Presentation at the NOLA ILC Forum 2013 about a successful collaboration with a sociology professor using library materials to enhance and reinforce a lesson on content analysis research methods. The session included a homework assignment to refresh past skills, discussion of scholarly uses of content analysis in the published literature, and a hands-on experience applying content analysis to selected "analog" (i.e. print) information sources at the library. This approach could be adapted to a range of information literacy learning objectives, especially those involving the use of primary source materials in libraries and archives.

1. Using Active Learning to Enhance
Classroom Objectives
THE INFORMATION
LABORATORY
Adam Beauchamp
Howard-Tilton
Memorial Library
Tulane University
NOLA
Information Literacy
Forum 2013

2. “I AM HOPING TO GET THEM
TO THINK ABOUT
USING ARCHIVAL MATERIALS.”

3. Sociological Abstracts (database):
7,003 abstracts include “content analysis”
Teaching Sociology (journal):
30 abstracts include “content analysis”
WHAT DOES SHE MEAN, ARCHIVAL?
“Content analysis is a research technique for making replicable and
valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the context of
their use” (Krippendorff 2010:234).

4. CONTENT ANALYSIS
IN TEACHING SOCIOLOGY
Eisen, Daniel B. 2012. "Developing a Critical Lens: Using
Photography to Teach Sociology and Create Critical Thinkers."
Teaching Sociology 40(4):349-359.
Finley, Laura L. 2004. "Using Content Analysis Projects in the
Introduction to Criminal Justice Classroom." Teaching Sociology
32(1):129-137.
Messinger, Adam M. 2012. "Teaching Content Analysis through
Harry Potter." Teaching Sociology 40(4):360-367.
Rushing, Beth and Idee Winfield. 1999. "Learning about
Sampling and Measurement by Doing Content Analysis of
Personal Advertisements." Teaching Sociology 27(2):159-166.

5. My Experience
Students ask for help to
find primary sources…,
but don‟t always know
how to use what they
find.
History – primary sources
Int‟l Dev. – data sets
ACRL Standards
Need
Access
Evaluate
Use
Be ethical
This order better suited
to secondary sources.
WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT THIS?
The “content” in content analysis = primary source materials

6.  Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Vygotsky)
 Experts v. Novices with primary sources (Wineburg)
 Scaffolding (Bruner)
PEDAGOGY

7. ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD)
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
 Distance between what can be done
independently, and what can be done with guidance
 Concept development (scientific
knowledge) is first on the social
level, and second on the individual
level

8.  Experts & Novices
 Students read for basic comprehension, acquire facts
 Experts employ more critical reading of texts
 Author, Audience, Context, Subtext
READING PRIMARY SOURCES
Sam Wineburg
Stanford University

9.  Relationship between expert and novice in the
process of acquiring new skills
 Expert creates “reduction in degrees of freedom”
 Break down into steps
 Focus on one task/concept at a time
 Sequence of active learning methods
SCAFFOLDING
Jerome S. Bruner (1915 -)

10. SCAFFOLDING
Modeling
Class Discussion
Group Exercise
Exam
The Information Lab
(at the library)

11.  Modeling
 Do students engage during in-class lecture?
 Do students demonstrate understanding of the readings
(textbook, assigned article, and independently discovered article)?
 Class Discussion
 Did students find studies that use content analysis?
 Can students identify types of content, relevant sociological
questions, and evaluate the success of the study?
 Group Exercise
 Did groups come up with viable research designs using content
analysis methodology on their sample “texts”?
 Could groups answer questions about their proposals?
ASSESSMENT

12. FEEDBACK
“I think it went really well ... I really think students „get it‟
when they do something hands-on, and the wide range
of materials you picked was fun and creative.”
Post-session, 3/6/2013
“Based on their exam performance and in-class
discussion following the content analysis exercise, this
group of students definitely understood what it took for
them to use these data for research. It has inspired me
to do more hands-on exercises in class on other topics in
the future.”
End of semester, 5/8/2013

13. For situations involving primary sources:
 Make sure students know how to use before you ask
them to find.
 Highlighting unique and interesting collections is
secondary to teaching students how to use them.
 Restrict degrees of freedom. Less is more for the
novice researcher, so limiting # of decisions/tasks
can help focus on the important ones.
 Think about ways to apply this to other disciplines in
both class instruction and one-on-one research help.
TAKE AWAYS

14. Adam Beauchamp
Research & Instruction Librarian
(Social Sciences)
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Tulane University
abeaucha@tulane.edu
http://libguides.tulane.edu/soci3030

15. WORKS CITED
Krippendorf, Klaus. 2010. “Content Analysis.” Pp. 234-39 in Encyclopedia of Research
Design, edited by Neil J. Salkind. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Vygotsky, Lev. 1978. Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Winburg, Sam. 2001. Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. Philadelphia, PA:
Temple University Press.
Wood, David, Jerome S. Bruner, and Gail Ross. 1976. “The Role of Tutoring in Problem
Solving.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 17(1):89-100.