The theory I am looking into for my research in critical theory analysis as I aim to propose digital literacy as a critical literacy for college readiness. The focus of my research so far is in Digital Literacy in Higher Education. This interest stems from a problem I see and deal with everyday as a librarian, teacher, and academic which is that students of all ages and backgrounds are not equitably able to navigate diverse information sources to find 1) what they are looking for 2) transfer any success in one system to another information system. My research plan is to perform a systematic literature review using Okoli’s eight step guide. The second paper in my research plan is a mixed-methods study which I am designing using information from this class. The third project is to design a new survey and assessment tool to measure digital literacy in higher education for current and incoming students. I want to increase the retention of students from freshman to sophomore year and provide a plan for faculty to develop students’ skills for better career readiness.
My mixed method plan so far is heavily quantitative as I am working with a research from South Korea on a digital literacy survey she used across seven universities and is willing to translate for me. With access to this survey, I can begin to assess the inclusion or reduction of questions to predictive values in the United States. I do not have a plan for the qualitative part of my study. I am drawn to the process of deductive reasoning as it allows me to find a theory, make predictions based on the theory, and then use observation or experiment to test it. Here is my working dissertation research plan:
I find an affinity with critical theory (CT) because 1) digital literacy could be used as a tool for oppression to alienate some voices or promote others through equitable access and development of this skill and 2) digital literacy is a complex problem. I like that CT seeks to challenge world views and the underlying power structures that create them by “examining oppression and routing to challenging oppression, focusing on exploitation of parts of society (alienation) and society’s view of people as political or other objects (reification)” (Bronner 2011). I also believe that digital literacy is a complex problem which aligns with CT’s core principle that “evolution of society is making it increasingly complex and so more difficult to investigate” (Ryan, 2018).
Bronner, S. (2011). Critical theory a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, NewYork, USA
Ryan, G. (2018). Introduction to positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Nurse Researcher, 25(4), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.7748/NR.2018.E1466
Okoli, C. (2015). A Guide to Conducting a Standalone Systematic Literature Review. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 37(43). http://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol37/iss1/43
Stommel, J., Friend, C., & Morris, S. (2020). Critical Digital Pedagogy (1st ed.). Hybrid Pedagogy Inc. https://cdpcollection.pressbooks.com/front-matter/introduction/
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