Knowing what type of learner you are can help you determine the methods that can improve your study and information seeking habits. Study the animals below, think carefully about what best defines your habits and also about what changes you need to make to improve. Make sure you vote and check out the poll results to see how you compare to other students.
Take the time to study the animals below. Think about a time when you have needed to find information. This could be as part of your social life or previous academic studies. For instance, resources for an assignment, cheap airfares, clothes, finding events etc. Vote for which animal best describes you?
Magpies
Are easily distracted by the new and the eye-catching, ignoring other relevant material.
Echidnas
Use several sources of information, but do not spend too long with each source.
Koalas
Rely too much on a single source of information, even if other sources are available.
Redback spiders
Rely exclusively on the web!
Which animal's information seeking behaviour best describes you?
Now take the time to study these animals. Think about the demands on your time at university and the need to use scholarly sources of information. Vote for which animal you aspire to.
Bower Bird
Searches widely to locate high quality sources and carefully store all sources in a research file for safe and easy access when required.
Shark
Solitary, ranging far and wide in search of good information locking onto the good stuff and noticing the finer details which will work to their advantage.
Dolphin
Smart and good at identifying bad sources, good at working in groups, ability to learn and optimise the use of search tools (i.e. databases).
Eagle
Use a variety of sources, they test before they trust, are not afraid of a challenge and they keep themselves focussed irrespective of what comes between them and their objective.
Which animal's information seeking behaviour is likely most successful for a busy uni student?
There is no right answer here. These all exhibit traits that will help you survive and thrive at University. Start cultivating them now.
The idea and initial resources for this exercise came from:
Borg, M., & Stretton, E. (2009). My students and other animals: Or a vulture, an orb weaver spider, a giant panda and 900 undergraduate business students. Journal of Information Literacy, 3(1), 19-30. Retrieved from http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/
ojs/index.php/JIL/article/viewArticle/219
Hooper, Ben. (2013, 2nd year vet student at JCU). Information on Australian animals and new resources on which animals had habits best associated with good search behaviours.
Meir, Faraj. (2006) Dolphin image. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eilat_-_Dolphin_reef.jpg
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