Information literacy and use of information technology by students in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, students of medical universities need to be familiar with computer and information technology (IT) to become successful. The aim of this study was to investigate the information literacy and the use of IT by students in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This survey is a descriptive-correlational study. The study population consisted of all students of the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences and the sample size included 235 students. The instrument was a researcher-developed questionnaire with a validity confirmed by faculty members and a 0.83 reliability according to Cronbach’s alpha. For data analysis, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi-square in SPSS 16 were used. Results: The results revealed the frequency use of IT domains; Internet obtained the most frequently used domain (67.2%) followed by Windows (54.1%), word processing software (43.8%), search engines (41.1%), and e-mail (30.5%). The highest mastery was obtained over Internet use (58.6%) followed by Windows and word processing software (48.3%), search engines (34.4%), and software installation (31.4%). The use of IT was significantly associated with previous research activities such as having PC, the skill to use computers and Internet, the mean duration of computer use per week, and English language competency (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The students’ mastery over the use of IT is weak in the Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, and certain plans are needed to educate these students by holding workshops, empowering them to do research, and revisiting the curricula to increase the credits of IT course