach can be expanded to scientific and
academic environments.
Keywords: Communication, Information, Social Sciences Students, Higher
Education, Informational competences, Informational behavior, Synthetic Indicator of
Performance
Paper type: Research paper
1. Introduction
Few studies have addressed the topic of learning informational
competences from an empirical perspective and in an integral manner that
agglutinates the different dimensions involved, especially the combination of the
affective and cognitive aspects of learning. In line with the latest trends in the
evolution of information literacy (IL), and its redesign as metaliteracy, mainly
derived from the ideas put forward by the ACRL Board (2016), there is a need
for a renewed picture of the relationship between individuals and information.
Moreover, a more holistic and inclusive perspective is required. Yet the subject
of IL is so comprehensive that this paper is self-restricted to the communicative-
disseminating behavior of individuals in relation to information, since this is
probably one of the areas that have received less attention within the wide
range of IL-related tasks. The case of future professionals in the different Social
Sciences (SS) disciplines is a special one from the point of view of the
communication-dissemination of information, since these tasks play a key role
within the profile of SS activities. To this end, this study addresses a number of
degree courses restricted to the SS.
This research is pioneering and original for a number of reasons. It is the
first evidence-based study on communication-dissemination competence
among future SS professionals, as no similar research has been found in the
scientific literature. It is also the first time that the definition of a predictive
performance indicator, based on a powerful statistical methodology, has been
proposed. The idea fits with the recommendations of international organizations
on the need to define indicators for measuring learning effectiveness. In this
way it would be possible to predict patterns of informational behavior among
future SS professionals that may guide the design of effective learning
programs on the communication-dissemination of information.
The research questions posited in this work are the following:
Q1. In terms of the communication-dissemination of information, what are
the levels of competence of a large group of future SS professionals as regards
the cognitive (knowledge/skills) and affective (attitudes/motivations) learning
dimensions?
Q2. From the disciplinary point of view, are there any significant
similarities and differences related to learning dimensions, genres, and
academic courses with regard to communication-dissemination competence?
Q3. Based on the cognitive and affective dimensions of learning, would it
be possible to design a synthetic indicator that predicts learning outcomes
performance? According to this indicator, how would the different degree
courses involved be ranked?
2. Literature review
There is no doubt about the relevance and potential of competence-
based learning, and more especially of transversal skills such as IL. Within the
IL framework, the importance of communicative competence is evident in the
new globalized and digitalized world of Information (ACRL Board, 2016; Davis-
Kahl, 2012; Davis-Kahl & Hensley, 2013; Garcia-Marco, 2017; Gibson &
Jacobson, 2014; Mackey & Jacobson, 2011; Ogburn, 2011, 2013; Pinto, 2010).
University students are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of
communication-dissemination competence for both academic development and
their future career within the overall framework of their learning. This is
consistently confirmed by the few empirical studies conducted on the issue,
since they all conclude that students consider this capability as being especially
important (Bordonaro, 2008; Lopes & Pinto, 2016; M. Pinto et al., 2016; Maria
Pinto, Garcia-Marco, Sales, & Cordon, 2010; Sales, 2008). A recent empirical
study that addressed a range of university degree courses, however, showed
there was an important need for students of all the courses to improve in this
communication-dissemination competence (M. Pinto & Sales, 2015).
Innovative and collaborative technologies constantly challenge and push
forward the traditional definitions of IL. “The emergence of social media and
collaborative online communities requires a reframing of information literacy as
a metaliteracy that supports multiple literacy types… Metaliteracy promotes
critical thinking and collaboration in a digital age, providing a comprehensive
framework to effectively participate in social media and online communities.”
(Mackey & Jacobson, 2011: 62). As part of this metaliteracy reframing,
competence in information communication and dissemination, that is, skill in
producing and sharing information, are critical activities in the dynamic digital
environment of contemporary teaching, learning, and scholarship. It should be
remembered that IL is more significant now than in the past, and must be
related to the literacy types addressed to ongoing technological shifts.
As Garcia-Marco (2017) puts forward, communicative competence can
be integrated into IL programs chiefly from two perspectives. On the one hand,
from the viewpoint of the knowledge creation and sharing cycle, communicative
competence plays an essential role in the final stage of any research project.
This viewpoint is very important, but it is quite limited to scholarly, academic,
and R&D settings. On the other hand, communication is a key phenomenon of
human life. This perspective is more comprehensive and may offer very
interesting developments, but it becomes somehow blurred from a disciplinary
point of view. Indeed, due to its transdisciplinary nature, teaching
communicative competence is frequently scattered across many different
subjects and activities through syllabi and non-academic programs, and it is
seldom treated in an integral manner. In particular, IL programs usually deal
with issues concerning communicative competence that are closely related to
Library and Information Science (LIS), e.g., the production, dissemination, and
impact of academic documents and scientific publications.
Despite its complexity, communication-dissemination competence has
always been present in IL programs (M. Pinto, 2010; Maria Pinto et al., 2010).
In an Internet-driven media convergence environment, IL requires a new
paradigm, in tune with the metaliteracy view (Garcia-Marco, 2017; Jacobson &
Mackey, 2013; Mackey & Jacobson, 2011, 2014).
At the same time, the evolution of the Internet towards social networking
requires a new kind of trainees who are also proactive content creators, capable
of publishing, sharing, and linking, instead of being mainly information users.
This need is perceived at the highest levels of the IL paradigm. Recently, the
ACRL proposed, among other aims, to specifically address students as content
creators, acknowledging the essential changes in scholarly communication and
data management that have occurred in recent years (ACRL, 2013).
