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Stimulated recall method and ICTs

Data gathering methods such as interview and video observation are employed a lot in research on teaching. Stimulated recall interview method (which is widely used at the University of Helsinki Department of Teacher Education, e.g. Toom 2006) combines video and interview so that when interviewing a teacher, a video of her/his lesson is displayed for closer focus on teacher’s actions during the teaching. However, there is a risk of concentrating too much on teacher and forgetting the most important aspect of all classroom activities – the student learning. Therefore, in addition to video-stimuli, another valuable cue for interview situation can be screenshots from the student desktops.

In a computer lab environment (as partly in my PhD project), some practical advices for data gathering with stimulated recall method were spotted:

  • The video recording of the lesson gives a good overview of the classroom situations but does not necessarily highlight the students’ learning processes.
  • Where students are using ICTs, there is special screenshot software (e.g. InstantShot! for Mac) for capturing all the events on the computer screens. However, integrating that data into the interview situation might need quite a lot of data processing on the computer before the data are in a sensible format for stimulated recall purposes.
  • When the software that students are using, has a playback or recorder function as in CmapTools software, the process is very easy to recall by opening the file saved by the student and playing the recorded steps of the process. With the recorder function, both interviewer and interviewee can ‘play’, ‘pause’, or navigate to particular steps in the recording using the ‘back’ and ‘forward’ buttons.
  • During the interview, the actual interplay between video and concept map recordings takes place as ‘diving’ into a student’s learning process. The concept map recordings are used to get closer to the student’s learning process when the student is on the video or the interviewed teacher is recalling something from the lesson related to that student.

>> An example of (fast forwarded) CmapTools playback of student’s concept map process.

Read more:

Vesterinen, O., Toom, A. & Patrikainen, S. (2010). The stimulated recall method and ICTs in research on the reasoning of teachers. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 33(2), pp. 183–197.

Two articles

Two new publications include contributions by me and my colleagues.

Kynäslahti, H., Vesterinen, O. & Tella, S. 2007. Mediakasvatuksen näkökulma informaatiolukutaitoon (Information Literacy from the Perspective of Media Education). In A. Nevgi (Ed.) Informaatiolukutaito yliopisto-opetuksessa. (Information Literacy in Higher Education.) Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 71–80.
>> orders bookplus.fi

The other one is available online.

Vesterinen, O. 2007. Mediakasvatus oppilaitosinstituution yhte(nä)isenä alueena. (Media Education as a Shared/Wholistic Area of School Institution.) In H. Kynäslahti, R. Kupiainen & M. Lehtonen (Eds.) Näkökulmia mediakasvatukseen (Points of View of Media Education). The Finnish Society on Media Education, 73–85.
www.mediaeducation.fi/publications/

Fields of Media Education

Figure 1. Bird’s eye view for the main components of the 3D-model.

Since education has been many times divided to formal and informal, it is relevant in media education as well (see Figure 1). To define this, it is fertile to see that the formal media education is delimited to institutional processes (e.g. in schools). The third branch is a certain kind of technology-oriented approach mostly pushed by the market forces and economy. However, the educational policy-making is related to this too through their information society campaigns etc. Technology-oriented approach has often been seen as a counterforce for two first ones (e.g. Pulkkinen 2003).

Figure 2. Perspective 1 (click picture to see it bigger).

From another view, the technology-oriented is farthermost of the three branches in this three-dimensional figure (see Figure 2). The subject or context of the research on informal media education, as far as I can see, has two trends or fields of research. The other one leans to psychology, especially media psychology (e.g. Anu Mustonen), and the other one has its roots in mass media and communication (e.g. Kotilainen 2004). Media literacy or media proficiency can be seen as an ultimate goal for all media education. I will return to these concepts later.

Figure 3. Perspective 2 (120º left from Perspective 1).

In Figure 3 the informal media education is at the back. The institutional media education (now shifted to left) has two branches as well. Pedagogy refers to the quality of the teaching-studying-learning process organised by the teacher, tutor, etc. Education instead, concentrates on well-being of the children and youth. At a same time, the technology-orientation has its own influence to the whole media education field.

Figure 4. Simplified version as a two-dimensional figure to highlight the relation to my dissertation.

In my dissertation the values and evaluation of the class teacher are focal (see Figure 4). Pedagogical values could be defined as methodological and result-oriented values of teaching–studying–learning. Educational values instead are connected to what is in the interest of a person growing up in the society. The latter are also closer to values in the culture of the institution (e.g. school) concerned.

In class teacher’s evaluation of the teaching-studying-learning process s/he conducts, the goal-oriented/purposive focus leans on the general goals set for teaching, studying and learning with or without media/ICTs integration. Correspondingly, the technology focus is dominated by the concern for the pupil. Either the class teacher feels that every pupil should learn the basic skills in ICT or s/he sees that pupils should be protected from the media, computers and digital games.

Media proficiency is very much related to modern definitions of media literacy (see e.g. Varis 2003), which nowadays include more active and participatory role than literacy as such would imply. Compared to media competence for example, media proficiency has unlimited potential. Tella (MEP 9, 2000) sees that “competence is more and more often used to refer to some kind of basic or minimum level of expertise, while proficiency, for instance, implies a more dynamic, active and higher level of performance”.

As far as teachers are concerned, media proficiency combines professional expertise of a teacher and his/her personal skills in a society and life in general.