The widespread use and impact of algorithms on almost every aspect of the individual and society is a significant challenge to the modern world. For effective and informed functioning in today’s societies, we need to develop algorithmic literacy (Iwasiński & Furman, 2022). So far there have been several studies aimed at defining and operationalizing this notion, but only few at developing standardized measures of algorithmic literacy (Latzer et al., 2020). In 2022 Dogruel, Masur, and Joeckel (Dogruel et al., 2022) constructed and validated a 22-item scale for measuring algorithmic literacy. It consists of two interrelated dimensions: awareness of algorithms use (11 items), and knowledge about algorithms (11 items). The first dimension relates to the awareness of the purposes for which algorithms are being used and awareness of areas and applications or devices, in which algorithms are actually used. The second dimension focuses on a more advanced understanding of the mechanisms of action of algorithmic systems and their consequences. The correlation between results in both dimensions, and the practical ability to interact with algorithms has been confirmed.
In our study, we apply this scale to measure and compare the algorithmic literacy of Polish students of several faculties. We also want to test the scale in the Polish context. Authors of the scale declare: “our original scale was developed in German (…) Items worked in the context of our study, but item length or use of words to increase or decrease item difficulty might be critical in other languages”. Our pilot research indicated that respondents had trouble understanding the intentions behind some of the items.
Our research has two main goals:
- Testing the scale in the Polish context
- Assessing algorithmic literacy among Polish students of selected faculties.
We regard our research as exploratory. Our sample is purposive. We have selected courses from Polish universities, which are available to us, and as we assume, include some form of algorithmic education in their curricula. These are: Architecture of Information Spaces at the University of Warsaw, Sociology of Media and Communication at the University of Warsaw, and Philosophy of New Media at the University of Silesia. All students of the last (third) year will be studied. We also intend to check if the items are understandable, using interviews. Moreover, we plan to study and compare the syllabuses of the above programmes, to find out if they include courses that sensitize students to the knowledge of algorithms.
We adopted two working hypotheses:
- Not all items in the questionnaire are clear and understandable to our respondents.
- Students of different faculties have different levels of algorithmic literacy.
The study combines elements of quantitative analysis (Algorithmic Literacy Scale) and qualitative analysis (interviews with students, sylabuses analysis). This is, to our knowledge, the first empirical research on algorithmic literacy in Poland. Furthermore, we are not aware of any other studies that use the scale developed by Dogruel, Masur, and Joeckel worldwide.
References
- Dogruel, L., Masur P., & Joeckel, S. (2022) Development and validation of an algorithm literacy scale for internet users. Communication Methods and Measures, 16(2).
- Iwasiński, Ł., & Furman, W. (2022). Jak być świadomym użytkownikiem algorytmów? O potrzebie rozwijania kompetencji algorytmicznych. Zagadnienia Informacji Naukowej, 2.
- Latzer, M., Festic, N., & Kappeler, K. (2020). Awareness of algorithmic selection and attitudes in Switzerland. Report 2 from the project: The significance of algorithmic selection for everyday life: The case of Switzerland. University of Zurich.
Łukasz Iwasiński, Magdalena Krawczyk
University of Warsaw, Poland
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