scholarly journals Relevancy Trumps Format When Teaching Information Literacy

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Giovanna Badia
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Experimental Group

A Review of: Tewell, E. C. (2014). Tying television comedies to information literacy: A mixed-methods investigation. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(2), 134-141. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2014.02.004 Abstract Objective – This study assessed the effects of showing television comedy clips to demonstrate information literacy concepts when teaching one-shot instruction sessions. More specifically, it examined whether the students’ retention and understanding increased when television comedy clips were used and whether students preferred instruction that included popular culture examples. Design – A mixed-methods investigation that employed multiple-choice questionnaires and focus group interviews. Setting – A small liberal arts college in the United States of America. Subjects – A total of 211 freshmen students enrolled in a First-Year Studies course. The students were divided into 16 class sections. The author collected a total of 193 valid responses to the pretests and posttests in his study. Methods – Half of the class sections (103 respondents) were taught selected information literacy concepts using television comedy clips and a group discussion led by the instructor. The other half (90 respondents) were taught using only an instructor-led discussion. The classes were randomly selected to belong to the experimental group (with TV comedy clips) or the control group (without TV comedy clips). An online pretest questionnaire, consisting of 10 multiple-choice questions, was administered at the beginning of the 90-minute library instruction session for both groups. An online posttest questionnaire, consisting of the same questions as the pretest but in a randomized order, was completed by the students at the end of the session. About a month later, one-hour focus group interviews were conducted with a small subset of the study’s subjects who volunteered to participate in the focus groups. The experimental focus group consisted of five study participants who had attended a library instruction session that involved showing the television comedy clips and the control focus group consisted of six study participants who had attended a library instruction session that did not include showing the television comedy clips. Main Results – The experimental group scored higher than the control group on the posttest with an average “increase of 1.07 points from pre- to posttest compared to a 0.13 mean increase in the control group” (p. 139), which means that the experimental group answered one more question correctly. Four out of the five participants in the experimental focus group also discussed the television comedy clips even though they were not asked about them. Conversely, when asked about what they enjoyed in the class, the majority of participants from both focus groups discussed the content covered in the session rather than any teaching methods employed. “The quantitative results suggest that student test results either increased, as in the experimental group, or remained relatively level, as in the control group, due to the type of instruction received” (p. 137). Conclusion – The author states that the results from the test questionnaires and answers from focus group sessions indicate that using television comedy clips may be a successful way of improving students’ retention of course content. However, the study’s results could not demonstrate that students liked classes with popular culture examples more than classes without them, since the majority of focus group participants found the course content more interesting than the manner in which the content was taught. The relevancy of the content presented in an information literacy session appears to make more of an impact on the students than the format in which it is presented.

scholarly journals The Effect of Research Evidence-Based Teaching Practices in Science Classrooms on Student Teachers' Attitudes towards Educational Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-326
Author(s):  
Nail Ilhan
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Experimental Group

Research in the field of education plays a pivotal role in developing evidence-based practices in teaching and improving the quality of education. However, research conducted in recent years has highlighted the unwillingness of teachers to benefit from scientific studies. This study set out to assess whether Research Evidence-Based Practices in Science Teaching (EBPST) influences the teaching practices of student teachers and their attitudes towards education research. Mixed methods research design was used in this study. The study was conducted through Quasi-experimental methods and focus group interviews. The data were collected with the "Teachers Attitude Scale towards Educational Research (TASTER)" and focus group interviews. Participants of the study included 106 third-year undergraduate student teachers. The experimental group applied EBPST during their teaching, while the control group applied existing traditional teaching at primary schools. The Quantitative findings showed that student teachers in the experimental group had significantly increased positive attitudes towards educational research when compared with student teachers in the control group. In addition, qualitative findings revealed that several factors negatively and positively influence the understanding and use of educational research for student teachers on the applicability of EBPST. Considering the results of this study, student teachers' EBPST effect on improving their attitudes, understanding, and the use of educational research in teaching.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL EXERCISE BUDDY PROGRAM ON PARTICIPANTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S871-S872
Author(s):  
Eun hae Kim ◽  
Kyong Hee Chee ◽  
Clay DeStefano ◽  
Anna Broome
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Exercise Classes

Abstract Structured social support may enhance the benefits of an exercise class for participants. This study examined the effects of an intergenerational exercise buddy program on participant well-being. A convenience sampling was used to recruit participants from Central Texas (N = 51): 34 were community-dwelling adults aged 65 and above, and 17 were university students aged 18-25 years. The study used a pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design and focus group interviews. Randomly selected 18 older-adult participants were paired with young-adult participants as an exercise buddy for each other to attend 8 weekly Tai Chi or Chair Yoga classes at a community center. Meanwhile, 16 older-adult participants formed a control group attending different exercise classes without young-adult buddies. The survey results show that, compared to the control group, the intervention group (n = 35) had significantly greater satisfaction with life (p < .09 ) and a more positive attitude towards aging (p < .01) after attending exercise classes with their buddies. In focus group interviews, the participants most frequently mentioned that commitment to their buddies as a key factor for class attendance. The participants typically perceived that their buddies were pleasant and did not judge or treat them based on their age. They stressed the positive effects of building relationships with all involved in the program, including the exercise instructors. Meanwhile, control-group participants wished that they, too, had buddies. Although the study should be replicated with a larger sample, its findings suggest that an intergenerational exercise program offers added benefits for participants.

One Tough Cookie: Exploring Black Women’s Responses to Empire’s Cookie Lyon

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-304
Author(s):  
Melissa A Click ◽  
Sarah Smith-Frigerio
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Black Female ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
The Family ◽  
Women Viewers ◽  
Group Interviews

Abstract The premier of Empire in January 2015 drew 9.8 million viewers and became FOX's highest-rated series debut in three years. In this episode, we are introduced to the terminally-ill CEO of Empire Entertainment, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), who must decide which of his three sons will inherit the family business. To further complicate the decision, his ex-wife, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), is released from prison after 17 years. The strength of the performances from the main cast, and those of celebrity guest stars, bolster the drama that unfolds, explaining why Empire was incredibly popular with audiences, and black audiences in particular. We examine the series's representations of blackness through focus group interviews with 31 black women viewers, exploring how they made sense of Cookie and compared her to black female leads on other series. Our interviews reveal that Cookie's complexities inspire identification and anxiety, engage broader debates about popular culture representations, and clarify black women's desires to see multifaceted images of themselves and their communities on television.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Applying Multimedia Web-Based Technologies in Culinary Skills Training

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liwei Hsu ◽  
Ming-Yu Chang Chien ◽  
Ming-Yu Chang Chien
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Qualitative Part ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the use of multimedia web-based technologies in culinary skills training with a mixed method. One hundred high school students of hospitality programme in Taiwan were recruited and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups respectively using multimedia web-based educational technologies and traditional educational methods, with two dishes (one basic and one advanced) as target contents to be learned and delivered. The findings indicated that the experimental group performed better on both dishes. The effect size validated the applicability of multimedia web-based technologies in culinary skills training. A focus group of 10 interviewees from the experimental group were formed for qualitative part of research. Furthermore, results of focus group interviews revealed that convenience was mentioned by eight interviewees as a benefit of the experimental instructional method, while the ability to present material with captions was seen as the most significant functionality.

scholarly journals Health Engagement Living Lab Project: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study To Advance Self-Care Agency Among Migrant Workers In South Korea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youlim Kim ◽  
Hyeonkyeong Lee ◽  
Sookyung Kim ◽  
Junghee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Living Lab ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Care Agency

Abstract Background: Migrant workers struggle to access health services and adapt to a new culture. Self-care agency can be important for health self-management. It is necessary to investigate in detail how migrant workers engage in health promotion behaviors. This study examines the effects of a health engagement program to improve self-care agency using a living lab approach among migrant workers living in South Korea. Methods: Participants included 42 migrant workers from 9 countries, recruited via flyers, posters, and internet bulletins posted by a migrant community organization. This pilot study used a mixed-methods design including a nonequivalent pre-post-test control group and three focus group interviews. During the 12-week period, only the intervention group participants received four workshops addressing healthy physical activity, healthy dietary habits, effective cultural adaptation, stress management, and two outdoor cultural activities. They also participated in focus group interviews after the second, third, and fourth group activities and discussed the benefits of health behaviors and specific ways to implement them in real life. The control group received no intervention. Results: After the 12-week intervention period, participants in the intervention group showed an increase in the levels of self-care agency (U = 82.5, p < .001), health literacy (U = 91.5, p < .001), and acculturation (U = 119.0, p = .010) compared to the control group. As results of qualitative content analysis, various themes were derived for three areas: healthy diet, acculturation, and stress management based on lessons learned from living lab activities, barriers to health behavior practices and methods to overcome barriers.Conclusions: This study demonstrated that interventions using a living lab were effective in increasing migrants’ participation in health promotion activities by strengthening their self-care agency. The qualitative approach was useful in obtaining more comprehensive results on strategies aimed at enhancing health behavior engagement.

Promoting Health in Type 2 Diabetes: Nurse-Physician Collaboration in Primary Care

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine I. Taylor ◽  
Kathleen M. Oberle ◽  
Rodney A. Crutcher ◽  
Peter G. Norton
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Standard Care ◽  
Bodily Pain ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Global Functioning ◽  
Group Interviews

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of a nurse-physician collaborative approach to care of patients with type 2 diabetes and to determine possible effect sizes for use in computing sample sizes for a larger study. Forty patients from a family practice clinic with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to control or experimental groups. The control group received standard care, whereas the experimental group received standard care plus home visits from a nurse, as well as consultation with an exercise specialist and/or nutritionist. Follow-up continued for 3 months. Clinical end points included standard measures of diabetes activity as well as quality-of-life indicators. Focus group interviews were used to explore patients’ responses to the program. Although findings were not statistically significant, a trend toward small to moderate positive effect sizes was found in glycosylated hemoglobin and blood pressure. Quality oflife measures also showed a trend toward small to moderate, but nonsignificant, improvements in physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, social and global functioning, energy, impact of diabetes, and health distress. Focus group interviews indicated a very positive response from patients, who expressed feelings of empowerment. In this study, patients treated with nurse-physician collaboration demonstrated small, but nonsignificant, improvements in blood chemistry after only 3 months. Physical and social functioning, energy, and bodily pain also showed a small improvement. Changes in awareness of effects of diabetes on health and an expressed sense of self-efficacy suggest that effects could be sustainable over the longer term.

Information Literacy Education: Perceptions, Proficiencies and Experiences of First-Entering Students at TUT

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Manamedi Molepo ◽  
Solomon Bopape
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Library Resources ◽  
Entering Students ◽  
Group Interviews

For students to master information literacy skills, they must attend Information Literacy Education (ILE) offered by academic libraries. This study adopted both quantitative and qualitative research approaches using a questionnaire and focus group interviews, respectively, to investigate the perceptions of the concept “information literacy”, “students’ skills to use library resources”, and “students’ familiarity with different library resources” of first-year students at the library of the Polokwane campus of the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), South Africa, all before and after attendance of the ILE session, as well as to analyse their experiences of the ILE programme which they had attended. The study found that most of the first-entering students had a different perception of the concept “information literacy” in relation to its usage in the academic Library and Information Science (LIS) environment. The questionnaire findings further showed that the students had no skills in using library resources and were not familiar with library resources before they attended the ILE programme. However, the findings from the focus group interviews showed that, after they had attended the ILE session, they became familiar with some of the library resources, and their abilities to use those resources positively improved from novice to advanced and proficient users of information. It is therefore recommended that ILE for students be continuous so that students do not forget or lose focus of what they have learned in the formal ILE programmes. To encourage students’ participation, the attendance of ILE should be compulsory for all first-year entering students across all faculties at the TUT.

scholarly journals Far from a Trivial Pursuit: Assessing the Effectiveness of Games in Information Literacy Instruction

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eamon C Tewell ◽  
Katelyn Angell
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Experimental Group

Abstract Objective – To determine whether playing library-related online games during information literacy instruction sessions improves student performance on questionnaires pertaining to selected research practices: identifying citation types and keyword and synonym development. Methods – 86 students in seven introductory English composition classes at a large urban university in the northeastern United States served as participants. Each class visited the library for library instruction twice during a given semester. In the experimental group students received information literacy instruction that incorporated two online games, and the control group received the same lesson plan with the exception of a lecture in place of playing games. A six-item pre- and posttest questionnaire was developed and administered at the outset and conclusion of the two-session classes. The 172 individual tests were coded, graded, and analyzed using SPSS. Results – A paired sample t-test comparing the control and experimental groups determined that that there was a statistically significant difference between scores on pre-tests and post-tests in the experimental group but not the control group. Conclusion – Students who played the online games improved significantly more from pre-test to post-test than students who received a lecture in lieu of playing online games, suggesting that participating in games related to the instruction they received resulted in an improved ability to select appropriate keywords and ascertain citation formats. These findings contribute to the evidence that online games concerning two frequently challenging research practices can be successfully applied to library instruction sessions to improve student comprehension of such skills.

scholarly journals PROBLEMS OF COHERENCE IN THE WRITING OF VIETNAMESE EFL STUDENTS AND AN INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ WRITING PERFORMANCE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dao Pham
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Phase 2 ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Group Interviews

<p><b>Coherence has been claimed to be one among the difficult aspects of writing to teach and learn . Both teachers and learners find it hard to explain why one piece of writing is incoherent and another is not. There have been a few studies (Gramegna, 2007; Wikborg, 1990) investigating the types of coherence breaks in EFL/ESL writing and a few studies (Johns, 1986; Lee, 2002b) investigating the effects of teaching aspects of coherence on students’ writing performance. However, there have been no studies identifying the coherence problems in students’ writing and then using these to teach students how to avoid these coherence problems. In addition to teaching students to avoid coherence problems, an approach called topical structure analysis (TSA) (Liangprayoon, Chaya, & Thep-ackraphong, 2013; Schneider & Connor, 1990) has been considered as an effective technique to help improve students’ writing coherence. Some studies (Attelisi, 2012; Connor & Farmer, 1990) have examined the effect of teaching TSA in promoting EFL students’ awareness of coherence, but investigating the effect of the combination of teaching coherence problems and TSA on EFL students’ writing performance has not been done in any previous studies. My study fills both of these gaps.</b></p> <p>There are two main phases in my study. In Phase 1, I developed a system of coherence problems based on the analysis of 69 essays written by Vietnamese EFL students. Then, this system of coherence problems was used to identify the types and frequency of coherence problems in the writing of Vietnamese EFL students. In Phase 2, an intervention was conducted in a university in Vietnam. Fifty-eight students participated in the intervention and were divided into a control group and a treatment group. While the combination of teaching the system of coherence problems developed in Phase 1 and teaching TSA was delivered to the treatment group in the intervention, the control group was taught other aspects of writing such as grammar, vocabulary, etc. The aim of Phase 2 of this study was to examine the effect of the intervention on students’ writing performance, especially on coherence and overall writing quality.</p> <p>Data for Phase 1 was 69 essays on a single topic. Using this set of essays, the types of coherence problems and their frequency were identified. Data for Phase 2 included three sets of writing. The first set of writing was 58 essays written by students in both the treatment group and the control group before the intervention was conducted. The second set of writing involved the students revising their first draft right after the intervention finished. The third set of writing was 58 new essays on a different topic from the first and the second sets written by students in the control and treatment groups four weeks after the intervention. These three sets of writing were analysed and rated by the same raters as in Phase 1. In addition, students completed questionnaires and participated in focus group interviews in Phase 2.</p> <p>Findings of Phase 1 show that there were five main types of coherence problems that Vietnamese EFL students had in their writing. These were macrostructure-related problems, topic unity-related problems, paragraph unity-related problems, cohesion-related problems, and metadiscourse-related problems. Of these five main types of coherence problems, paragraph unity-related problems were the most frequent ones, and “no/ little elaboration of the proposition made” was the most frequent subtype of paragraph-unity problems. </p> <p>Findings from Phase 2 show that there was a significant difference in terms of coherence problems, types of topical progression, and writing quality between the two groups after the intervention finished. To be specific, there were significantly fewer instances of coherence problems in the writing of the treatment group than in the writing of the control group, and the scores for coherence and overall quality achieved by the treatment group were significantly higher than those achieved by the control group. Also, the focus group interviews suggest that most students found the intervention helpful in improving their writing performance. This means the combination of teaching coherence problems and TSA to students had a positive impact on students’ writing coherence and writing quality. Based on the findings, some suggestions are made for teaching writing to EFL students in general and for the teaching of coherence in the Vietnamese university context in particular.</p>

scholarly journals Informationskompetence, en opgave for bibliotek og uddannelse i fællesskab

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Bønløkke ◽  
Else Kobow ◽  
Anne-Kirstine Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
University College ◽  
Frame Work ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Integrated Information

Erfaringer og undersøgelser om samarbejde mellem uddannelser og forskningsbiblioteker viser, at ikke alle har en curriculumintegreret indsats og et formaliseret samarbejde om undervisning og vejledning til støtte for udvikling af de studerendes informationskompetence. Et aktionsforskningsprojekt undersøgte, hvad der havde betydning i etablering af et formelt samarbejde mellem bibliotek og uddannelse. I projektet deltog tre bibliotekarer, seks undervisere og en biblioteksleder samt to uddannelsesledere og to projektledere fra VIA University College. Fokusgruppeinterviews, projektprotokoller, referater fra refleksions- og støttemøder samt mailkorrespondance udgjorde data, som blev kvalitativt analyseret. Resultaterne viste, at følgende områder er betydningsfulde: ledelsesstøtte, en anerkendende tilgang, oplevelse af nødvendighed og ejerskab til processen, fælles fokus og mål tilpasset den enkelte uddannelses behov, rammer og ressourcer, faglig støtte og erfaringsudveksling i processen. Research on and experiences from cooperation between faculty libraries and faculties indicate that not all programmes have integrated information literacy in curriculum or have a formalised cooperation between library and faculty on information literacy. Using action research we explored issues at stake when cooperation between library and faculty is initiated. Participants were 3 librarians, 6 educators, 1 library manager, 2 directors of programme and 2 project managers from VIA University College. Data derived from focus group interviews, process protocols, records of reflective sessions and support meetings and mail correspondence was qualitatively analysed. The results showed that the following areas seemed important: Support from the management, an appreciative approach, a need for change, ownership of the process, common focus and goals according to the need of the programme, a set frame work and resources, professional support and sharing of experiences in the process.

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