[Paper Review] Digital Literacy and Reading Habits of The DMI-St. Eugene University Students

A Subaveerapandiyan, Priyanka Sinha|arXiv (Cornell University)|Oct 29, 2022

Library Science and Information Literacy5 citations

TL;DR

This study investigates digital literacy and reading habits among BSc and BE Computer Science students at DMI-St. Eugene University, Zambia, using a WhatsApp-distributed questionnaire. Findings reveal strong digital tool proficiency but weak web development skills, with electronic resources dominating reading preferences despite medium digital application skills; gender and academic level significantly influence digital literacy, while age does not.

ABSTRACT

Digital literacy is the skill of finding, evaluating, consuming, and generating information using digital technologies. The study attempted to comprehend university students' digital reading habits and skills. It also provides a glimpse of the pupils' favorite reading materials, including physical and digital sources. We examined BSc and BE Computer Science students of DMI-St. Eugene University, Zambia. The tool was a structured questionnaire that was distributed through WhatsApp. The study's findings revealed that most students thoroughly understand digital tools and how to use them but lack the skills to build their websites and portfolio. Out of 115 students, all agreed they used computers for learning purposes. Usage of digital environments, generally, they used the World Wide Web for searching for information. Additionally, most students have medium digital application skills, despite their preference for reading electronic books. The results indicate that students' gender and level of education had a statistically significant link with their digital literacy, whereas age wasn't shown to be a statistically relevant predictor. The findings show that, in terms of education, especially reading, students' or readers' top priorities are electronic resources; print book preferences are reduced.

Motivation & Objective

• To assess the digital literacy levels of undergraduate computer science students at DMI-St. Eugene University.
• To explore students' reading habits, including preferences for physical versus digital reading materials.
• To identify factors such as gender, age, and academic level influencing digital literacy skills.
• To evaluate the gap between digital tool familiarity and practical digital skill application, such as website and portfolio creation.
• To understand the extent of electronic resource adoption in academic reading compared to print materials.

Proposed method

• A structured questionnaire was administered via WhatsApp to collect data from 115 BSc and BE Computer Science students.
• Data collection focused on digital tool usage, information search behaviors, reading material preferences, and digital application skills.
• Statistical analysis was conducted to assess the influence of gender, age, and academic level on digital literacy outcomes.
• Digital literacy was evaluated based on skills in finding, evaluating, consuming, and generating information using digital technologies.
• Students' self-reported proficiency in website creation and portfolio development was analyzed to identify skill gaps.
• The study used descriptive and inferential statistics to interpret responses and test for significant differences across demographic and academic variables.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What is the level of digital literacy among computer science students at DMI-St. Eugene University?
• RQ2 How do students' reading habits compare between physical and digital formats?
• RQ3 To what extent do gender and academic level influence digital literacy scores?
• RQ4 Is age a statistically significant predictor of digital literacy among university students?
• RQ5 What is the gap between students' familiarity with digital tools and their ability to create digital content such as websites or portfolios?

Key findings

• All 115 surveyed students reported using computers for learning purposes, indicating near-universal digital access in academic contexts.
• Students demonstrated strong familiarity with digital tools and the World Wide Web for information searching, though only 50% reported medium digital application skills.
• Despite high digital tool proficiency, students lacked skills in building websites and portfolios, revealing a notable gap in practical digital creation abilities.
• Gender and academic level showed statistically significant associations with digital literacy, while age was not a significant predictor.
• Electronic books were the preferred reading format, with print book preferences significantly reduced, indicating a shift toward digital academic resources.
• Most students used digital environments for information retrieval, confirming the dominance of online sources in academic reading habits.