Scaffolding Critical Media Literacy and Student Success: A Cross-Departmental Team Approach in Best Practices

Type of Presentation

Panel

Conference Strand

Media Literacy

Target Audience

Higher Education

Second Target Audience

K-12

Location

Session 1 Workshops/Panels

Relevance

This session is appropriate for the media literacy strand. The presentation will describe a semester-long intervention to build media literacy competencies in a class in Social Sciences. The presentation compliments the conference theme by addressing efforts to design learning activities that are engaging to a diverse student population while providing intentional support systems that enhance access, equity, and student success. Finally, the intervention took place in the Fall 2022 Term of a large urban university which matches the audience recommended for this presentation but has lessons for those in the K-12 community. Students (names to be submitted later) will share their experiences and artifacts from the courses.

Abstract

This presentation will share design and outcomes information from an intervention to build student media literacy skills in a university with a majority minority student population. The team, which included a political scientist, an embedded librarian and professor of communications designed a scaffolded set of learning activities culminating in a capstone student research poster presentation on media literacy in a choice of professional settings including a state-wide Political Science conference.

The innovation team harnessed critical pedagogy to create a semester-long pairing of media literacy and American Government that provided opportunities for deep-learning and engagement. Support for the capstone project included a course-specific library research guide, presentation coaching, scaffolded checkpoints, dress rehearsal, and alternative assignment modes. A grant provided equity for students who might not otherwise have an opportunity, adding to their educational experience in a way that broadens and exposes them to the world of "scholarly conversations" as 1st and 2nd year students.

Politics are inherent in the act of teaching and our role as a team of facilitators was to encourage engagement in social issues while guiding students to develop essential media literacy competencies. The students were encouraged to explore topics that spoke to them and began thinking critically about how they themselves found, consumed and shared information. Indeed, not centering topic choices on dominant white, male or Western culture, provided this mostly female and minority class a sense of inclusion and purpose. The presenters will share intervention details and include student presenters to share their class experiences.

Presentation Description

This presentation will share information from a team intervention to build media literacy skills while engaging students and providing a pathway to success at a majority-minority institution. The team, which included a political scientist, librarian and professor of communications designed a scaffolded set of semester-long learning activities culminating in a capstone research poster presentation. This session will include student presenters sharing their experiences.

Keywords

Media Literacy, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Scaffolded Learning, Student Success, Student Engagement, Critical Thinking, Embedded Librarian, Team Approach, Instructional Design

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

Share

COinS
 
Mar 30th, 9:45 AM Mar 30th, 10:45 AM

Scaffolding Critical Media Literacy and Student Success: A Cross-Departmental Team Approach in Best Practices

Session 1 Workshops/Panels

This presentation will share design and outcomes information from an intervention to build student media literacy skills in a university with a majority minority student population. The team, which included a political scientist, an embedded librarian and professor of communications designed a scaffolded set of learning activities culminating in a capstone student research poster presentation on media literacy in a choice of professional settings including a state-wide Political Science conference.

The innovation team harnessed critical pedagogy to create a semester-long pairing of media literacy and American Government that provided opportunities for deep-learning and engagement. Support for the capstone project included a course-specific library research guide, presentation coaching, scaffolded checkpoints, dress rehearsal, and alternative assignment modes. A grant provided equity for students who might not otherwise have an opportunity, adding to their educational experience in a way that broadens and exposes them to the world of "scholarly conversations" as 1st and 2nd year students.

Politics are inherent in the act of teaching and our role as a team of facilitators was to encourage engagement in social issues while guiding students to develop essential media literacy competencies. The students were encouraged to explore topics that spoke to them and began thinking critically about how they themselves found, consumed and shared information. Indeed, not centering topic choices on dominant white, male or Western culture, provided this mostly female and minority class a sense of inclusion and purpose. The presenters will share intervention details and include student presenters to share their class experiences.