Information-seeking behaviour of prospective geography teachers at the National University of Lesotho

Introduction. This paper reports a study on informationseeking behaviour of prospective geography teachers at the National University of Lesotho based on their experiences during teaching practice. It is part of a larger doctoral study on information needs and information-seeking patterns of secondary level geography teachers in Lesotho. Method. The study used a questionnaire survey of the prospective geography teachers, which yielded a 74.2% (46/62) response rate. Analysis. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences to provide descriptive statistics. Results. It was found that the scope of the information needed by prospective geography teachers covers content that has to be delivered in class, teaching methods, educational policies and learners’ assessment. Various styles of information-seeking such as collaborative and serendipitous were used. The teachers experienced a lack of information sources at schools. They preferred traditional information sources such as books, personal knowledge and other teachers in host schools. Modern electronic sources such as the internet were hardly used, probably due to unavailability and teachers’ limited information literacy skills. Conclusion. Realising the value of information in learning and teaching, more needs to be done to improve availability of information resources and teachers’ information literacy skills in least developed countries such as Lesotho.