Amplifying Agency: Student Podcasts as Tools for Media Literacy

Type of Presentation

Individual paper/presentation

Conference Strand

Critical Literacy

Target Audience

Higher Education

Second Target Audience

K-12

Location

Ballroom C

Relevance

This proposal provides a strategy to teach information literacy using news media articles in the classroom.

Proposal

In this presentation, I will share an assignment handout, a rubric, and strategies for teaching students to recognize bias in mainstream news media articles in a way that supports information literacy, student agency, and student expression, while encouraging respectful engagement across perspectives. In my Composition I course, students create a podcast that contains a rhetorical analysis of an article—in this, they are asked to find an article with a clear opinion or bias and to analyze the rhetorical moves the author is making to persuade the author’s intended audience one way or another. This assignment supports student agency and expression as students are encouraged to pick an article that they are interested in and to complete their analysis in a podcast format. Students are provided a list of different aspects of rhetoric that they may want to focus their inquiry on, and by concentrating their examination on the author’s argument, instead sharing their opinions on the topic of the article, students practice critiquing argumentation styles and picking apart arguments, which is conducive to respectful engagement across perspectives. Students are asked to explain the bias found in their chosen article, to discuss the rhetorical moves the author makes to persuade their chosen audience, and to evaluate the success of the article’s author in making their argument to their audience. This assignment teaches students how to identify and analyze bias, while giving them space to engage in critical reflection and a chance to practice respectful engagement across perspectives.

Short Description

This presentation shares strategies for teaching students to recognize bias in news media articles in a way that supports information literacy, student agency, and student expression. In my Composition I course, each student creates a podcast that contains a rhetorical analysis of an opinionated article and analyze the rhetorical moves of the author. This assignment teaches students how to identify and analyze bias, engage in critical reflection, and practice respectful engagement. I will provide an assignment handout and rubric.

Keywords

Rhetoric RhetoricalAnalysis Podcast Composition Bias Newspaper CriticalThinking OpEd

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Feb 6th, 2:00 PM Feb 6th, 2:45 PM

Amplifying Agency: Student Podcasts as Tools for Media Literacy

Ballroom C

In this presentation, I will share an assignment handout, a rubric, and strategies for teaching students to recognize bias in mainstream news media articles in a way that supports information literacy, student agency, and student expression, while encouraging respectful engagement across perspectives. In my Composition I course, students create a podcast that contains a rhetorical analysis of an article—in this, they are asked to find an article with a clear opinion or bias and to analyze the rhetorical moves the author is making to persuade the author’s intended audience one way or another. This assignment supports student agency and expression as students are encouraged to pick an article that they are interested in and to complete their analysis in a podcast format. Students are provided a list of different aspects of rhetoric that they may want to focus their inquiry on, and by concentrating their examination on the author’s argument, instead sharing their opinions on the topic of the article, students practice critiquing argumentation styles and picking apart arguments, which is conducive to respectful engagement across perspectives. Students are asked to explain the bias found in their chosen article, to discuss the rhetorical moves the author makes to persuade their chosen audience, and to evaluate the success of the article’s author in making their argument to their audience. This assignment teaches students how to identify and analyze bias, while giving them space to engage in critical reflection and a chance to practice respectful engagement across perspectives.