Youth Literature, Culture, and Services

Analyzing library and information practices, preferences, and play for children, youth, tweens, and teens

Researchers Working in this Area

Related Research Projects

App Authors: Closing the App Gap II

Time frame
2014-2019
Investigator
Kate McDowell
Total funding to date
$248,205.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

The focus of this three-year, multisite project is development of app-based curricula and tools for use in school and public libraries. These tools will teach children aged eight to twelve how to build their own apps, providing them with early programming experience, and allow them to share their creations with other children. The project further establishes libraries as places to engage youth…

Children, Comics, and Print Culture

Time frame
2015-2018
Investigator
Carol Tilley
Total funding to date
$19,036.00
Funding agency
University of Illinois Research Board

This project expands Tilley’s investigation of comics from the perspective of readers, a much-neglected group in both contemporary and historical research. Comics readership among young people peaked in the mid-twentieth century with levels reaching near 100%, yet there has been little scholarly investigation of this phenomenon. Funding for this project will enable archival research trips and…

Exploring Algorithmic Fairness and Potential Bias in K-12 Mathematics Adaptive Learning

Time frame
2020-Present
Investigator
Nigel Bosch
Total funding to date
$987,015.00
Funding agency
National Science Foundation

Students in middle school and high school often use adaptive learning software as part of their math education experience. Adaptive learning software works by automatically measuring how much students have learned about the topic, as well as their learning process and experiences, and then adjusting the instruction accordingly. This project will investigate potential ways in which adaptive…

books stacked on table with ipad on top

Mapping Information Access

Time frame
2013-Present
Investigator
Emily Knox

Mapping Information Access is a collaborative academic research project to study and understand the landscape of information access and availability in public schools and libraries in the United States.

There are more than 18,000 public school districts and more than 9,000 public library systems in the US. Each of these institutions is as a central node of information access for the…

Promoting Computational Thinking Skills for Blind and Visually Impaired Teens Through Accessible Library Makerspaces

Time frame
2022-Present
Investigators
JooYoung Seo, Kyungwon Koh
Total funding to date
$498,638.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Library makerspaces offer community members the opportunity to tinker, design, experiment, and create with a range of technology in an informal learning space. However, because current makerspaces and maker tools are highly vision oriented, blind and visually impaired (BVI) people have limited access to these learning opportunities. This project (…

student wearing goggles

Teach High School Students about Cybersecurity and AI Ethics via Empathy-Driven Hands-On Projects

Time frame
2021-2023
Investigators
Yang Wang, Yun Huang
Total funding to date
$154,754.00
Funding agency
National Science Foundation

Full title: Collaborative Research: Advancing STEM Online Learning by Augmenting Accessibility with Interactive Companionship

Videos are a popular option for online learning, and captions are essential for accessibility. Two types of captions exist: typical closed captions and explanatory captions. Closed captions…

empathy driven AI

The Education of Things: Mechanical Literacies in British Culture (1760-1860)

Time frame
2016-2019
Investigator
Elizabeth Hoiem

This project examines writers who represent education as an embodied experience, with learning and literacy grounded in what they called “object learning” or “the education of things.” Denouncing rote-learning in favor of an induction method, object lessons promised to coordinate the development of body and mind by using the pupil’s senses as a catalyst for higher cognitive thought. Children…

Young Researchers: Collaborating With Youth and Libraries for Community Based Scholarship

Time frame
2018-Present
Investigator
Rachel M. Magee
Total funding to date
$484,570.00
Funding agency
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Understanding the value and process of research is a crucial skill for youth, who navigate an information landscape that includes a significant amount of misinformation and disinformation. Literacy approaches highlight the ability to create and share content as key competencies of literacy, but youth have few opportunities to engage in the scholarly research process to develop these skills in…

young researchers

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