PRUEBAS DE POTENCIA Y CAPACIDAD ANAEROBICAS

Discourse analytic approach helps to map how various understandings and themes are constructed in the research data through speech (Hjerm, Lindgren, & Nilsson, 2014). In this research, both the 2004 (CC2004) and 2014 (CC2014) core curricula were analysed on separate occasions. The CC2004 was analysed first and afterwards the analysis continued to CC2014. In both cases, the analysis process began by reading the material closely. During the first reading, single words were underlined, words that have a central meaning in information literacy: information, searching, seeking, materials, search engines, databases, sources, problems, critically, evaluation, interpret and so forth.

Since the participants in the study were chosen because they represent seventh grade teachers of Finnish Language and Literature, a decision was made for the purposes of the present study to present the information literacy conceptions within the subject of Finnish Language and Literature in the secondary school context. The justification for this was the fact that the CC2004 placed emphasis on information and library skills in the seventh grade Finnish Language and Literature subject. Extracting one unified understanding of information literacy in the CC2014 proved to be impossible, as the various aspects and needs of different subjects dictated various understandings.

The occurrences for analysis were selected according to a three-level structure. First, selection began on the word level. Then on the next reading round, focus was given on the concept level (see Table 6.3.), in which context the underlined word was found. Then these findings were entered into a table. Once the data were entered into a table, the focus was placed on the sentence level. The occurrences in the CC2014 were generally long sentences containing several issues. Expanding the analysis to larger units of text, such as on the sentence-level, the context becomes clearer. The complex sentences made it, however, difficult to choose to which thematic category the issue could be placed. The decision was made according to the most dominant issue, since none of the data material was intended to be placed under analysis more than once. Table 6.3 is an attempt to make the process of choosing occurrences more open and understandable.

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Table 6.3. The presentation of the method in choosing issues for further analysis.

Word level Concept level Occurrence on the sentence level Information Using information “Producing, interpreting, and

communicating information…”

Grades 7–9, transversal competencies, multiliteracy: “Producing, interpreting, and

communicating information are practised in ways characteristic of different subjects and in cooperation between subjects.” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 303)

Searching Searching for

information “…opportunities for searching for, using, and producing information…”

Grades 7–9, Finnish Language and Literature, objectives relating to learning environments and working methods in mother tongue and literature in grades 7–9: “The objective is to

create a collaborative learning environment that promotes the pupils’ learning-to-learn skills and offers plenty of linguistic stimuli and opportunities for searching for, using, and producing information even in extensive texts, also in multimedia environments.” (Finnish National

Board of Education, 2016, p. 309)

Criticism Critical literacy “…to guide the pupil to develop analytical

and critical literacy….”

Grades 7–9, Finnish Language and Literature, objectives: “…to guide the pupil to develop

analytical and critical literacy, to practise making observations from texts and interpreting them using appropriate concepts, and to establish and expand his or her vocabulary and resource of concepts.” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 311)

Sources Information sources “…invite them to find information in

different sources and assess sources of information.”

General part, organisation of school work, school library activities: “The purpose of the

library activities is to encourage the pupils in their independent reading and personal choices of reading material, satisfy their need for information, and invite them to find information in different sources and assess sources of information.” (Finnish National Board of Education,

2016, p. 45)

Search Search engines “… to use search engines…”

Grades 7–9, general part, transversal competencies in ICT: Information management and

inquiry-based and creative work: The pupils are guided to use key search engines, try different tools, and complete small assignments of acquiring information on different topics and matters of personal interest.” (Finnish National Board of Education, 2016, p. 107)

The second step was to place all of the occurrences within the three different levels in an Excel document. The third step was to organise these collected data within ten thematic areas. Ten themes emerged from the chosen occurrences. These ten themes are slightly different in the CC2004 and CC2014 data. There were substantial differences in the number of occurrences in the different themes. The number of

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occurrences, however, do play a role in pointing out the weight put on the phases by how many times the chosen issues were mentioned in the text and in the interviews. From these thematic categories, the information literacy conception was extracted into phases, after which the phases were then arranged in a process-like representation. The occurrences in each phase were counted to make it easier to perceive the weight put on every phase.

Table 6.4. Thematic division of IL themes in CC2004.

Expectation Skills Action

Researching Critical thinking Problem solving Media aspects Process Information management

skills Using information Sources Information seeking

Table 6.5. Thematic division of IL themes in CC2014.

Expectation Skills Action

Life-long learning Critical thinking Asking

Researching Multiliteracy Problem solving Information management

skills Process

Using information Information seeking

The material was scrutinised several times during the different phases of analysis. The final analysis involved choosing certain parts of text to analyse, as was explained in Table 6.3. A synthesis was created from this thematic division and, thereafter, the analysis results were moulded and compressed into a final form: the conception of information literacy. The most natural way to arrange the entire information literacy material located in the CC2014 was to place it in a type of process representation. In a process, there are always things that should be done and actions to be performed before one can proceed to the next phase. Working with information requires the existence of meaningfully chosen information. The choice of the discourse analytic approach made it possible for the information literacy conception to emerge from those data. However, it should be acknowledged that a process representation is not

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always straightforward; it was, however, the most representative way to present the findings.

The present study also made use of quantitative research methods as the occurrences, which were chosen for final analysis, were counted. This was done in a similar fashion with both texts. This was motivated by the need to obtain clarity in the issues emphasised in the texts. The numerical expressions represent the level of significance placed on the different issues in the different phases.

6.2.3. Interviews

According to Fontana and Frey (2000), the interview is one of the most common and the most powerful way to try to understand other people in a research situation. Nilsson writes that a qualitative interview gives a lot of room and freedom to express the interviewees’ thoughts around the theme. They also present an opportunity to engage in deep interpretation and to find meaning in the material (Nilsson, 2014, p. 149). A semi-structured interview model was chosen as the method to gather data in the present study. The interviews provided answers to research questions 2 and 3: What are the information literacy conceptions of 7th grade teachers of Finnish Language and Literature and school librarians? What differences or similarities are there between teachers’ and school librarians’ conceptions of information literacy and those present in the core curriculum of 2014?

The semi-structured interview represents a type of interview where the subjects and questions are decided upon in advance, but progressing in a linear manner is not necessary (Dalen, 2007, p. 34). This type of interview gives the interviewed person more freedom in answering. Moreover, the interviewees are able to answer the questions in their own words, which is why this type of interview was chosen for the present study. In Hirsjärvi and Hurme, semi-structured interviews are associated with theme interviews and focused interviews (2000, p. 9). Focused interview was presented by Merton, Fiske and Kendall in 1956 (1990). Merton et al. present four characteristics for a focused interview. Firstly, participating persons have to be acquainted with the theme or issue faced in the interview. Secondly, the interviewee has acknowledged the themes and situations faced by the interview participants and is knowledgeable of these aspects through investigations of earlier scientific research. Thirdly, the interviewer needs to create an interview guide accordingly. Finally, the interview focuses on persons’ subjective experience in these situations and aims at revealing the interviewees’ definition of the situation (Merton et al., 1990).

The starting point for this type of interview is the interviewer’s previous knowledge of the interviewees’ experience with the interview theme which they are able to use to provide their own definitions and educated opinions of the thematic issues under

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study (Hirsjärvi & Hurme, 2000, p. 47). The ten interviews in the present study warranted a deep analysis of the material.

The interviews were structured as follows (see Appendices 3 and 4): • personal and basic information

• terminology (information literacy, information management skills and multiliteracy)

• working with pupils

• teacher/school librarian cooperation • changes in understanding

• multiple choice task

Personal information provided knowledge about the age structure of the respondents and of the length of their careers. The section for terminology provided better understanding of the concepts.

The last part of the interview was a multiple-choice task comprising eight questions, which the interviewees answered quietly on their own as the last part of the interview. The questionnaire was a modification of Streatfield and Markless’s (1994) model of Four Phases of School Development. The purpose was to ascertain the schools’ divergent views of the functions and activities happening in the school library environment between different actors. However, this part of the interview did not yield information as rich as the actual interviews and therefore the results of this part were not reported.

The interview transcripts were handled in the same way as the CC2004 and CC2014 texts. After the transcriptions were made, the texts were read carefully, and the results related to the interviewees’ personal understanding of concept and possible traces of information literacy conceptions were marked and gathered into one document. The understandings of the information literacy were composed on a personal level in the working phase. The comparison was then presented on the profession level. The information literacy conceptions of individual research participants are not presented in study results.

Information literacy conceptions were constructed from the answers to the questions in the section for terminology (see Appendices 3 and 4). There are three terms under investigation: information literacy, information management skills and multiliteracy. The analysis of the core curriculum did not separate these three terms and, therefore, the final representation of information literacy conceptions evident in the interviews will not make this separation either. However, the understanding of

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terminology is reported separately in the results section of the present study, since the understanding of single terms is an essential part of the research as a whole.

A combined analysis of the CC2014 and the IL conceptions of the teachers and school librarians is presented in Chapter 10. In this chapter the conceptions regarding the three different terms are merged under the common domain of information literacy. The understandings of all three terms are combined under the title of information literacy conception. This decision was done while the data analysis progressed. The justification for this decision is found in discourse analytic approach. As earlier (p. 66) Annemaree Lloyd considered “understanding of information literacy as a complex constellation of experiences and relationships with a range of information modalities emerging”. There was reason to expect the defining of different conceptions to be difficult for the research participants and this showed to be true. Drawing clear lines between the studied conceptions and their orally stated meanings lead to a combined analysis. It was already earlier discussed that information management skills is situated close to information literacy (see Section 2.2.). Furthermore, multiliteracy encompasses some of the features of information literacy according to the findings of Kupiainen et al (2015). For the user, there is no need to draw boundaries, and no one’s conception is better than others’, just different.

All of the transcribed interview material was used to present quotations and to construct the conceptions as a whole. Interview questions 14 to 17 provide further valuable insight into understanding the construction of discourses. See below:

14. Do you have discussions with the school librarian/teacher about which information management skills should be taught and why? 15. Which aspects or areas of information management skills are most often

a subject of discussions in the school environment?

16. Do you feel that the school librarian / teacher understands the term information management skills in the same way than you?

a) Why do you think this is?

17. Do you feel that the school librarian / teacher understands the term information literacy in the same way than you?

a) Why do you think this is?

These questions provided further understanding of the issues during interviews from where the understandings of information literacy conceptions may arise and how information literacy is conceptualised in teachers’ and school librarians’ minds. These are studies in Chapters 11 and 12.

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7. Information literacy conceptions in 2004 and 2014