University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"""It makes me feel weird"": Student Conceptions of the Algorithm"

Appedu, Sarah; Ocepek, Melissa G.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114157

Description

Title
"""It makes me feel weird"": Student Conceptions of the Algorithm"
Author(s)
  • Appedu, Sarah
  • Ocepek, Melissa G.
Issue Date
2022-05-06
Keyword(s)
  • information literacy
  • algorithms
  • social media
Abstract
Information literacy instructors have the opportunity address issues related to algorithms in their instruction. Because discussions of algorithms touch on topics related to privacy, capitalism, and discrimination, this instruction is best supported by a critical information literacy model, which centers students as experts on their own experiences. Groups like Project Information Literacy have been active in researching issues related to algorithms and information literacy to advise librarians on how these issues can be prioritized in information literacy instruction. However, these studies can take for granted that students have unique ways of describing algorithms from their experiences on apps like TikTok and Instagram. To address this, we conducted interviews with undergraduate students to better understand how they discuss algorithms through their lived experiences. This poster builds on existing scholarship by analyzing the implicit and explicit ways students explain algorithms, including their perceptions of being watched or listened to, the vocabulary they use, and what it feels like to both love and fear “the algorithm”.
Type of Resource
other
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114157

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Student Publications and Research - Information Sciences PRIMARY
Publications, conference papers, and other research and scholarship of iSchool students.