Job Literacy: The Relationship between School Preparation and Workplace Actuality

Mikulecky, Larry

doi:10.2307/747527

Cited by 84 publications

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“…Much of the research which has been done has been concerned with delineating the differences between general and functional literacy (Mikulecky, 1981(Mikulecky, , 1982, documenting the kinds of reading which occur in different occupational settings (Guthrie, Seifert, & Kirsch, 1986;Kirsch & Guthrie, 1984;Mikulecky & Winchester, 1983), and developing tests of functional literacy (Fisher, 1981;Kirsch & Guthrie, 1977). The present experiment is a first step toward identifying the kinds of activities which promote functional literacy.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These kinds of tasks have been studied under a variety of rubrics, including that of functional literacy (Fisher, 1981), "reading to do" (Sticht, 1985), "job literacy" (Mikulecky, 1982), and procedure or skill acquisition (Anderson, 1982(Anderson, , 1983. These kinds of tasks (tasks requiring functional literacy) are important because of their prevalence, especially in the workplace, and also because of the consequences of functional literacy training.…”

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Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

O’Donnell

Dansereau

Rocklin

et al. 1988

Journal of Reading Behavior

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The effects of cooperative learning strategy manipulations on the enactment and recall of a medical procedure were explored. One hundred and twenty-three college students completed the experiment. During training, participants were randomly assigned to a dyad in one of four conditions: (a) no-strategy, (b) baseline strategy, (c) prompting strategy, and (d) planning strategy. During testing, participants both performed and produced written recalls of the procedure instructions. Test order was counterbalanced within dyad. Training and test performances were videotaped. The planning group produced the best recalls and recalled more conditions of the procedure. The prompting group performed best. Recall of the procedure in all groups was enhanced by prior performance. However, performance was enhanced by prior recall in only two groups. The groups differed also in the nature of the transition from training to testing. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.The present experiment explored the efficacy of a variety of cooperative strategies in promoting functional literacy. Functional literacy, as used here, may be defined as the kind of literacy which is demonstrated when a person reads a set of 339

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confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

O’Donnell

Dansereau

Rocklin

et al. 1988

Journal of Reading Behavior

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“…In the workplace, adults spend more time reading to locate information than reading 301 for any other purpose (e.g., Guthrie, Schäfer, & Hutchinson, 1991;Guthrie, Seifert, & Kirsch, 1986;Kirsch & Guthrie, 1984;Mikulecky, 1982). And in school, students in both elementary (e.g., Armbruster & Armstrong, 1993;Armbruster & Gudbrandsen, 1986) and secondary schools (e.g., Smith & Feathers, 1983) are expected to engage in search tasks ranging from locating a single fact for answering a question to locating and synthesizing information for a report.…”

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Fifth Graders' Search for Information in a Textbook

Dreher

Sammons

1994

Journal of Reading Behavior

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Fifty-nine fifth graders were asked to use an unfamiliar textbook on a familiar topic to locate the answers to three questions, all of which contained terms that could be found in the book's index. Those who were randomly assigned to a condition in which they were asked guiding questions before and during their search were more successful than their counterparts who were simply asked to search. An examination of the information access structures (e.g., index, table of contents) used by students indicated that those who were unsuccessful relied heavily on the table of contents and/or paging through the text despite the very specific nature of the questions. The facilitating effect of the guiding questions appears to have been due to raising the likelihood that students would think of and actually use the index during their search; index use did not guarantee success, but very few students who failed to use the index were successful.A search task is type of strategic reading that occurs when readers seek specific, goal-related information. In this type of reading, the goal is not to read a book from cover to cover or to learn the contents of a chapter for a test. Instead, readers engaged in search tasks might look up a fact in a reference book, consult a manual for instructions on fixing a leaky faucet, or locate phone numbers of catering services in the Yellow Pages. In other words, readers engaged in search tasks would want to avoid irrelevant information while targeting critical portions. To do this, they might use one or more information-access features, such as an index or table of contents, to go directly to a needed bit of information, disregarding the rest.Search tasks are common workplace and school demands (Dreher, 1993). In the workplace, adults spend more time reading to locate information than reading 301 302 Journal of Reading Behaviorfor any other purpose (e.g., Guthrie, Schäfer, & Hutchinson, 1991;Guthrie, Seifert, & Kirsch, 1986;Kirsch & Guthrie, 1984;Mikulecky, 1982). And in school, students in both elementary (e.g., Armbruster & Armstrong, 1993;Armbruster & Gudbrandsen, 1986) and secondary schools (e.g., Smith & Feathers, 1983) are expected to engage in search tasks ranging from locating a single fact for answering a question to locating and synthesizing information for a report.Yet research indicates that many adults have difficulty with search tasks. The National Assessment of Educational Progress survey of literacy in young adults aged 21 to 25 indicated that most were able to locate a single piece of information in prose or documents, but that performance dropped off sharply as task complexity rose (Kirsch & Jungeblut, 1986). Ninety-seven percent, for example, could locate a piece of information in a newspaper article. But only 37% were able to answer a question that required the location of three pieces of information. Similarly, Dreher and Guthrie (1990) found that high school students were successful in locating the definition of a single term in a textbook. Only about half these...

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“…A thorough analysis of the definition can show that the phrase "using printed or written information" characterises literacy not as a set of isolated skills necessary for reading and writing, but what is more important, as applying its incorporation for achieving goals in the certain context. Initially, individuals use literacy for different purposes, which are altering according to the changes of context and the person in it (Mikulecky, 1982). This usage variability leads to interaction with the wide range of materials having different linguistic forms.…”

Section: Functional Literacy As the Scientific And Pedagogical Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Literacy Learning in the System of Adult Education in Belgium

Mukan

Fuchyla

2016

Adv Educ

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In the article, the problem of functional literacy training organisation in the system of adult education in Belgium has been studied. The authors analyse the scientific and pedagogical literature which highlights different aspects of the problem under research; characterise the research methodology which comprises theoretical and applied methods. They present the theoretical and methodological framework (humanistic, pluralistic, andragogy concepts) of functional literacy learning; different approaches (standard, context, social and cultural) to the term "functional literacy" treatment; concretise the definition of "functional literacy". The scholars study prerequisites (historical, political, social and cultural, social and economic, linguistic) of adults' functional illiteracy development in the modern Belgian society. The researchers characterise the system of adult education according to the structural and functional approach, especially, its legislative, managerial, organisational, and academic levels. They present the systematised and generalised specificities of learning organisation for adults' functional literacy development in formal education of Flemish Community (Centres for adult education), German-speaking Community (public schools), in non-formal education of French Community (network of volunteer organisations). The scientists analyse the content (knowledge, skills of basic and professional education, social and personal skills, skills for self-education) and operational (organisational forms and methods; methods for learning motivation) components of functional literacy learning. The authors present the research conclusions and perspectives for further research.

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Job Literacy: The Relationship between School Preparation and Workplace Actuality

Cited by 84 publications

References 4 publications

Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

Promoting Functional Literacy through Cooperative Learning

Fifth Graders' Search for Information in a Textbook

Functional Literacy Learning in the System of Adult Education in Belgium

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