Student Learning and Workplace IL: A Case Study

This article reports on a case study that analyzed portfolios composed by technical communication undergraduate majors at a research university in the United States. Results showed that students, who are also practicing professionals in their field, exhibited information literacy (IL) outcomes more typical of the workplace than academia. The categories of research engaged in by students to complete course work included academic, applied, and experiential. These categories grounded the students’ research in rhetorical and contextually situated practices. They indicate that it may be important to broaden the way that information literacy is articulated, taught, and learned to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace.