Design and implementation of a pilot assessment protocol for the news literacy actions of ESJ Lille (2021-2022)
Abstract
This project aims to support the Ecole supérieure de journalisme de Lille (ESJ Lille) in its reflection on the evaluation of its news literacy actions. During the first phase of the project (February-July 2021), the team identified the objectives pursued by each of the ESJ Lille's NL actions. This work was focused on the one hand on the analysis of documents produced by ESJ Lille concerning its NL actions, and on the other hand on an initial observation phase of some of these actions. In the second phase of the project (August 2021-March 2022), a pilot assessment protocol was developed and implemented in one of the NL actions (a media project dedicated to Instagram) based on the objectives identified in the first phase.
Researcher(s): Camille Tilleul
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille
Funding: Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille
Assessment of the effects of the Parcours Médias (a news literacy education platform) (2021-2022)
Abstract
Parcours Médias is an online platform for news literacy designed to offer support to 3rd year secondary school students doing an internship in a French media company as part of their schooling. This platform was designed by the Press Alliance for Media Literacy (APEM) and the Lille School of Journalism, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture. It offers a linear course including nine videos on journalism jobs, an online game, and a meeting with a professional from a media company. The Parcours Médias aims to open up access to media companies to all students, especially those who are farthest from this professional environment. It also aims to develop the media competences of the trainees who follow it, as well as their knowledge of the functioning of a media company. This project consisted in designing and integrating an assessment questionnaire for the students in the Parcours Médias, in order to document its effects. The Parcours Médias was first offered to a group of volunteer students during the period of May and June 2021 (cancellation of the internships in media companies due to the covid-19 pandemic). The course and the questionnaire were revised following this first iteration. A second iteration (October 2021 - March 2022) corresponded to a first deployment of the Parcours Médias and the assessment protocol on the scale of the French territory in its entirety, as part of the internships in press companies.
Researcher(s): Camille Tilleul
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille, Association pour l'Education aux Médias (APEM) de l'Alliance de la presse d'information générale
Funding: Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille
KiDiCoTi - Kids' Digital lives in COVID-19 Times (2020-2022)
Abstract
In March 2020, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) launched a study to map the evolution of young people's digital practices during the spring 2020 covid-19 lockdown period, compared to their pre-covid-19 uses, with a focus on young people's online safety, privacy and well-being. The research involved 26 research teams in 15 European countries, and included an international quantitative survey conducted in eleven countries (Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland), surveying a total of 11,658 people, as well as various qualitative surveys in several of the participating countries. The GReMS participated in the elaboration of the quantitative survey questionnaire as well as in the analysis of the data collected from the French population (N = 1088: 544 adults and 544 adolescents aged 10 to 18 years).
Researcher(s): Pierre Fastrez
Promoter(s): Stéphane Chaudron (JRC)
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Collaboration
Partners: Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (Cyber & Digital Citizens' Security Unit (E.3) - Directorate E - Space, Security and Migration), research office of UNICEF, and 25 other research centers in 15 european countries (complete list)
Funding: n/a
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Kids-Digital-lives-in-Covid-19-times-KiDiCoTi-A-comparative-mixed-methods-study-on-digital-practices-safety-and-well-being
Linguistic and communicational components of immersion in Game(s): towards an integrated approach within the Language & Communication Institute (2019-2020)
Abstract
The present research aims to evaluate the role of different parameters in the immersion experiment (in game(s)). More precisely, we will take into account not only various semiotic or paralinguistic aspects (which have already been the subject of studies, including within the Institute), but also the linguistic complexity of the textual contents proposed to the players (i.e automatic language processing or NLP). This last dimension, visibly ignored in the current work on the analysis of virtual universes, is the main innovation of this project. Another innovative aspect is the comparison between classic videogaming (on 2D screen) and virtual reality environments. The methodology of this research is therefore necessarily multidisciplinary and relies on the joint expertise of the two poles of our Institute, in particular as regards the analysis of virtual universes, on the one hand, and the automatic evaluation of the difficulty via automatic language processing (NLP), on the other hand. A cohort of expert and non-expert players, as well as native and non-native, will be tested through a highly narrative game, Skyrim. We will analyze the role of the different linguistic and non-linguistic components studied through the use of eye-tracking techniques, questionnaires, and TAL techniques for the measurement of complexity. Beyond the direct objectives of the research, this project also aims to develop a new know-how within the Institute, alongside the first research carried out at the Social Media Lab of Mons, with regard to oculometric analysis. It is planned to acquire new tools (hardware and software) to carry out this analysis, which will then benefit all members of the Institute. The participation of the two technological platforms of the Institute makes it possible to envisage the perpetuation of this know-how. Moreover, as this project also seeks to evaluate the influence of virtual reality in an immersive experience with a strong textual component, it also includes issues related to the development of the Institute's technological platforms.
Researcher(s): Alessandro Cierro
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Project type: Research program
Partners: Thomas François (CENTAL), Patrick Watrin (CENTAL), Sébastien Nahon (MiiL)
Funding: Langage & Communication Institute
VIADUCT (Voice Interface for Autonomous Driving based on User experienCe Techniques) (2018-2021)
Abstract
VIADUCT (Voice Interface for Autonomous Driving based on User experienCe Techniques) is a 36-month project (start: Nov. 2018) from the MecaTech cluster with a co-labeling of Logistics in Wallonia funded by the Service Public de Wallonie. VIADUCT aims to design, develop and validate a multimodal, adaptive, speech-centric man-machine interface for driving semi-autonomous cars, with a focus on the elderly. UCLouvain is responsible for the user experience (UX) axis of the project and its mission is the integration of UX methods into the agile software development model adopted by the consortium (convention n ° 7982). In particular, UCLouvain conducts simulations to test-and-refine the prototype iteratively and incrementally.
Researcher(s): Luka Rukonic
Promoter(s): Suzanne Kieffer
Co-promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: Research program
Partners: AW Europe, Acapela, Multitel, CETIC, Université de Namur
Funding: Service Public de Wallonie - DGO6
Open My Daily Digital Newspaper: comparative study and evaluation of pilot experiments in digital news media education (2018-2019)
Abstract
This project is part of the action-based research project "Opening My Daily Digital Newspaper" ("Ouvrir Mon Quotidien Numérique"), coordinated by LA PRESSE.be and the Higher Council for Media Education (French-speaking Belgium). On the one hand, the project includes a comparative study to identify and compare digital media education projects involving the daily press in Europe. This study will produce a map of these projects and identify the most appropriate components that could be taken into account in setting up similar operations in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. On the other hand, it involves designing and implementing an assessment method for pedagogical pilot experiments carried out by 60+ teachers and educators. This evaluation is meant to develop a typology of pedagogical and educational practices in digital news media education.
Researcher(s): Carole Delforge
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Co-promoter(s): Baptiste Campion, Thibault Philippette, Marie Vanoost
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: LA PRESSE.be, Higher Council for Media Education, Research Observatory on Media and Journalism (ORM, UCL)
Funding: LA PRESSE.be
HAULOGY2021 (2018-2019)
Abstract
HAULOGY2021 is a 36-month project (start: 2018) funded by the Digital Wallonia Hub program of Service Public de Wallonie aiming to position the Belgian company haulogy among the three European leaders in the energy sector by 2021. In this project, UCLouvain fulfilled a 12-month consultancy mission (agreement no.7767) which consisted in improving the user experience (UX) of a selection of existing software products. The deliverables produced by UCLouvain include UX evaluation reports and redesign proposals, the definition of a strategy for the development of dashboards, and a scientific publication accessible here:
Researcher(s): Vincent Kervyn de Meerendré
Promoter(s): Suzanne Kieffer
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: Consultancy
Funding: Service public de Wallonie - DGO6
The museum visit experience as a stand-alone activity: development of exhibition ergonomics for unguided visitors (2018-)
Researcher(s): Marine Lagasse
Promoter(s): Philippe Verhaegen
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, User experience (UX)
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Playful teaching practices in primary education in the French Community of Belgium (2017-2021)
Abstract
Within the scope of our thesis, we discuss the adequacy between game and the formal education system. We focus on the way of teachers integrate the game into their learning activities in the classroom. We specify that our study area is the primary education in the French Community of Belgium. Moreover, we consider the game as a diversity of activities taking place on a variety of media (i.e. digital or not). In the context of the expansion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), a particular attention will therefore be paid to the place of the digital games in the teaching practices. The central question to be examined in our thesis is: is the game transformed to be integrated into the teaching practice in the formal education system? Our aim is twofold: on the one hand, we will determine the nature of the games used in the classroom and, on the other hand, we will explore the uses of the game in the classroom. This twofold aim leads us to articulate a quantitative phase and a qualitative phase within the scope of an inductive approach.
Researcher(s): Charlotte Préat
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: UCL Grant (FSR)
Video game literacy (2017-2021)
Abstract
For the past few years, video games have been used in classrooms by teachers who build lessons with this medium. Freed from a dedicated pedagogy, the uses of video games in school contexts, although varied, generally serve the objectives prescribed by the curriculum: the video game is then often a tool and a detour, but rarely an object of study. In other words, it is more a question of an education through video games than a video game education. Widely consumed in our societies - but not always understood - the video game is an artefact with messages that give us representations of the world. However, these messages only have sense through the meanings that the players give them and the awakened approach of the video game can hardly be developed in the school context if the game is constantly instrumentalized and recontextualized. Therefore, my thesis focuses on the construction of a video game literacy, a set of skills that characterize the (non-)player capable of evolving in a critical, creative, autonomous and socialized way, in the contemporary video game environment. These skills are at the basis of a video game education project for which I am elaborating a pedagogical model for educational professionals. The method I use is Research Design in Education. The objective of this methodology is to produce a pedagogical design that can be deployed on the field: schools, animation centers, training spaces, etc. From a theoretical point of view, I build a video game grammar that provides teenagers with a series of reading keys of video games. These reading keys correspond to strategies which help interpreting and decoding the rules that shape the games. From a practical point of view, this grammar is regularly experimented in secondary classes in French-speaking Belgium, which allows me to enrich, adjust and continuously revise the design of my video game education project. This research project is a contribution to one of the great current difficulties of young people: to be able to appreciate the informational potential of their digital environment, technologies and objects they use and consume each day. More specifically, the goal of my research is to make video games more accessible as a contemporary cultural object and to awaken the public to their cultural, aesthetic, artistic, political and social dimensions. In addition, this research also provides video game professionals with writing keys to strengthen the expressive dimension of their productions. Methodological tools are thus forged to guide the inscription and rewriting of knowledge and cultural references at the core of the games, in particular to refine the poetic and narrative dimension of video game narratives.
Researcher(s): Gael Gilson
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: PortailEduc Association
Link: https://luduminvaders.com/litteratievideoludique/
Prevention of cyberbullying: Social representations of parents regarding their role as media educators and their teenagers' media practices (2017-2018)
Abstract
This research has two objectives. First, it seeks to identify the attitudes and actions most often prescribed to parents in the discourse of digital information resources (DIR) about cyberbullying in Belgium and Canada. Second, it aims at documenting the social representations of French-speaking Canadian and Belgian parents regarding digital media education. Taking a comparative approach, this research also aims to identify cultural differences and similarities between the two geocultural contexts. In order to reach our first objective, a content analysis of 17 Belgian DIRs and 35 Canadian DIRs was conducted (January to August 2017). All of the attitudinal and action statements contained in these documents were been classified into analysis categories taken from the scientific literature. This first part of the research shows that the discourse of the Belgian DIRs prescribes modes of intervention in situation of cyber-bullying which are proactive; preventive actions focusing on the promotion of respect for others; prescriptive media education for “good uses”; the exercise of a democratic parenting with an authoritarian tendency. The discourse of Canadian DIRs prescribes modes of intervention in cyberbullying that focus on the well-being of the child-victim; preventive actions aimed at understanding the socio-media universe of young people; media education based on support and open dialogue; the exercise of a democratic parenting with a permissive tendency. The results of the first part of the research were the subject of an article, which was submitted to the journal “Enfances Familles Générations (“Childhoods Families Generations”) (December 2017). In order to achieve our second objective, we conduct focus groups with parents in community organizations, guided by eight questions about the place of digital media in the everyday lives of families, risk and opportunities assessment of digital media for young people, parental mediation and the training needs of parents. Parents are also invited to complete a short self-assessment questionnaire of their digital and educational skills. To date, we have conducted 8 focus groups with 45 parents in the Montreal area, Quebec (January to June 2018). The preliminary analysis of the data shows that Montreal parents prioritize a model of democratic parenting rather than authoritarian parenting, both in life in general and in support of young people in their digital uses. We also learn that parents question themselves a lot with the notion of “rights”; their right to prohibit certain practices to their children or the right of their children to refuse certain parental requests, for example. We are now completing our analyzes of data collected in Quebec and considering continuing our data collection from parents in French-speaking Belgium (July to December 2018).
Researcher(s): Mathieu Bégin
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Normand Landry, Canada Research Chair in Media Education and Human Rights, TÉLUQ University (Quebec, Canada)
Funding: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
ICT use by teachers in secondary education (Flanders, Wallonia, the Netherlands) (2016-2017)
Abstract
Study of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in secondary education in Flanders, Wallonia and the Netherlands. A quantitative survey was completed by teachers about their use of ICT in and out of the classroom, as well as their attitudes towards ICT. Semi-structured interviews completed the survey. The purpose of this study was to describe the pedagogical practices that can be supported by ICT, as well as the difficulties and obstacles encountered by teachers in setting up activities that integrate ICT.
Researcher(s): Aurélie Brouwers, Thierry De Smedt, Jerry Jacques
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, Media literacy and media education
Project type: Collaboration
Partners: Universiteit Gent (coord.), Universiteit Tilburg, CECOM (Centre d'Etude de la Communication)
Funding: Samsung BeNeLux
Study of the media literacy competencies mobilised by young adults as part of their civic participation (2015-2021)
Abstract
Our research addresses a paradox in the social science field regarding civic participation. On the one hand, the development of media platforms and social software enables unprecedented levels of participation which may support civic participation. On the other hand, young people are distrustful of traditional political institutions and have disconnected from conventional politics. Several scholars examine this issue from a competence perspective. Accordingly, our research question is: what are the media literacy competencies mobilised by young adults as part of their civic participation? We use an inductive method combining both observations and interviews to identify the media literacy competencies mobilised by young adults for civic engagement. We study two civic groups of young adults, which are related to the same organisation, but differ in methods: one takes direct non-violent actions and street mobilisations; the other informs and trains citizens through conferences, screenings, etc.
Researcher(s): Lara Burton
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Study of the relationships between media literacy and social media use by young adults (2015-2019)
Abstract
The research aims to question the development of media skills among young adults (18-25 years old) and to answer the following question: How are the media skills of young adults developed in relation to their social media practices? The researcher hypothesizes that the high frequency with which young adults interact on social networks is a good predictor for basic media abilities but a poor predictor of complex media competences. Conversely, she thinks that diversity in informational and social practices could have an influence on these meta-linguistic/meta-cognitive competences. Diversity in informational and social media practices is characterized by analyzing or producing different types of media content in different communities. The aim is to understand how media reception and production skills are built in their informational and social dimensions by analyzing possible correlations resulting from the cross-fertilization of competences and dimensions. The research will assess and point out young adults’ media competences and media practices (18-25 years old) in their daily lives. The methodology consists in questioning a large sample of people with standardized tests on their practices and on their production and reception abilities. In a second time, a restricted sample of young adults will be individually observed on their daily practices and evaluated on their production and reception competences.
Researcher(s): Camille Tilleul
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: IHECS - Institut des Hautes Etudes des Communications Sociales
LITME @ WORK - Digital and media literacy in teamwork and distance work environments (2014-2019)
Abstract
LITME@WORK investigates the digital and media literacy competences called for by today’s evolving, technology-supported environment of work. These interrelated informational, technical and social competences are required for practicing teamwork and work at a distance, as visible in activities such as distance collaboration, different types of teamwork, personal and shared information management, re-creating and maintaining one’s personal work environment throughout contexts of work, or managing a team at a distance. As main research questions, LITME@WORK will ask (1) how is DML addressed and practiced in today’s office work and (2) how can DML be further integrated in emerging team/distance work structures and practices in order to support efficient, stimulating and meaningful ways of working. Starting from these questions, LITME@WORK will pursue four objectives: (i) understanding changing work environments and their DML requirements, (ii) developing a systemic approach to DML in team/distance office work, (iii) providing resources for societal and policy stakeholders, and (iv) contributing to research efforts in relevant fields of research (DML studies, science and technology studies (STS), sociology of innovation, sociology of ICT uses, human-computer interaction studies, organisation theory, research on job quality and learning at work).
Researcher(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez, Valèria Ligurgo, Thibault Philippette
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Co-promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Université de Namur (Pr. A.-S. Collard: coordinator; Th. Philippette: post-doc (2015-2016); J. Jacques: postdoc (2016-2019)), Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles (Pr. G. Patriarche; M. Dufrasne: post-doc), Katolieke Universiteit Leuven (Pr. M. Ramioul; I. Nikolova: post-doc (2015); A. Antheunis: researcher (2016-2017); Yennef Vereycken (2017-2019))
Funding: Belspo BRAIN-be
Link: http://www.litmeatwork.be/
Children and screens survey (2014-2015)
Abstract
A survey on the use of information and communication technologies by children aged 0 to 6 and their families in French-speaking Belgium. The research included quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups. For the quantitative survey, a sample of 1789 parents of children aged 0 to 6 years completed a questionnaire on their children's and their families' ICT-related practices, on their ICT-related educational practices, and on their attitudes towards the use of ICT by their children. Additionally, a sample of 643 childcare professionals (medico-social workers, health professionals) and educators completed a questionnaire on their educational practices relating to the use of ICT by children, and their attitudes towards these uses. The project also included a series of focus groups with parents children from 0 to 6 years old about their attitudes and representations about the use of ICT by their children, as well as a series of focus groups with childcare professionals about their attitudes and representations about the use of ICTs by children.
Researcher(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez, Marie Mathen
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: CECOM (Centre d'Etude de la Communication), ONE (Office de la Naissance et de l'Enfance) et CSEM (Conseil Supérieur de l'Education aux Médias)
Funding: ONE (Office de la Naissance et de l'Enfance)
The media literacy of audiences regarding the mediatization of the environment (2013-2017)
Researcher(s): Julie Matagne
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Groupe de recherche « Forêt, Nature & Société » (ELI, UCL); Groupe d'Histoire des Forêts Françaises (ENS, Paris)
Funding: PDR FNRS (07/2013 - 06/2017), DGARNE - DGO3 - Walloon Region (2013)
Design and Evaluation of a Master's Degree in Applied Communication - Media Education (2013-2015)
Abstract
Scientific support of a higher education institute (IHECS) in the design and evaluation of the implementation of a Master's Degree (120 credits) in "Applied Communication - Media Education", including the design of a competence framework, the definition of the objectives and contents of the courses, and recommendations for the curriculum's optimization.
Researcher(s): Baptiste Campion, Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez, Camille Tilleul
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: IHECS - Institut des Hautes Etudes des Communications Sociales
Funding: IHECS - Institut des Hautes Etudes des Communications Sociales
Developing and adapting institutional websites for children (2013-2014)
Abstract
The aim of the research is to draft a vade mecum for the editors of websites of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation intended to disseminate information on the rights of the child in a format readable by children and adolescents. Following a review of the literature on how children search for information on the web, experiments will be conducted on a sample of young people aged 9 to 18, with a selection of ten websites targeted at young people. The tests will seek to determine readability and appropriability criteria for sites meant for children. The results of these tests will provide factors specific to internet navigation by the youth, which will be translated into a practical guide.
Researcher(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez, Camille Tilleul
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, User experience (UX)
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: CECOM - Centre d'Etude de la Communication; OEJAJ - Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse
Funding: OEJAJ - Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse
Modeling the media literacy competences for managing personal and shared information collections using digital media. (2012-2016)
Abstract
The main objective of this dissertation is to define the competences required to organize digital collections of personal information. This research is situated at the intersection of media studies, information sciences, learning sciences and cognitive sciences. It starts with an outline of media and information literacy frameworks and an overview of the distributed cognition paradigm. A series of information behaviour models is then presented with great emphasis on sense-making methodology. It also synthesises the main dimensions of the concept of competence. To study information organization practices, 58 interviews were conducted with 26 students. Each subject was interviewed twice (before and after their entrance in higher education). Interviews consisted of guided tours by the subjects of their personal information spaces. The analysis was inspired by sense-making methodology, by focusing on the evolution of the organizing strategies adopted by students and the tensions appearing in their discourse. The core results of this research are twofold: (1) a comprehensive and longitunal inventory of the strategies interviewees used to organize their collections of personal information and (2) a definition of the competences required to organize personal information space. Specifically, those competences are defined in terms of a matrix of four basic organizing activities (selection, deletion, apprehension and implementation), three dimensions of information (technical, informational and social), and three types of relationships (adequacy, optimization and virtualization) used to characterize the mediating role of competences between the individual’s intentions and the opportunities and constraints of the situations where they are mobilized.
Researcher(s): Jerry Jacques
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: F.R.S.-FNRS Fellowship
The media literacy of audiences regarding the mediatization of trees and forests (2012-2013)
Abstract
The project focuses on how the public appropriates media representations of trees and forests. In particular, it examines whether, when the media represent trees and/or forests, audiences mobilize skills to see these representations as: (1) necessarily different from reality, (2) representations the construction of which can be interpreted in terms of persuasion strategy. At the same time, the study investigates whether audiences best exert their media literacy skills with textual media or iconic media, on reports or fiction, with (one to all, traditional mass media) "vertical" media or social media. The study also consider some of inter-individual variables, such as (1) training in media education and (2) prior personal representations of trees and forests. This research is part of a Franco-Belgian multidisciplinary program "The tree and the forest: policies and communications", initiated by the French Forest History Group (ENS, Paris) and the research group "Forest, Nature & Society" (ELI, UCL).
Researcher(s): Coralie Meurice
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Groupe de recherche « Forêt, Nature & Société » (ELI, UCL); Groupe d'Histoire des Forêts Françaises (ENS, Paris)
Funding: Walloon Region (DGO3)
Technology and musical listening: the appropriation of the mobile listener (2011-2016)
Abstract
With the advent of MP3, music listening occurs with a player that is more portable than ever. This technical specification affects the use of the device and the practice of listening. It happens in specific situations of mobility where individuals can listen to personalized music programs. Digital interfaces also afford new possibilities for navigating and organizing a large personal collection. We combined personal diaries and interviews with mobile listeners to investigate how they listen to music with an MP3-player. The interpretations of our results are based on the socio-technical appropriation approach (Jauréguiberry & Proulx, 2011; Millerand, 1999). Our results do not confirm the common representation of passive listeners listening to background music. On the contrary, the listeners display an « art of making-do » (de Certeau, 1980) in the configuration of their listening experience by taking into account both the constraints and possibilities of the technical, individual and contextual dimensions. Some listeners are more creative in their use and more reflexive in and about their practice. We present a modelization of this performance of mobile music listening and a typology of mobile listening. Our conclusions allow to better understand how the specificities of this practice redefine music listening in the 21st Century.
Researcher(s): Lionel Detry
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Partners: Advisory committee : Alain Reyniers, Christophe Pirenne, Florence Millerand
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Effects of animated concept maps on learning (2011-2013)
Abstract
The goal of this project is to study the effects of concept maps on learning when they are used as a medium for communicating complex information. More specifically, we are interested in the way animated concept maps can reduce "map shock", the feeling of being overwhelmed concept map users can experience.
Researcher(s): Jerry Jacques, Valèria Ligurgo
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Research program
Socialization skills in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (2010-2014)
Researcher(s): Thibault Philippette
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Media Literacy: operationalizing the theoretical definition of media competences (2010-2012)
Researcher(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez, Thibault Philippette
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: MediaAnimation A.S.B.L., Fédération de l'Enseignement Fondamental Catholique
urRu: cartography of a techno-scientific system in information and communication sciences (2010-2011)
Researcher(s): Aurélie Brouwers, Baptiste Campion, Thierry De Smedt, Lionel Detry, Pierre Fastrez, Thibault Philippette, Philippe Verhaegen
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt, Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: Research program
Hypertext navigation and visuo-spatial abilities (2009-2015)
Abstract
This research aims to understand how individuals use visuospatial skills when searching for information in a hypertext. By comparing information search in physical and hypertextual environments, this research attempts to highlight similar and / or different navigation strategies implemented in both types of environments.
Researcher(s): Aurélie Brouwers
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: FSR, FNRS
Assessment of Media Literacy Levels in Europe (2008-2009)
Abstract
The objectives of this project were: (1) to provide the European Commission with a set of criteria for assessing the levels of media literacy in the EU Member States; (2) to provide an assessment of current media literacy levels in member states; (3) to document the social and economic impact of the different levels and policies of current media education in Member States and at European level; (4) to propose measures for the improvement of media literacy levels by linking the implementation of media education policies with the core values of the EU.
Researcher(s): Thibault Philippette
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Co-promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: European Association for Viewers Interest, Université autonome de Barcelone (Espagne - Département de journalisme et communication), Université de Tampere (Finlande - Faculté d'Education), CLEMI (Centre de Liaison de l'Enseignement et des Médias d'Information, France)
Funding: European Commission
Development of a tool for analyzing exhibition devices. Semio-pragmatic approach of Belgian cases in 2016. (2004-2016)
Abstract
Nowadays, exhibitions are cultural phenomena that are the subject of various researches. We have used a semio-pragmatic approach to study the traces that the designer leaves inevitably within the devices they design. These traces are clues that influence the visitor's journey and their interpretation. We were curious to determine which elements make up these clues and which lead to the construction of meaning by the visitor. Our research is anchored in the disciplinary field of semio-pragmatics (Esquenazi 1997 - Meunier & Peraya 2004 - Odin, 2011 - Bouillaguet, 2012). This communicational approach allows us to carry out analyzes that take into account the influence of the designer's communication context and the effects that are part of the visitor's production of meaning. We carried out analyzes of existing exhibitions by examining their traces of enunciation and what these imply in terms of reflection and construction of meaning for the visitor. Rather than studying the actuel effects achieved by the exibitions (through reception analyzes), we seeked to specify the potentialities of these exibitions, i.e. their "potential effects".
Researcher(s): Mariève Bertrand
Promoter(s): Philippe Verhaegen
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Mediappro (2004-2006)
Abstract
The aim of the Mediappro project is to contribute, by relevant and realistic recommendations, to the education of young people from 12 to 18 in safer practices of the Internet and new portable audio-scripto-visual medias, connected on telecommunication networks. The question of security covers the reception and the spreading of harmful or illegal contents, but also the management, by the young users, of the harmful potential of communication acts, in culturally or ethically discrete contexts. This concerns situations where the differences of culture or ethic bring to the messages or to the actions a harmful power, without the presence of prejudicial intention, on someone. One should say that Mediappro tends to connect the question of safer use to the question of “how to put more civilisation into the new virtual networks”.
Researcher(s): Catherine Geeroms
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Funding: European Commission
Link: http://www.mediappro.org/
Study of the use of narrative in popular science hypermedia. Narratological and semio-cognitive approaches (2003-2012)
Abstract
This basic research considers the role of cognitive support provided by a narrative structure, particularly in the case of non-linear systems. The aim is to evaluate the contribution of narrative as a way of structuring non-formal educational documents, as it is often used in popular science.
Researcher(s): Baptiste Campion
Promoter(s): Daniel Peraya
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Partners: Philippe Marion (UCL/ORM), co-advisor
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
The cognitive semiotics of knowledge construction in educational hypermedia navigation. Diachronic approach. (2003-2007)
Abstract
Development of a semio-cognitive model of the influence of the techno-semiotic properties of information and communication technologies on the activities they support and their results (in particular: knowledge constructed in the context of their use), and the role played by the understanding of these technologies developed by their users in this process of influence.
Researcher(s): Pierre Fastrez
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Research program
Educaunet 2 - A European campaign to raise awareness and implement media education to promote a safer use of the Internet (2003-2005)
Abstract
Educaunet was a program in critical education to the risks associated with the use of the Internet. Its goal was to teach children and teens to navigate with full responsibility on the Internet. Educaunet made the bet to train young people to become autonomous, critical, responsible, and able to appreciate the richness of this media, while rightly perceiving its (actual and assumed) dangers.
Researcher(s): Odile Remacle
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: MédiaAnimation A.S.B.L., CLEMI
Funding: European Commission (Safer Internet Action Plan)
Formal knowledge, informal knowledge (2002-2004)
Abstract
This research, funded by the F.N.R.S., focuses on the discovery of media modes of knowledge shaping and circulation in modern societies. In these societies, many forms of knowledge are acquired by other means than classical education. Such knowledge is generally described as non-formal. The media play a major role in their diffusion. This research analyzes the themes and contents of knowledge privileged by the various media, analyzes their semiotic formatting, and the form of knowledge induced by it. The research is closely linked with the colloquia "Formal Knowledge - Informal Knowledge" I (2000) and II (2002) organized by the GReMS.
Researcher(s): Aude Seron
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Research program
Funding: FNRS (FRFC)
Reciprocity and communication (2002-2003)
Abstract
Research conducted at the request of and in partnership with the non-profit organization
Echos Communication, on the reciprocal dimension in communication processes. This project seeked to develop a criteriology to assess the reciprocal dimension of a cooperation project. This research was sponsored by Echos Communication as part of the implementation of the
Intermondes approach (the dialogue-development) and its presentation during the exhibition "
1000 families".
Researcher(s): Mariève Bertrand, Fabienne Thomas
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: Echos Communication ASBL
Funding: Echos Communication ASBL
Study of the comprehension of metaphorized hypermedia (2001-2008)
Abstract
The research focuses on the effects of metaphors used to design hypermedia on the understanding of the system and its contents.
Researcher(s): Anne-Sophie Collard
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier, Philippe Verhaegen
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Educaunet 1 - Education programme for a critical approach of the risks linked to the use of the Internet (2001-2002)
Abstract
Educaunet was a program in critical education to the risks associated with the use of the Internet. Its goal was to teach children and teens to navigate with full responsibility on the Internet. Educaunet made the bet to train young people to become autonomous, critical, responsible, and able to appreciate the richness of this media, while rightly perceiving its (actual and assumed) dangers.
Researcher(s): Julie Baudrez, Annabelle Klein, Lysiane Romain
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: MédiaAnimation A.S.B.L., CLEMI
Funding: European Commission (Safer Internet Action Plan)
Ecology awareness (2000-2001)
Abstract
This research, carried out at the request of GIREA and funded by the Ministry of the Environment of the Walloon Region, focuses on a study of the representations of nature among environmental managers in private and public companies. This study ains at informing the design of an initiative for raising business awareness of the development of nature in their green space.
Researcher(s): Nathalie Legaye
Promoter(s): Philippe Verhaegen
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: GIREA, Ministère de l'Environnement de la Région Wallone
Multi-criteria audit of technical quality management in agro-food SMEs (1998-1999)
Abstract
This research is part of the scientific support of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office to prenormative research in the food sector. A group of researchers from different disciplines (CERIA, RUG vakgroep Levensmiddelen, Consumer Law Center, GReMS) created a quality control assessment instrument for SMEs in the agri-food sector. This project is embedded in a broader context aimed ultimately at establishing overall quality standards in Belgium and Europe. With respect to its communication component, the research includes the observation, evaluation and improvement, on the one hand, of the technical and scientific training of staff in quality, and on the other hand, of internal and external information processes.
Researcher(s): Jean-Marc Everard
Promoter(s): Philippe Verhaegen
Project type: Research program
Partners: CERIA, RUG vakgroep Levensmiddelen, Centre de Droit de la Consommation
Hypertext navigation and knowledge acquisition (1997-2002)
Abstract
This research studied the influence of the nonlinear (reticular, hierarchical, etc.) organization of information in off-line educational hypermedia on the structure of the knowledge acquired by their users, starting from the experience of hypermedia navigation.
Researcher(s): Pierre Fastrez
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Funding: FSR, FNRS
Health education (1997-1998)
Abstract
This semio-pragmatic analysis, carried out at the request of 'Question Santé' (a not-for-profit organization), focused on a corpus of health education posters. This corpus included 100 years of posters from various institutions (ONE, Red Cross, Ministry of Health, ...).
Researcher(s): Fabienne Thomas
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Consultancy
Partners: Question Santé ASBL
Funding: Question Santé ASBL
The Social Appropriation of Multimedia (1993-1997)
Abstract
This interdisciplinary research is sponsored by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office. The partners in this research are CEDITI, the UCL Center for Consumer Law, the UCL Telecommunications Laboratory and the UCL Department of Education Sciences. The project is to study all the conditions for broadcasting multimedia services intended for the non-profit sector. The communication component studies in particular (1) the cognitive and organizational effects of new communication languages - (2) the conditions under which multimedia could contribute to strengthening the social bond.
Researcher(s): Philippe Charlier, Hugues Peeters
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: CEDITI, Centre de Droit de la Consommation, Laboratoire de Télécommunications, Département des sciences de l'éducation
Funding: SSTC (Belspo)
Télécole (1992-1993)
Abstract
Télécole was a media education operation sponsored by the King Baudouin Foundation. It took place in 1992 in 21 classes of the French Community of Belgium.
Researcher(s): Fabienne Thomas
Promoter(s): Thierry De Smedt
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Research program
Partners: Fondation Roi Baudouin
Hypermedia and learning experience (1991-2000)
Abstract
This study focuses on the use of hypermedia by adolescents. It tries to see if these bring a significant change in the learning experience, if there are significant differences in the way we experience learning through / with these new media, compared to more traditional learning environments.
Researcher(s): Philippe Charlier
Promoter(s): Jean-Pierre Meunier
Research Axes: Learning and education through media
Project type: Completed PhD thesis
Partners: Pierre de Saint-Georges (co-advisor)
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
