INFORMATION COMPETENCE AS A KEY SKILL IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

 In the digital environment, the ability to search for, evaluate, organize, and ethically use information has become an important component of students’ academic and professional preparation. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of information competence among students in pedagogical programs and determine the areas requiring further improvement. The pilot study involved 80 students from the Department of pedagogy and psychology at the Astana International University. Data were collected using an author-developed questionnaire covering the information-search, critical-analytical, technological-operational, productive-creative, and ethical-normative components of information competence and were processed using descriptive statistical methods. Responses were analyzed using absolute frequencies, percentages, and 95% confidence intervals. The results showed that students actively use publicly available search engines but experience certain difficulties in working with academic databases, verifying the reliability of information, and organizing information systematically. Students’ self-assessments of their skills did not always correspond to their reported information practices. The findings highlight the need to develop students’ skills in selecting scholarly sources, evaluating information reliability, managing digital resources, and complying with academic ethics through practice-oriented tasks. The results reflect preliminary trends that should be verified in future studies involving larger and more diverse samples.