Literacy Deficiencies Research Articles

Implementing constructivist teaching to foster inclusive educational practices in accounting programmes

ABSTRACT The global underperformance of underrepresented students in accounting programmes is a significant concern. Existing literature identifies socialisation, identity, and literacy deficiencies as factors contributing to this disparity. In South Africa, challenges are compounded by numeracy and literacy skills gaps. Prior interventions have focused on addressing student inadequacies. However, this paper presents a novel contribution by elucidating how accounting educators can facilitate positive outcomes for underrepresented students through constructivist pedagogical principles. Twenty-one Black African chartered accountants reflected on their university experiences during their accounting studies. Insights from interviews underwent thematic analysis aligned with constructivist principles, revealing a prevailing sense of exclusion. Recommendations for promoting inclusive teaching practices include educators redefining their role as facilitators of learning, embracing diversity, fostering reflective practice, introducing tailored study techniques, and promoting peer learning and mentorship. These strategies aim to create a supportive environment nurturing student curiosity and collaboration, aiding their learning journey.

Navigating News Consumption on Social Media: Exploring the Impact of Demographics on Digital Literacy

This study intends to evaluate the impact of demographic variables on digital literacy. A cross-sectional research design was employed to explore impact of demographic variables on digital literacy. Data from respondents was collected through survey method. The researchers used purposive sampling to select media professionals who met specific criteria, as well as convenience sampling to select students who were easily accessible. We chose 200 participants, consisting of 100 individuals from the media industry and an equal number of students. The results indicated that there were notable disparities in digital literacy based on age and level of education. Younger individuals with higher levels of education demonstrated greater proficiency in digital literacy. The study emphasizes critical role of digital literacy in media consumption and need for targeted educational interventions to address digital literacy deficiencies.

Digital literacy skills of students of Sacred Heart College, Chalakudy: an empirical study

PurposeThe study aimed to assess the digital literacy skills of the students of Sacred Heart College, Chalakudy, to know whether they possess the digital literacy skills to perform well in the digital environment. The study also analyzed how digital literacy skills were affected by various factors.Design/methodology/approachThe study used stratified random sampling technique, and data were collected through a self-assessment survey using an online questionnaire designed based on DigComp 2.1: The Digital Competence Framework by the European Commission.FindingsThe results indicated that the college students needed training on digital literacy skills, as the majority students had only moderate to low digital literacy skills. It was proven that exposure to technology and the Internet will not necessarily yield skills to perform well in the digital environment. Also, digital literacy skills were not affected by various factors like age, level of study, etc.Practical implicationsThe study helped to identify the digital literacy deficiencies in the students of Sacred Heart College, and it can serve as a valuable model for conducting similar investigations in diverse educational institutions. Conducting such studies offers institutions valuable insights, enabling them to create and implement personalized digital literacy training programs that can enhance students' abilities to navigate the digital landscape with proficiency and effectiveness. The study results can be insightful for educators, policymakers and the Kerala Government to reassess the current approaches and design an effective curriculum for integrating technology in education.Originality/valueAlthough there are several studies that evaluated college students’ digital literacy in India and other countries, there are very few studies in the context of Kerala. Therefore, this study is distinctive and will serve as an example for all such studies in the future.

Exploring Statistical Literacy Deficiencies and Causal Associations among Master and Doctoral Graduates in Thailand

Exploring Statistical Literacy Deficiencies and Causal Associations among Master and Doctoral Graduates in Thailand

Exploring the elements of strengthening online higher education in disaster risk reduction: a perspective of sustained strategy in post COVID-19

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled higher educational institutions to implement alternative educational strategies that rely heavily on internet accessibility and utilisation to monitor and evaluate students. This study aims to find certain indicators for planning and designing future courses of inclusive online education in the domain of disaster risk reduction (DRR). Design/methodology/approach The study reviews and analyses online teaching and learning experiences of DRR courses. It uses online surveys and interviews to derive the perspectives of selected students and educators in universities in Asia and the Pacific region. Findings Active engagement is considered to be achieved when students are active in chat boxes, through presentations, through assignments and when the video cameras of students are turned on. On the contrary, students perceive active engagement differently because they face emotional disturbances and health issues due to prolonged screen/digital device use, have inadequate information and communications technology infrastructure or have digital literacy deficiencies among others. The study finds that online courses have many sets of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, when they are balanced, they can improve DRR courses in the future. Research limitations/implications The study is based on the outcome of interviews with 10 experienced educators in DRR courses as well as students from different schools taking courses in DRR education. However, the students are not necessarily taking the courses of the educators interviewed due to the inability of some educators to avail themselves and the challenge of contacting the students. This notwithstanding, the results of this study give a general overview of the situation to be considered in the planning and design of online and distance education. Social implications The results do not reflect the reaction of students and tutors of the same course. Future studies of collecting and analyzing the responses from the students and the educators with the same course could provide tailored solutions. Originality/value This study attempts to find solutions to bridging two different perspectives on teaching and learning. The results would be important to strengthening and designing future online courses.

Students' Financial Literacy: Digital Financial Literacy Perspective

Financial instability and a lack of financial literacy are commonly blamed for the growth in bankruptcy and social concerns among the younger generation. Between 2017 and October 2021, 36,173 Malaysians aged 18 to 44 were declared bankrupt, according to the latest numbers from the Malaysian Department of Insolvency. Furthermore, Selangor had the highest number of instances (25 per cent) (MdI, 2021). This problem offers a substantial obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to reduce inequality and promote social and economic inclusion for all citizens. Additionally, due to the recent outbreak of Pandemic COVID-19, financial transactions have shifted from physical to electronic. This circumstance creates an additional risk since it has resulted in the ease of conducting financial transactions. Thus, it is vital for students to have a solid understanding and awareness of online transactions, commonly referred to as digital financial literacy (DFL), to practice sound financial management. Financial literacy deficiencies (both fundamental and digital) would pose a substantial threat to individual financial management. As a result, assessing current university students' financial literacy is crucial. Most of these students will confront financial challenges such as budgeting for study-related costs using the scholarship or pocket money they earned. This research aims to determine the degree of financial literacy (both basic and digital) among Selangor university students. Keywords: Financial literacy, Financial confidence, Digital financial literacy, Digital financial knowledge, Students

Health literacy of undergraduate health profession students in Australia: A comparison of the island State of Tasmania and Other Australian universities

The aim was to explore the health literacy of undergraduate health profession students enrolled at the only university based on the Island of Tasmania and compared with students enrolled at other universities on the main island of Australia. The data was collected as a part of a larger international survey of tertiary health profession students. Capture of baseline evidence about levels of health literacy was to provide direction for how and when to incorporate core and specialised health literacy content into the health profession curriculum to promote work-readiness.This study was a cross-sectional descriptive online survey using a previously validated tool known as the Health Literacy Questionnaire. Variables influence health literacy status of students across Australia, including age, course enrolled in, and language spoken at home. In addition, health status, socio-economic status, and level of parental education influenced health literacy amongst students in Tasmania. These findings were relatively consistent with previous findings of other studies in Australia and other countries reporting health literacy status of health profession students.There is a need to integrate health literacy early in the curriculum of all health courses offered at the University of Tasmania. Medical students consistently demonstrated higher levels of health literacy compared with other health profession students, however, all health students reported health literacy deficiencies. Curriculum design needs to consider the nature of the student cohort with essential foundation modules embedded into the first year of health courses. Specialised modules addressing discipline-specific information also need to be integrated throughout each health profession curriculum.

Abstract C10: Raising HPV awareness in immigrant populations: Are health educators prepared to address health literacy challenges?

Abstract Background: Rates of human papillomavirus virus (HPV) and HPV-related cancers are higher among immigrants, especially those from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Limited health literacy is also more prevalent among immigrant groups. While education is central to HPV prevention and reduction, there is a dearth of research on health educators' understanding of how to educate populations with health literacy deficits. The purpose of this study was to assess the health literacy knowledge and experience of advanced health education students. Methods: A modified Health Literacy Knowledge and Experience Survey (HL-KES) was used to collect data from 250 junior and senior students who reported an intention to take the Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) examination. Descriptive and Spearman rho correlational analyses were conducted. Results: Composite scores on the 29-item knowledge scale ranged from 5-28. Most students (84%) scored below 70%, and only five percent of the sample scored above 80%. Majority of students reported “never” or only “sometimes” engaging in experiences related to health literacy. There was a significant negative correlation between health literacy knowledge and health literacy experience (ρ = -.189, p < .05). Conclusion: The results suggest health education students have deficient health literacy knowledge and limited opportunities to develop practical health literacy experience. Professional preparation programs may need to revise their curricula to address health literacy deficiencies in course offerings. Citation Format: Lenna Dawkins-Moultin, E. Lisako McKyer, Andrea McDonald. Raising HPV awareness in immigrant populations: Are health educators prepared to address health literacy challenges? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr C10.

Thoughts of Rural Development through Developing Financial Skills

The issue of financial literacy is of greater concern in developed countries than the developing nations. Financial literacy gained far more importance after the financial distresses and become the pre-requisite with the objective to avoid financial crisis by attaining financial stability. In recent years, financial literacy has gained the attention of a wide range of major banking companies, government agencies, grass-roots consumer and community interest groups, and other organizations. Interested groups, including policymakers, are concerned that consumers residing in rural India lack a working knowledge of financial concepts and do not have the tools they need to make decisions most advantageous to their economic wellbeing. Such financial literacy deficiencies can affect an individual's or family's day-to-day money management and ability to save for long-term goals such as buying a home, seeking higher education, or financing retirement of rural people. Ineffective money management can also result in behaviours that make consumers vulnerable to severe financial crisis. This paper tries to explore all those major concepts and measures which can be extremely helpful in the developing not only the rural living of standard but also the mindset of common people. We can also see the extensive literature in this area which will be ultimately helpful for knowing the current phenomenon.Success in expansion of financial awareness as a part of financial literacy among individuals ensures the prevalence of financial well being and much required financial inclusion. Apex regulatory bodies in India are trying to achieve utmost level of financial inclusion. It cannot be attained without the basic requirement of Financial awareness and Literacy among common individuals.

'Teaching to Teach' Literacy

Significant numbers of people have very low levels of literacy in many OECD countries and, because of this, face significant labour market penalties. Despite this, it remains unclear what teaching strategies are most useful for actually rectifying literacy deficiencies. The subject remains hugely controversial amongst educationalists and has seldom been studied by economists. Research evidence from part of Scotland prompted a national change in the policy guidance given to schools in England in the mid-2000s about how children are taught to read.We conceptualise this as a shock to the education production function that affects the technology of teaching. In particular, there was phasing in of intensive support to some schools across Local Authorities: teachers were trained to use a new phonics approach. We use this staggered introduction of intensive support to estimate the effect of the new 'teaching technology' on children's educational attainment. We find there to be effects of the teaching technology ('synthetic phonics') at age 5 and 7. However, by the age of 11, other children have caught up and there are no average effects. There are long-term effects only for those children with a higher initial propensity to struggle with reading.

Reading Literacy as One of the Most Significant Academic Competencies for the University Students

At the Lisbon Summit, the Council of Europe set a highly ambitious strategic goal for the European Union: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. In the process of achieving this goal, education and job readiness have played a critical role. Therefore, one of the strategic and ambitious goals is to attain the best possible quality of teaching and learning processes. One of the key academic competencies generating knowledge for the current information society is the reading literacy. The main goal of our pre-research project is to carry out a pilot study on reading literacy of the first year students at Alexander Dubcek University of Trencin, to identify their reading literacy level, and their ability to comprehend and work effectively with academic texts, and last but not least to identify their reading literacy deficiencies. The pre-research project will serve as a basis for a follow-up in-depth comparative research. In addition, suitability of the research methods will be tested and reliability and validity of the research to be carried out in collaboration with colleagues from the Universidad de Valencia and Universidad Católica de Valencia in Spain will be verified. The research on reading literacy will test Slovak and Spanish first year students studying at public and private universities. Identical texts having intermediate academic difficulty in the students’ mother tongue will be employed in order to identify and compare real competences and the reading comprehension level of university students in both countries. An empirical, analytical and comparative research will be conducted. The results we obtained in the first research phase from testing a small sample of Slovak first year university students indicated reading literacy deficiencies; i.e. students are insufficiently prepared to deal with academic texts of intermediate level of complexity and lack analytical and critical thinking. Students were assigned to write an abstract and a power-point presentation, common and frequently used linguistic genres in academic setting in order to assess their ability to systematize and synthesize written text, and thus to identify their real reading literacy.

Faculty–Librarian Micro-Level Collaboration in an Online Graduate History Course

This paper describes a micro-level faculty–librarian collaboration implemented at the authors' state university to address students' information literacy deficiencies in a graduate-level history research methods course. The setting, implementation, and evolution of the partnership are described in detail to suggest a model for other instructors. Additionally, consideration is given to issues of working in an online course environment and the benefits of micro- versus macro-level librarian support. Consideration is given to future steps for strengthening the partnership and measuring its impact on student outcomes.

Financial literacy and shrouded credit card rewards

Credit card companies charge an interchange fee for each transaction, and almost half of this fee is returned to consumers in the form of a reward or perk program. Among credit card users who do not use cards for borrowing (convenience users), rewards are a means to negotiate the implicit price of the interchange fee. Any consumer whose time cost is less than the value of rebates should rationally choose a reward card. Half of convenience users do not own a reward card.Gabaix and Laibson (2006) propose a model of market segmentation where sellers maximize profits by taking advantage of shrouded attributes through product characteristic separation. Not all credit cards offer rewards, and many credit card companies market non-salient credit card characteristics to appeal to naive consumers while offering lower-price cards (net the rebate) to compete for more sophisticated consumers.We hypothesize that naive choice among credit card consumers may be explained by financial literacy. When household characteristics such as education, income and wealth are controlled, we find that respondents in the highest financial literacy quintile were twice as likely to own a rewards card. These results imply that consumers with financial literacy deficiencies risk consumer credit product exploitation.

Canadian Public Library Users are Unaware of Their Information Literacy Deficiencies as Related to Internet Use and Public Libraries are Challenged to Address These Needs

Canadian Public Library Users are Unaware of Their Information Literacy Deficiencies as Related to Internet Use and Public Libraries are Challenged to Address These Needs

Do Medication Samples Jeopardize Patient Safety?

Medication samples are commonly dispensed by prescribers. Written consumer medication information (CMI) provided with sample packaging is an important source of patient information. Although one-third of Americans have health literacy deficiencies, previous studies have found that CMI is often too complex for many patients to understand. This may prevent patients from using these medications appropriately. To evaluate readability and formatting characteristics of CMI included with nonsolid (ie, topical cream/lotion, inhalation, transdermal) drug samples. We collected a convenience sample of nonsolid dosage sample medications (N = 55) from several different private and university-affiliated primary care and specialty physician practices at a large academic medical center in the southeastern US. We noted whether CMI was present and, if it was, we assessed it for instruction presentation, reading level, text size, format/layout, and comprehensibility. Most (43 of 55) products included CMI, either as a separate leaflet or directly on the packaging. Reading level of CMI leaflets ranged from the 6th- to 14th-grade level, with just 4 (16.0%) written at the recommended 6th-grade level. Text font point size was 9.48 +/- 2.14 (mean +/- SD; range 5-12). Text printed directly on sample packaging averaged 6.61 point +/- 2.62 (4-11) font size. Ninety-two percent of CMI leaflets included a combination of text and pictures; only 11.1% of CMI printed directly on the packaging used pictorial aids. Most CMI accompanying nonsolid medication samples is written at a reading level that exceeds that of many consumers and does not meet recommended standards for readability and comprehensibility of patient education material.

Solutions to Literacy Deficiencies in the Workplace; A Survey of Current Practices

Much attention has focused on employee basic skill (literacy) problems in recent years. Most authorities on the topic have focused their attention on two solutions alone: (a) offering in-house training to employees short-term solution intended to rectify existing basic skill deficiencies in the workforce; and (b) supporting public education as a long-term solution intended to ensure that future job applicants/employees possess basic skills adequate for beginning work. Few writers or authorities have suggested alternative performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems. This article identifies a range of performance improvement strategies for addressing basic skill deficiencies and summarizes results of a recent survey of training and development professionals about how often these strategies are used in their organizations. In general, many survey respondents indicated that their organizations are using many different performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems.

Targeting Adolescents' Literacy Skills Using One‐To‐One Instruction With Research‐Based Practices

Although there is evidence that literacy deficiencies in adolescents can be remedied with one‐to‐one tutoring using research‐based instructional strategies, a review of current literature provides only limited information on transferring effective instructional strategies to learning environments outside of one‐to‐one tutoring centers. The authors of this article identify three components of successful one‐to‐one literacy tutoring programs, discuss what research reveals regarding one‐to‐one literacy instruction with adolescents, and provide commentary on how the instruction used in their reading clinic can be replicated for those attempting to apply one‐to‐one literacy instruction inside a tutoring center, resource room, or traditional classroom setting.

Referencing Science: Teaching Undergraduates to Identify, Validate, and Utilize Peer-Reviewed Online Literature

Impact Statement ABSTRACT Accessibility of online scientific literature continues to expand due to the advent of scholarly databases and search engines. Studies have shown that undergraduates favor using online scientific literature to address research questions, but they often do not have the skills to assess the validity of research articles. Undergraduates generally are defi- cient in information literacy. A partnership between a faculty member and librarian can often help overcome information literacy deficiencies. In this article, the development of a faculty-librarian partnership and online tutorials is explained. This partnership and the tutorials helped students identify peer-reviewed sources and assess their validity. Undergradu- ates taking a senior-level capstone plant sciences seminar over 5 years were surveyed regarding their understanding of peer-reviewed literature. Surveys were administered at the beginning of the course and again after they completed the tutorials. The responses given on the surveys suggest that students lacked a firm understanding of what constitutes peer- reviewed scientific literature until after meeting with the librarian and participating in the tutorials. Before development of the partnership, undergraduates had difficulty finding and effectively utilizing online scientific resources. Introducing assignments related to information literacy throughout the curriculum should help teach important scientific literacy skills. Faculty can collaborate with librarians to implement assignments similar to the ones described in this article.

When Customers (or Clients) Are Marketplace Illiterate

Illiteracy is a national problem that affects businesses and the marketplace in many different ways. Most of the attention has been on the producer (or seller) level with fwus on the literacy of the job applicant and employees. This paper examines the prob- lem of customer (buyer) illiteracy. The results of a study of 118 veterinary practice managers reveal that consumer (client) literacy deficiencies are problems in the marketplace.