Published Paper Details:

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is a crucial civic skill in digital societies, yet context-sensitive, grounded studies on Indian higher education students'competencies in MIL are only a few. This pilot study focused on one such gap and laid the groundwork for development and preliminary validation of a MIL questionnaire to address the needs of Indian undergraduate students with reference to UNESCO framework for MIL and Potter's cognitive model. It was administered to 50 students of Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi. For this study, the exploratory diagnostic design focused on the clarity, structure, discriminant ability and conceptual validity of the instrument. Results suggested strong digital access with functional levels of competency in the more complex processes of information searching and organization. However, higher levels of evaluative and participatory literacy in the critical aspects of social and civic engagement with varied civic spheres, advanced verification, and the creation of multimedia resources were absent. The instrument provided strong evidence of face, content, and construct validity in the cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral domains of literacy. Minor recommendations included removing binary response options, assessing critical AI literacy, and deepening the constructs of verification and civic action. The pilot has limitations of sample size and context but the questionnaire was found to be useful for further studies to measure MIL competencies.