현재의 정보화 사회에서는 엄청난 양의 정보가 매일 생산 및 소멸되고 있으며 이러한 사회 속에서 일방적으로 제공 되어지는 기존의 정보습득형의 학습방식으로는 학습자에 필요한 정보를 조직하고 재생산하여 학습의 장에 적용하는데 있어 많은 어려움이 있다. 초등학생을 비롯한 학습자들의 경우, 주변에 산재해 있는 많은 정보들 중에 자신에게 필요한 것을 선택하고, 그것을 분석/재조직하여 자신의 필요에 적합한 새로운 정보를 생산해 내는 능력을 갖추도록 요구가 점점 더 강조되어지고 있다. 따라서 필요한 정보를 인식한 후 습득-종합-분석의 과정을 거쳐 최종적으로 정보를 활용하기까지의 정보리터러시 능력이 정보화시대에 살고 있는 학생들을 비롯한 우리들 모두에게 문자를 해독할 수 있는 능력만큼이나 중요하다고 볼 수 있고, 정보리터러시의 수준이 높을수록 정보화 사회가 제공하는 다양한 자료를 접할 수 있는 기회와 그 기회에 따른 최적의 선택과 활용에 대한 기회의 가능성이 그 만큼 증가한다고도 볼 수 있다. 학습자들이 생활 및 학습에 필요한 사고력으로는 몇 가지가 있는데, 이중 비판적 사고력은 무엇을 믿고 해야 될 것인가에 대하여 판단을 내릴 때 작용하는 합리적이고 반성적인 사고로서 증거의 신뢰성, 논증의 타당성에 강조를 두고 있다. 비판적 사고력의 향상은 관련 요소들의 개발 및 다양한 프로그램 개발을 통해 학습의 장에 투입함으로써 가능해지는데, 본 연구에서는 Irving의 정보리터러시 모형에 기초한 정보리터러시 활동이 비판적 사고력(기능영역, 성향영역)에 있어 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 분석해보고, 비판적 사고력의 상, 중, 하 그룹에 따른 정보리터러시 활동의 변화를 살펴보고자 한다.

Tremendous amount of information is being produced and is disappearing everyday in today's information society, and for learners there is great difficulty in organizing and reproducing the necessary information relying solely on the existing information-acquiring learning method that is taught unilaterally in schools. There is a greater demand for learners, including elementary school students, to be able to select the necessary information out of the numerous information available in their surroundings, and be able to analyze and reorganize them in order to produce new information suitable to their own needs. Information literacy, or the ability to utilize new information after acquiring, synthesizing, and analyzing existing information is increasingly becoming crucial - as much as the ability to read - for learners in information society, and as one's proficiency in it increases, the opportunity to come in contact with various data that information-orientated society can provide and the ability to optimally select and apply the right information correspondingly increase. There are various modes of thinking learners need to possess today, but among these, critical thinking emphasizes reliability of evidence and validity of arguments as a rational and reflective method of thinking used to determine what to believe and how to act. An increase in critical thinking ability is possible by developing related elements and utilizing various programs on scenes of learning, and this research examines the influence activities based on Irving's info-literacy model has on critical thinking power (areas of function and tendency), and the change in information literacy they bring to high, intermediate, and low group of critical thinking ability.

Tremendous amount of information is being produced and is disappearing everyday in today's information society, and for learners there is great difficulty in organizing and reproducing the necessary information relying solely on the existing information-acquiring learning method that is taught unilaterally in schools. There is a greater demand for learners, including elementary school students, to be able to select the necessary information out of the numerous information available in their surroundings, and be able to analyze and reorganize them in order to produce new information suitable to their own needs. Information literacy, or the ability to utilize new information after acquiring, synthesizing, and analyzing existing information is increasingly becoming crucial - as much as the ability to read - for learners in information society, and as one's proficiency in it increases, the opportunity to come in contact with various data that information-orientated society can provide and the ability to optimally select and apply the right information correspondingly increase. There are various modes of thinking learners need to possess today, but among these, critical thinking emphasizes reliability of evidence and validity of arguments as a rational and reflective method of thinking used to determine what to believe and how to act. An increase in critical thinking ability is possible by developing related elements and utilizing various programs on scenes of learning, and this research examines the influence activities based on Irving's info-literacy model has on critical thinking power (areas of function and tendency), and the change in information literacy they bring to high, intermediate, and low group of critical thinking ability.

info-literacy, function of critical thinking, tendency of critical thinking