Media Literacy and Civic Engagement in the Context of Ability Grouping
24
Renee Hobbs University of Rhode Island USA Hans Martens University of Antwerp, Belgium Exploring Media Literacy and Civic Engagement in the Context of Ability Grouping in High School
Media Literacy and Civic Engagement in the Context of Ability Grouping
Renee Hobbs and Hans Martens report research about media literacy and civic engagement in the context of ability grouping in a U.S. high school. Presentation at Digital Media and Learning Conference, San Francisco, March 3, 2012.
Citation preview
1. Renee Hobbs Exploring Media Literacy and University ofCivic
Engagement in the Context of Rhode Island USA Ability Grouping in
High School Hans Martens University of Antwerp, Belgium
3. How do differenttypes of medialiteracy educationprograms
impactstudentsknowledge,analysis skills andcivic engagement?
4. Selective Admission Programs Communication Arts Program
(CAP)Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Open Admission
Programs Media Literacy Entrepreneurship International Studies and
Law Human Service Professions Science, Math and Technology
5. Communication Arts Program (CAP) A selective admission
4-year program that integrates the humanities, media analysis and
production, now in its 25th year
6. Media Literacy Academy Two stand-alone social studies
courses in Media Literacy and Media and Society
7. Research DesignQuasi-experimental study2 x 2 factorial Media
Literacy ML ACADEMY CAP Treatment CONTROL CONTROL No ML Ability
Grouping Open Selective Admission Admission
8. Respondents identify how much they use theMEASURES Internet
on an 8-point scale ranging from never to every day.Internet
useInformation Motives (U&G)Civic EngagementNews AnalysisAd
AnalysisMedia Knowledge
9. To assess students motives to seek outMEASURES information
as a part of daily life, students were asked to respond to four
statements:Internet use I use the internet to search for
informationInformation Motives (U&G) to see what is out there
to keep up with current events and issuesCivic Engagement because
it provides me with a new and interesting way to do researchNews
AnalysisAd AnalysisMedia Knowledge
10. Students were asked to report if they expect toMEASURES
engage in the following activities when they become an
adult:Internet use vote in national electionsInformation Motives
(U&G) get information about candidates before voting in an
electionCivic Engagement join a political party write letters to a
newspaper about social orNews Analysis political concerns be a
candidate for a local or city officeAd Analysis volunteer time to
help poor or elderly people in the communityMedia Knowledge collect
money for a cause collect signatures for a petition participate in
a peaceful rally or protest. A 4-point scale was used, scaled as
certainly will not do, probably will not do, probably will do, and
certainly will do.
11. In the news analysis task, students read a shortMEASURES
Time magazine piece and responded to open- ended questions
including:Internet use summarize the main point of the
articleInformation Motives (U&G) identify the target audience
& explain what specific information from the readingCivic
Engagement supports your answer identify the message purposeNews
Analysis identify what techniques were used to attract and hold
attentionAd Analysis list some different points of view presented
Identify omitted informationMedia Knowledge Scores were summed to
form an additive index which ranged from 14 to 0.
12. In the ad analysis task, students were given a
printMEASURES ad and asked to respond to open-ended questions
including:Internet use identify the target audience & explain
whatInformation Motives (U&G) specific information from the
reading supports your answerCivic Engagement identify the message
purpose Identify the ads implied message or subtextNews Analysis
identify what techniques were used to attract and hold attentionAd
Analysis list some different points of view presented Identify
omitted informationMedia Knowledge Scores were summed to form an
additive index which ranged from 14 to 0.
13. Students completed a short test relating toMEASURES
different facets of the media industry, including information about
history, economics, institutions, audiences andInternet use
effects.Information Motives (U&G) MULTIPLE CHOICE (6
items):Civic Engagement identify the main purpose of photos in a
newspaperNews Analysis recognize the most common kind of economic
control over mass media name the system of financing used to pay
forAd Analysis commercial radio. TRUE FALSE (11 items)Media
Knowledge The number of companies that own mass media outlets is
growing Newspapers make most of their money through the price paid
by the consumers who buy them
14. Data AnalysisComparison of means Table 1 Comparing means
Open Admission Program Selective Admission Program Other program ML
program Other program ML program Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean
(SD) Media knowledge .53 (.17) .62 (.22) .71 (.17) .75 (.13) News
analysis 4.80 (3.09) 4.27 (3.32) 7.60 (3.16) 8.86 (2.58) Ad
analysis 8.20 (3.45) 8.38 (4.02) 9.31 (3.18) 11.10 (3.16) n = 191 n
= 55 n = 87 n = 59There are gaps between Open Admission and
Selective Admission students Students in Open Admission ML program
are least skilled at news analysis Students in Selective Admission
ML program are most knowledgeable about media and most skilled at
both news and advertsing analysis
15. Data AnalysisCorrelation matrix Table 2 Correlation Matrix
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. Civic engagement 1 2. Gender (female) .25** 1 3.
Academy level .11* -.02 1 4. ML program .19** .24** .19** 1 5.
Internet use -.17** -.02 -.28** -.03 1 6. Information motive .23**
.04 .17** .03 -.34** 1 7. Media knowledge .19** -.05 .43** .23**
-.17** .08 1 8. News analysis .27** .20** .48** .13* -.23** .13**
.30** 1 9. Ad analysis .16** .20** .24** .16* -.08 .08 .25** .50**
Note: all tests are two-tailed. *p < .05, **p