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The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations

The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations

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  • The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations

  • The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations-image
  • Authors: Keifer M, Reyes IA, Liebman AK, Juarez-Carrillo P.

    Journal of Agromedicine. Wisconsin. June 9, 2014

    ABSTRACT:
    Audience Response Systems (ARS) have been used to improve the interactivity of educational activities for many years. Most studies of ARS have addressed education of literate trainees. How well these devices work with low literacy subjects is not well studied. Information gathering on the training audience is an important use of ARS and helpful in improving the targeting of training information. However, obtaining demographic information from populations with reasons to be concerned about divulging information about themselves, often referred as “vulnerable” has also not been tested. In addition, a culturally competent method to effectively collect demographic and evaluation data of this population is essential. This project investigated the use of ARS to gather information from Hispanic immigrant workers, many of whom are socially vulnerable and have limited English proficiency (LEP) and low literacy. Hispanic immigrant dairy workers were invited to attend focus groups and were asked to use the clickers to respond to a series of questions. Questions were both categorical (multiple choice) and open ended numerical (text entry) and varied from simple queries to more sensitive points regarding immigration. Most participants answered the one key response categorical questions with little difficulty. In contrast, some participants struggled when responding to numerical questions, especially when the response required pressing multiple keys on the clicker. An overwhelming majority of participants reported that the clickers were comfortable and very easy to use despite the challenges that the more complex responses appeared to present. The error rate increased as response complexity increased and the trend across three ordered categories of response complexity reached statistical significance. The results suggest that ARS is a viable method for gathering dichotomous or higher order categorical information from LEP and low literate populations in a group setting while assuring anonymity to respondents. However, it is recommended that clickers be developed and tested with bigger and more widely separated buttons, a limited number of buttons and less printing on the buttons for these populations. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of using clickers with simplified configurations in the workplace to collect data for surveys and assessments.

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  • « Back to Database Search
  • The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations

  • The Use of Audience Response Systems Technology with Limited English Proficient, Low Literate and Vulnerable Populations-image
  • Authors: Keifer M, Reyes IA, Liebman AK, Juarez-Carrillo P.

    Journal of Agromedicine. Wisconsin. June 9, 2014

    ABSTRACT:
    Audience Response Systems (ARS) have been used to improve the interactivity of educational activities for many years. Most studies of ARS have addressed education of literate trainees. How well these devices work with low literacy subjects is not well studied. Information gathering on the training audience is an important use of ARS and helpful in improving the targeting of training information. However, obtaining demographic information from populations with reasons to be concerned about divulging information about themselves, often referred as “vulnerable” has also not been tested. In addition, a culturally competent method to effectively collect demographic and evaluation data of this population is essential. This project investigated the use of ARS to gather information from Hispanic immigrant workers, many of whom are socially vulnerable and have limited English proficiency (LEP) and low literacy. Hispanic immigrant dairy workers were invited to attend focus groups and were asked to use the clickers to respond to a series of questions. Questions were both categorical (multiple choice) and open ended numerical (text entry) and varied from simple queries to more sensitive points regarding immigration. Most participants answered the one key response categorical questions with little difficulty. In contrast, some participants struggled when responding to numerical questions, especially when the response required pressing multiple keys on the clicker. An overwhelming majority of participants reported that the clickers were comfortable and very easy to use despite the challenges that the more complex responses appeared to present. The error rate increased as response complexity increased and the trend across three ordered categories of response complexity reached statistical significance. The results suggest that ARS is a viable method for gathering dichotomous or higher order categorical information from LEP and low literate populations in a group setting while assuring anonymity to respondents. However, it is recommended that clickers be developed and tested with bigger and more widely separated buttons, a limited number of buttons and less printing on the buttons for these populations. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of using clickers with simplified configurations in the workplace to collect data for surveys and assessments.

    READ ARTICLE