Abstract

Information literacy (IL) , which can be defined as the ability to identify an information need and to be able to locate, evaluate and effectively use information to meet this need, has been recognized as a critical component of 21st century education. Although IL skills are essential for all students, they are even more important for teacher education students. Teachers cannot facilitate their students to understand and fully exploit information sources for their own learning outcomes, unless they are information literate themselves. However, IL classes for undergraduate education students have not begun to appear in significant numbers in Greece, even though lack of information literacy skills and knowledge has been reported both formally and informally. The Department of Primary Education of the Faculty of Education (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) aimed to fill this gap by integrating into its curriculum a compulsory project-based IL course for all first year students, since academic year 2010-11. The course was designed in view of both the relevant literature and the reality of Greek universities. The paper attempts to place the course into its academic context. It then presents the content of the course, and how it was designed and implemented. It discusses students’ anonymous written feedback and tutor’s field notes and observations, which reveal course’s pitfalls and strengths according to its objectives and methods. It finally includes suggestions for future improvements and more general recommendations concerning the integration of IL into teacher education settings.