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A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF MICROLEARNING FOR INFORMATION LITERACY INSTRUCTION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES
Open accessAbstract
With digital learning and the changing needs of students, information literacy instruction in academic libraries has evolved. Microlearning is consists of short and targeted learning units to support this development. This narrative review covers the characteristics, applications, benefits, shortcomings and future directions of microlearning for information literacy instruction. A broad and iterative search of scholarly literature was undertaken to identify relevant studies, which were then synthesised to identify common themes and research gaps. The findings suggest that microlearning facilitates flexible and learner-centred instruction and is especially valuable for specific, task-oriented Informa literacy skills. But its effectiveness depends on proper instructional design and not just on brevity or technical quality. The major challenges are fragmented learning, instructional continuity, sustainability and limited application of learning theories. Current research also relies heavily on learner perceptions and offers little evidence of actual learning outcomes. Microlearning should therefore supplement rather than replace comprehensive information literacy instruction. Future research should also strengthen the evaluation of the learning outcomes and application of instructional design theories.
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Castro-Alonso, J. C., de Koning, B. B., Fiorella, L., & Paas, F. (2021) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-021-09606-9 · Cited by 278
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Metadata
- Authors
- Mohd Sapri, N. A. A., Mohd Ridwan, N. S., Mahmood, M., & Zanol Rashid, A. N.
- Affiliations
- UiTM Kedah, Malaysia
- Universiti Teknologi MARA System (MY)
- Venue
- International Journal of Modern Education
- Published
- 2026-09-24
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 31
- Pages
- 1410
- ISSN
- 2637-0905 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7223559848
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Modern Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Universiti Teknologi MARA
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
- Social Sciences › Education › E-Learning and COVID-19
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Web and Library Services
- Keywords
- microlearning, information literacy instruction, academic libraries, instructional design, student-centered learning, fragmented learning, learning outcomes, online learning, library instruction
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