Assessing students' theses in the context of developing digital information culture

The object of the study is the research activity of students, and the subject is the evaluation of final qualification works (FWK) as its main result and final information product, as well as the manifestations of the information culture of graduates. The article justifies the information culture as a more complex personally conditioned quality compared to functional information skills and abilities, highlighting the necessity of its development among students in the context of the easy accessibility of digital information. The aim of this research is to reveal the possibilities of shifting the focus of the assessment of final qualification works towards the activation of digital information culture. The study is based on the analysis of contemporary scientific and methodological publications dedicated to the organization of the process of preparing and evaluating final qualification works in the context of digitization of information activities. The author explores opportunities for shifting the focus of evaluation from the substantive relevance of students' information creativity towards personal significance and meaningful content. The main method of the research is the analysis of empirical data obtained from participant observation during the author's own practice. The method of abstraction is also actively used, allowing for substantive reasoning regardless of the specific profile or topic of the student work, and the method of synthesis, on the basis of which specific proposals for improving the assessment approach are formulated. Although the reflections are conducted using final qualification works as an example, their generality gives them a universal property, allowing their application to coursework or project presentations – in general, to any independently produced student information products. This theoretical generality, combined with specific proposals, suggests the methodological novelty of this article. As a result, the author concludes that, from the perspective of developing information culture in the digital age, the assessment of final qualification works should shift from formal-textual originality towards substantive originality; from general relevance towards personal significance; and from formal novelty towards local personal judgments, viewpoints, and perspectives of students.

thesis, information culture, digital space, personal significance, content quality, research work, information product, tutor, academic board, information availability