Advancing of biology students’ information literacy: an investigation of three different learning models

Information literacy (IL) is an essential skill for Biology students amidst the development of information flow. Several studies show that students’ IL is still low and needs to be improved. One of the courses that students consider difficult is Animal Physiology due to the nature of the discipline. Educators tend to apply three different learning models, namely Brain-Based Learning – Reading, Mind Mapping, and Sharing (BBLRMS), Brain-Based Learning (BBL), and Direct Instruction (DI). This research aimed to determine the effect of these learning on the information literacy of biology students, and find out which learning model is superior in advancing their information literacy. The research was completed in a semester, and the data collection process was through a pretest and posttest using multiple choice questions distributed through Google Forms. The research results show that the choice of learning model affects the progress of biology students' IL, and that BBLRMS is a learning model that is superior to the BBL and DI models in this respect. BBLRMS has very structured stages (including adding reading activities in the first stage, making a mind map in the second step, and verification activities in the sixth stage).