Abstract:

The affluence of information sources we currently experience due to economic prosperity of western cultures and modern information technologies seems to have, apart from its positive effects associated with the ready availability of information, some negative ones as well. These seem to be related to the counterproductive way students utilize these sources, which, in some cases, may hinder their progress, reduce the efficiency of the overall educational process, and render teachers frustrated due to their students not coming prepared to their seminars.

Besides looking into factors affecting intake, retention and recall of new information among Swedish university students, which appear to be directly associated with the scarcity principle and perceived value of the information sources the students use, the paper also discusses their inability to deploy relevant cognitive and metacognitive strategies in the process of learning, the impact of exposure to a certain assessment, learning and grading culture, as well as possible solutions to the issue.

Keywords:

Intake, retention, recall, efficiency of education, scarcity principle, electronic information sources, assessment culture.