Identifying Components of Media Literacy Education for Student Teachers Using Roberts’s Six-Step Synthesis Model

The aim of this study was to identify the components of media literacy education for student teachers based on Roberts’s six-step synthesis research method. The statistical population of this research included all articles in prestigious domestic and foreign journals, book chapters, theses and dissertations, and other related documents published in the last 20 years. For this purpose, all databases in the field of media literacy were systematically searched. Based on the inclusion criteria, 466 studies were identified. Finally, when the studies were weighed against the exclusion criteria, 74 studies were selected as the study sample. To collect and record the information related to primary studies, a checklist designed by the researchers was used. The checklist was developed using the theoretical foundations of a study related to the research topic. The data were analyzed using Roberts’s (1983) six-step synthesis method as well as open and axial coding. Two researchers coded the data, and Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to determine inter-coder agreement, which was calculated to be 0.76. The analysis resulted in the identification of 16 categories and 56 themes. Moreover, based on the research findings, the dimensions and components of student teachers’s media literacy were divided into five core concepts, including purpose, content, audience, identity, and format. Purpose, the first core concept, included critical thinking and socialization. Content comprised cognitive-perceptual, emotional, moral, and aesthetic factors. Audience, the third core concept, consisted of specific, active, and passive audience. The fourth core concept, namely, identity, included ownership and control, law, technology, and economics. The final core concept, format, refers to written, electronic, and digital formats.