more gifts for you! · here is a gift for teachers looking for innovative ways to share their...

Great Ideas For Teachers 2002

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More GIFTs for You!

Here is a gift for teachers looking for innovative ways to share their knowledge of jour-nalism and mass communication with their students anywhere: the 2002 special limitededition Great Ideas For Teachers (GIFT) journal!

Forty GIFTs were selected this year, which appropriately match the Association forEducation in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) convention theme: “Waysof Knowing: Inside and Outside the Classroom.”

The Great Ideas For Teachers Program was established in 2000 by the CommunityCollege Journalism Association (CCJA) and Small Programs Interest Group (SPIG) torecognize excellent standards in teaching journalism and mass communication coursesand to provide colleagues with fresh ideas for creating or updating their lessons.

The Newspaper and Scholastic Journalism divisions have joined CCJA and SPIG in itsthird year to expand the program. More GIFTs, door prizes at the convention poster ses-sion, $100 for the grand prize winner and a new website are some of the improved fea-tures this year.

So here are some ways of knowing how to share your gift of teaching inside and outsidethe classroom.

Enjoy!

Edna R. Bautista, Chaminade—HonoluluGIFT Program Coordinator

2002 GIFT CommitteeBeverly S. Bailey, Tulsa CommunityDennis R. Bautista, Washington StateBeth Dickey, South CarolinaChristopher Karadjov, State University of New York—OswegoMichael Longinow, AsburyCarroll Ferguson Nardone, Sam Houston StateLaura Schaub, OklahomaJim Sernoe, Midwestern StateCarol Zuegner, Creighton


i

More GIFTs for You!

Here is a gift for teachers looking for innovative ways to share their knowledge of jour-nalism and mass communication with their students anywhere: the 2002 special limitededition Great Ideas For Teachers (GIFT) journal!

Forty GIFTs were selected this year, which appropriately match the Association forEducation in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) convention theme: “Waysof Knowing: Inside and Outside the Classroom.”

The Great Ideas For Teachers Program was established in 2000 by the CommunityCollege Journalism Association (CCJA) and Small Programs Interest Group (SPIG) torecognize excellent standards in teaching journalism and mass communication coursesand to provide colleagues with fresh ideas for creating or updating their lessons.

The Newspaper and Scholastic Journalism divisions have joined CCJA and SPIG in itsthird year to expand the program. More GIFTs, door prizes at the convention poster ses-sion, $100 for the grand prize winner and a new website are some of the improved fea-tures this year.

So here are some ways of knowing how to share your gift of teaching inside and outsidethe classroom.

Enjoy!

Edna R. Bautista, Chaminade—HonoluluGIFT Program Coordinator

2002 GIFT CommitteeBeverly S. Bailey, Tulsa CommunityDennis R. Bautista, Washington StateBeth Dickey, South CarolinaChristopher Karadjov, State University of New York—OswegoMichael Longinow, AsburyCarroll Ferguson Nardone, Sam Houston StateLaura Schaub, OklahomaJim Sernoe, Midwestern StateCarol Zuegner, Creighton


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The GIFTs

A Fairy Tale Approach to Writing for the WebHow to use a well-known children’s story to demonstrate how Web writing differs from print media writing

Clyde H. Bentley, Missouri—Columbia

Researching, Creating and Designing a Legal Research Web PageHow to introduce media law graduate students to the world of legal researchon the Internet by having them research, create and design their own Web pagefocusing on legal resources on the World Wide Web

Sandra F. Chance, Florida

Bringing the Newsroom to the ClassroomHow to do combat videotaping to convey the messages of the newsroom battlefield

Sue Ellen Christian, Western Michigan

Service Learning in Audio ProductionJoan Conners, Regis

The Game of Life and American ValuesHow to teach the concept of ideology

Mia Consalvo, Ohio

Developing a Companion CD-ROMHow to digitally distribute course materials

Judi Cook, Salem State

Micro-CreativityHow to use Creativity Tickler Exercises to improve students’ facility in developing fresh language for advertising assignments

Linda Conway Correll, Florida

The Front Page GameHow to encourage students to develop news judgment

Mary Carmen Cupito, Northern Kentucky

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The GIFTs

A Fairy Tale Approach to Writing for the WebHow to use a well-known children’s story to demonstrate how Web writing differs from print media writing

Clyde H. Bentley, Missouri—Columbia

Researching, Creating and Designing a Legal Research Web PageHow to introduce media law graduate students to the world of legal researchon the Internet by having them research, create and design their own Web pagefocusing on legal resources on the World Wide Web

Sandra F. Chance, Florida

Bringing the Newsroom to the ClassroomHow to do combat videotaping to convey the messages of the newsroom battlefield

Sue Ellen Christian, Western Michigan

Service Learning in Audio ProductionJoan Conners, Regis

The Game of Life and American ValuesHow to teach the concept of ideology

Mia Consalvo, Ohio

Developing a Companion CD-ROMHow to digitally distribute course materials

Judi Cook, Salem State

Micro-CreativityHow to use Creativity Tickler Exercises to improve students’ facility in developing fresh language for advertising assignments

Linda Conway Correll, Florida

The Front Page GameHow to encourage students to develop news judgment

Mary Carmen Cupito, Northern Kentucky


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Interviewing: The Public Radio FilesCarolyn Stewart Dyer, Iowa

Copy Edit the World!How to motivate students to be critical readers and sharper editors

Frank E. Fee Jr., North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Analyzing Magazine Covers Pre- and Post-Sept. 11How to help students think critically about the role of mass media

Carol T. Fletcher, Hofstra

Keeping Your Focus with Fizzies and OprahHow to transform your topic into a thesis statement

Scott Fosdick, Missouri—Columbia

The Beginner’s Portfolio ProjectHow to develop both conceptual and executional skills in the introductory advertising design course

W. Glenn Griffin, Texas—Austin

Better Than Bleeding All Over ItHow to use a tape recorder to improve feedback on student writing assignments

Jim Hall, Virginia Commonwealth

Teaching Financial Management the Easy WayHow to use a computer simulation program in a media management class

Joseph M. Harper, Kent State

Journalism Jeopardy With Your Host (Your Name Goes Here)How to thoroughly enjoy one class session that is focused on journalism triv-ia topics like “U.S. Presidents and the press,” “American newspapers,”“Famous journalists” and “Journalism—NOT!”

Cheryl Heckler, Miami (Ohio)

Writing the Statement of Personal Ethics in CommunicationHow to assess the integration and application of student learning in commu-nication ethics

Gail Ritchie Henson, Bellarmine

Music Video Creation as a Tool to Understand Videography and VideoEditingHow to make students spend hours learning to shoot and edit video—and love it

Brian K. Johnson, Illinois—Urbana-Champaign

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Interviewing: The Public Radio FilesCarolyn Stewart Dyer, Iowa

Copy Edit the World!How to motivate students to be critical readers and sharper editors

Frank E. Fee Jr., North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Analyzing Magazine Covers Pre- and Post-Sept. 11How to help students think critically about the role of mass media

Carol T. Fletcher, Hofstra

Keeping Your Focus with Fizzies and OprahHow to transform your topic into a thesis statement

Scott Fosdick, Missouri—Columbia

The Beginner’s Portfolio ProjectHow to develop both conceptual and executional skills in the introductory advertising design course

W. Glenn Griffin, Texas—Austin

Better Than Bleeding All Over ItHow to use a tape recorder to improve feedback on student writing assignments

Jim Hall, Virginia Commonwealth

Teaching Financial Management the Easy WayHow to use a computer simulation program in a media management class

Joseph M. Harper, Kent State

Journalism Jeopardy With Your Host (Your Name Goes Here)How to thoroughly enjoy one class session that is focused on journalism triv-ia topics like “U.S. Presidents and the press,” “American newspapers,”“Famous journalists” and “Journalism—NOT!”

Cheryl Heckler, Miami (Ohio)

Writing the Statement of Personal Ethics in CommunicationHow to assess the integration and application of student learning in commu-nication ethics

Gail Ritchie Henson, Bellarmine

Music Video Creation as a Tool to Understand Videography and VideoEditingHow to make students spend hours learning to shoot and edit video—and love it

Brian K. Johnson, Illinois—Urbana-Champaign


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The Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste TestHow to recognize the relevance of brand names in the world of advertising

Cathy Johnson, Angelo State

“This Really Happened…”How to show students the difference between a topic and a story

Lee Jolliffe, Drake

Beyond Schindler’s ListHow to understand the importance of government in the sunshine by keepingpublic records/meetings open to all

Kenneth C. Killebrew, South Florida

The Morning MeetingHow to teach current events and news judgment and make the classroom“real”

Richard Landesberg, North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Student Bios as Teaching ToolsHow to personalize a large class

Phyllis V. Larsen, Nebraska—Lincoln

The Carolina Community Media ProjectHow to put journalism theory into practice from day one

Jock Lauterer, North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Enliven History and Public Record Research—in the CemeteryHow to use the local cemetery to teach public record research and history in a reporting class

Carol S. Lomicky, Nebraska—Kearney

The Silly-Dilly Style QuizHow to help students learn to love the AP stylebook

Miles Maguire, Wisconsin—Oshkosh

Mining for Gold: Expanding Your PR ResourcesHow to encourage students to identify PR literature and pioneers

Kimberly Williams Moore, North Carolina—Chapel Hill/North CarolinaState

Current Events Quiz BowlHow to turn ordinary, apathetic students into “news junkies”

Jackie S. Nirenberg, Texas—Pan American

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56

59

61


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40

42

44

47

49

51

53

56

59

61

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste TestHow to recognize the relevance of brand names in the world of advertising

Cathy Johnson, Angelo State

“This Really Happened…”How to show students the difference between a topic and a story

Lee Jolliffe, Drake

Beyond Schindler’s ListHow to understand the importance of government in the sunshine by keepingpublic records/meetings open to all

Kenneth C. Killebrew, South Florida

The Morning MeetingHow to teach current events and news judgment and make the classroom‘“real”

Richard Landesberg, North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Student Bios as Teaching ToolsHow to personalize a large class

Phyllis V. Larsen, Nebraska—Lincoln

The Carolina Community Media ProjectHow to put journalism theory into practice from day one

Jock Lauterer, North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Enliven History and Public Record Research—in the CemeteryHow to use the local cemetery to teach public record research and history in a reporting class

Carol S. Lomicky, Nebraska—Kearney

The Silly-Dilly Style QuizHow to help students learn to love the AP stylebook

Miles Maguire, Wisconsin—Oshkosh

Mining for Gold: Expanding Your PR ResourcesHow to encourage students to identify PR literature and pioneers

Kimberly Williams Moore, North Carolina—Chapel Hill/North CarolinaState

Current Events Quiz BowlHow to turn ordinary, apathetic students into “news junkies”

Jackie S. Nirenberg, Texas—Pan American


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Bringing “Real” Deadline Pressure to the ClassroomHow to give students a taste of a real newsroom

Paula I. Otto, Virginia Commonwealth

Let’s Get Creative: Representing Myself!How to establish a framework for learning creative advertising strategy

Donnalyn Pompper, Florida State

Community Journalism: Expanding the ClassroomHow to utilize local resources in photojournalism education

Regene Radniecki, Minnesota State—Moorhead

Using PDAs to Check Your Knowledge of AP StyleHow to use and write quizzes for PDAs (Portable Digital Assistants)

Judy L. Robinson, Florida

“Now I Get It…”How to use reflective memos in news writing

James Simon, Fairfield

Getting Beyond the News QuizStacy Spaulding, Columbia Union

Forging Partnerships Through PromotionHow to make service learning an integral part of the public relations writing course

Andi Stein, California State—Fullerton

Democracy in ActionHow to connect students with the communication reconnection process

Kristie Alley Swain, Texas A&M

Using Daily ‘Quick’ Quizzes to Motivate StudentsHow to increase regular class attendance and participation

Brad Thompson, Penn State

Creating Individual Codes of EthicsHow to integrate theory and practice

Kathleen Woodruff Wickham, Mississippi

Project AccessHow to provide students hands-on experience with the Freedom of Information Act

Terry L. Wimmer, West Virginia

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63

65

68

70

72

74

76

78

81

84

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Bringing “Real” Deadline Pressure to the ClassroomHow to give students a taste of a real newsroom

Paula I. Otto, Virginia Commonwealth

Let’s Get Creative: Representing Myself!How to establish a framework for learning creative advertising strategy

Donnalyn Pompper, Florida State

Community Journalism: Expanding the ClassroomHow to utilize local resources in photojournalism education

Regene Radniecki, Minnesota State—Moorhead

Using PDAs to Check Your Knowledge of AP StyleHow to use and write quizzes for PDAs (Portable Digital Assistants)

Judy L. Robinson, Florida

“Now I Get It…”How to use reflective memos in news writing

James Simon, Fairfield

Getting Beyond the News QuizStacy Spaulding, Columbia Union

Forging Partnerships Through PromotionHow to make service learning an integral part of the public relations writing course

Andi Stein, California State—Fullerton

Democracy in ActionHow to connect students with the communication reconnection process

Kristie Alley Swain, Texas A&M

Using Daily ‘Quick’ Quizzes to Motivate StudentsHow to increase regular class attendance and participation

Brad Thompson, Penn State

Creating Individual Codes of EthicsHow to integrate theory and practice

Kathleen Woodruff Wickham, Mississippi

Project AccessHow to provide students hands-on experience with the Freedom of Information Act

Terry L. Wimmer, West Virginia


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The Live RemoteHow to bring professionals to students

Bradford L. Yates, West Georgia State

2002 GIFT Grand Prize Winner

Carol S. LomickyUniversity of Nebraska—KearneyEnliven History and Public Record Research—in the CemeteryHow to use the local cemetery to teach public record research and history in a reporting class

Read her winning GIFT on page 53. Congratulations from AEJMC, CCJA, SPIG,Newspaper and Scholastic Journalism divisions!

GIFT Website and E-mail

Highlights of the 2002 GIFT poster session will be uploaded on a special website, main-tained by GIFT Co-coordinator Dennis R. Bautista at Washington State University:

http://www.wsu.edu/~bautista/TEST_Chaminade/COM_HTML/GIFT_Home.html

Temporary e-mail for GIFT:

[email protected]

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The Live RemoteHow to bring professionals to students

Bradford L. Yates, West Georgia State

2002 GIFT Grand Prize Winner

Carol S. LomickyUniversity of Nebraska—KearneyEnliven History and Public Record Research—in the CemeteryHow to use the local cemetery to teach public record research and history in a reporting class

Read her winning GIFT on page 53. Congratulations from AEJMC, CCJA, SPIG,Newspaper and Scholastic Journalism divisions!

GIFT Website and E-mail

Highlights of the 2002 GIFT poster session will be uploaded on a special website, main-tained by GIFT Co-coordinator Dennis R. Bautista at Washington State University:

http://www.wsu.edu/~bautista/TEST_Chaminade/COM_HTML/GIFT_Home.html

Temporary e-mail for GIFT:

[email protected]


1

A Fairy Tale Approach to Writing for the Web

How to use a well-known children’s story to demonstrate how Web writing differs from print media writing

Clyde H. BentleyUniversity of Missouri—Columbia

IntroductionFor journalists, one of the most frus-

trating aspects of working with Webpages is the shortage of “real estate.”Author Crawford Killon estimates a Webpage will hold only 100 words—and thatonly if no art graces the page.

While many journalists throw in thetowel and resort to “scrolling” (longstreams of text that run off the bottom ofthe page), Killon and others advocate“chunking,” breaking the story into small,one-screen pieces that are held togetherby hyperlinks.

After finding that my students had avery difficult time with this concept, Iresorted to a story that they all knew byheart—Little Red Riding Hood. I found acopyright-free version of the story on theInternet (http://www.information-resources.com/Library/library.html).Students were assigned to edit or rewritethe text into an ersatz web site using onlya word processor—no HTML allowed.

RationaleMost online journalism texts focus

more on design than on writing. After

reading those texts, students are oftenoverwhelmed by technology and design“tricks” and lose track of their basic jour-nalistic writing skills. By taking awaytheir HTML, Dreamweaver and evenQuark, I forced them to concentrate on thewords and the very restrictive environ-ment of the Web page. Using a familiarfairy tale put all the students on equalfooting and allowed me to assure themthat Web writing is mere “child’s play.”

Implementation

• Students download a plain-text versionof the Little Red Riding Hood story.

• Students must convert the 1,004-wordstory into a coherent set of linked pages.

• Students must indicate a link by typingthe link title in bold—Link 3.2 (secondlink on the third page).

• Each page must carry a one-line headersimilar to an HTML tag—MaryStudent/Red Riding Hood/Page 2 (orLink 2.2).


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A Fairy Tale Approach to Writing for the Web

How to use a well-known children’s story to demonstrate how Web writing differs from print media writing

Clyde H. BentleyUniversity of Missouri—Columbia

IntroductionFor journalists, one of the most frus-

trating aspects of working with Webpages is the shortage of “real estate.”Author Crawford Killon estimates a Webpage will hold only 100 words—and thatonly if no art graces the page.

While many journalists throw in thetowel and resort to “scrolling” (longstreams of text that run off the bottom ofthe page), Killon and others advocate“chunking,” breaking the story into small,one-screen pieces that are held togetherby hyperlinks.

After finding that my students had avery difficult time with this concept, Iresorted to a story that they all knew byheart—Little Red Riding Hood. I found acopyright-free version of the story on theInternet (http://www.information-resources.com/Library/library.html).Students were assigned to edit or rewritethe text into an ersatz web site using onlya word processor—no HTML allowed.

RationaleMost online journalism texts focus

more on design than on writing. After

reading those texts, students are oftenoverwhelmed by technology and design“tricks” and lose track of their basic jour-nalistic writing skills. By taking awaytheir HTML, Dreamweaver and evenQuark, I forced them to concentrate on thewords and the very restrictive environ-ment of the Web page. Using a familiarfairy tale put all the students on equalfooting and allowed me to assure themthat Web writing is mere “child’s play.”

Implementation

• Students download a plain-text versionof the Little Red Riding Hood story.

• Students must convert the 1,004-wordstory into a coherent set of linked pages.

• Students must indicate a link by typingthe link title in bold—Link 3.2 (secondlink on the third page).

• Each page must carry a one-line headersimilar to an HTML tag—MaryStudent/Red Riding Hood/Page 2 (orLink 2.2).


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• Links could be scanned artwork (insert-ed via the word processor or simply justdescribed in a text block), URLs, links toa page of supplemental text or just to thenext page in the story.

• No page could contain more than 100words of text—less if it also contained art.

• I allowed my students to rewrite thestory as they wished as long the result wasrecognizable as the Little Red RidingHood story.

• Students were encouraged to use thelinking process to develop secondarymessages—a very common procedure inonline journalism but seldom possible inprint journalism.

• The end product is stapled together sothe reader—and the student writer—cansee the physical relationship between aWeb site and a conventional document.

ImpactStudents quickly figure out that this

fairy tale is not a toddler’s assignment.

Although they often agonize over it, thisis one of my students’ favorite assign-ments. At the base level, they find a sim-ple 1,004-word story takes 15-20 pages totell well on the Web. They also quicklylearn not to overuse links, especially tothe same piece of art.

This assignment also brought outthe “new media creativity” in many of mystudents and was a great way for me toscreen for journalists with cyber potential.

For instance, one student set thestory in current times and had Red ridinga city bus to grandmother’s. When shesaw a particular store or restaurant on thetrip, we were offered an advertising-basedlink for that establishment.

Another student used the main textas a vehicle for a subtext on animal rights.At appropriate places, links were insertedfor “Save the Wolves” or “The AmericanHumane Society.”

The core value of this assignment isthat it lets students demonstrate to them-selves that the intellectual skill of story-telling is what defines a great Web jour-nalist, not technical wizardry.


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• Links could be scanned artwork (insert-ed via the word processor or simply justdescribed in a text block), URLs, links toa page of supplemental text or just to thenext page in the story.

• No page could contain more than 100words of text—less if it also contained art.

• I allowed my students to rewrite thestory as they wished as long the result wasrecognizable as the Little Red RidingHood story.

• Students were encouraged to use thelinking process to develop secondarymessages—a very common procedure inonline journalism but seldom possible inprint journalism.

• The end product is stapled together sothe reader—and the student writer—cansee the physical relationship between aWeb site and a conventional document.

ImpactStudents quickly figure out that this

fairy tale is not a toddler’s assignment.

Although they often agonize over it, thisis one of my students’ favorite assign-ments. At the base level, they find a sim-ple 1,004-word story takes 15-20 pages totell well on the Web. They also quicklylearn not to overuse links, especially tothe same piece of art.

This assignment also brought outthe “new media creativity” in many of mystudents and was a great way for me toscreen for journalists with cyber potential.

For instance, one student set thestory in current times and had Red ridinga city bus to grandmother’s. When shesaw a particular store or restaurant on thetrip, we were offered an advertising-basedlink for that establishment.

Another student used the main textas a vehicle for a subtext on animal rights.At appropriate places, links were insertedfor “Save the Wolves” or “The AmericanHumane Society.”

The core value of this assignment isthat it lets students demonstrate to them-selves that the intellectual skill of story-telling is what defines a great Web jour-nalist, not technical wizardry.


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Researching, Creating and Designing a Legal Research Web Page

How to introduce media law graduate students to theworld of legal research on the Internet by having themresearch, create and design their own Web page focusing on legal resources on the World Wide Web

Sandra F. ChanceUniversity of Florida

IntroductionAn integral part of the media law

graduate course involves teaching stu-dents how to do legal research. At manycolleges and universities, students haveaccess to subscription legal research serv-ices and databases, such as Lexis/Nexis orWestlaw.

However, these services are expen-sive and many students will not haveaccess to the subscription-based researchtools once they graduate. They will, how-ever, have access to the World Wide Web,which has an amazing array of helpfuland sophisticated research sites. Studentswho master the art and science of Web-based research will have gained valuableinsight and expertise.

RationaleMany new legal resources and

research tools are now available on theWorld Wide Web with a click of a mouse.Understanding the variety of legal

resources on the Web opens a whole newworld to media law students and scholars.

While the Web is not a substitute forunderstanding traditional legal researchmethodology and research tools, it doesoffer a massive amount of additionalmaterial worthy of review for the seriousscholar.

An ability to evaluate the credibilityand trustworthiness of the sites is animportant first step. In addition, theresearcher must learn to distinguish thebest sites from the millions available incyber space. Once the students learnwhat’s out there, and how to determinethe most reliable and useful sites, they canuse that knowledge to develop a veryhelpful legal research resource tool forthemselves and others engaged in similarresearch on the Web.

ImplementationDesign the project and pass out the

assignment early in semester, complete


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Researching, Creating and Designing a Legal Research Web Page

How to introduce media law graduate students to theworld of legal research on the Internet by having themresearch, create and design their own Web page focusing on legal resources on the World Wide Web

Sandra F. ChanceUniversity of Florida

IntroductionAn integral part of the media law

graduate course involves teaching stu-dents how to do legal research. At manycolleges and universities, students haveaccess to subscription legal research serv-ices and databases, such as Lexis/Nexis orWestlaw.

However, these services are expen-sive and many students will not haveaccess to the subscription-based researchtools once they graduate. They will, how-ever, have access to the World Wide Web,which has an amazing array of helpfuland sophisticated research sites. Studentswho master the art and science of Web-based research will have gained valuableinsight and expertise.

RationaleMany new legal resources and

research tools are now available on theWorld Wide Web with a click of a mouse.Understanding the variety of legal

resources on the Web opens a whole newworld to media law students and scholars.

While the Web is not a substitute forunderstanding traditional legal researchmethodology and research tools, it doesoffer a massive amount of additionalmaterial worthy of review for the seriousscholar.

An ability to evaluate the credibilityand trustworthiness of the sites is animportant first step. In addition, theresearcher must learn to distinguish thebest sites from the millions available incyber space. Once the students learnwhat’s out there, and how to determinethe most reliable and useful sites, they canuse that knowledge to develop a veryhelpful legal research resource tool forthemselves and others engaged in similarresearch on the Web.

ImplementationDesign the project and pass out the

assignment early in semester, complete


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with the following goals, objectives andcomponents. Project is due on the lastday of class when students explain anddemonstrate their Web pages to the entireclass and their classmates evaluate eachhome page according to the listed criteria.

• Goals and objectives: The class islearning how to use a variety of tools todo legal research. As a result, students arebecoming experts in legal research. Thisproject is designed to help students con-tinue to learn about legal research toolsand demonstrate their knowledge andexpertise in a unique, yet useful manner.

• Components: Your home page mustcontain the following elements:1) An introduction and short biographicalsketch.2) A paragraph explaining why someoneshould visit your home page. Rememberhow searching tools work and choosewords which will likely point to yourhome page if someone is interested indoing legal research on the Web.3) A compilation of what you believe arethe most useful legal resources for legalresearchers on the Web. This must bemore than a simple link. It should be aguide for the potential user about whatinformation the legal resource will pro-vide. You should include your own analy-sis of the site’s strengths and weaknesses.You must include at least 15 such sitesand links on your home page.

You can either create a list whichwould deal with a variety of resources andtopics, or if you are interested in a partic-ular area of the law, you can concentrateon that area. For example, if you areinterested in freedom of information oraccess law, you can concentrate on siteswhich focus on access law. Or, if you areinterested in the inherent conflict between

privacy and the mass media, you can findsites which focus on the legal issuesinvolving privacy rights and the media. 4) At least three interesting graphics thatyou either create or receive written per-mission to use. You can include a photo-graph or clip art (if you own the software)or create your own. We’ve talked aboutcopyright and you understand the impor-tance of respecting the legal rights ofcopyright holders. People often includetheir e-mail addresses on their homepages and you can e-mail them for per-mission to use something from their page.To ensure we don’t violate a copyright inthis class, you must include a link to thewritten permission to use the graphic onyour home page.5) Links to your position papers for thisclass.6) During the last day of class, you mustturn in a hard copy of your home page andthe home pages of the legal resources towhich you have linked, and any otherwritten material that is important to yourlink.7) During the last week of class, we willvisit each other’s home pages. So, youmust have launched your page onto theWorld Wide Web. Your classmates willcritique your home pages and suggest agrade based on the how effectively youmet the goals and objectives of theassignment. I will make the final decisionon your grade for this project, taking yourclassmates’ evaluations into account.

• Important to tell students: It is notnecessary to rush out and buy a computerprogram for designing home pages to getan A on this project. You can make anattractive, informative and interestinghome page using simple programs, likethe one which comes on Netscape or otherbrowers. The Web also has lots of infor-


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with the following goals, objectives andcomponents. Project is due on the lastday of class when students explain anddemonstrate their Web pages to the entireclass and their classmates evaluate eachhome page according to the listed criteria.

• Goals and objectives: The class islearning how to use a variety of tools todo legal research. As a result, students arebecoming experts in legal research. Thisproject is designed to help students con-tinue to learn about legal research toolsand demonstrate their knowledge andexpertise in a unique, yet useful manner.

• Components: Your home page mustcontain the following elements:1) An introduction and short biographicalsketch.2) A paragraph explaining why someoneshould visit your home page. Rememberhow searching tools work and choosewords which will likely point to yourhome page if someone is interested indoing legal research on the Web.3) A compilation of what you believe arethe most useful legal resources for legalresearchers on the Web. This must bemore than a simple link. It should be aguide for the potential user about whatinformation the legal resource will pro-vide. You should include your own analy-sis of the site’s strengths and weaknesses.You must include at least 15 such sitesand links on your home page.

You can either create a list whichwould deal with a variety of resources andtopics, or if you are interested in a partic-ular area of the law, you can concentrateon that area. For example, if you areinterested in freedom of information oraccess law, you can concentrate on siteswhich focus on access law. Or, if you areinterested in the inherent conflict between

privacy and the mass media, you can findsites which focus on the legal issuesinvolving privacy rights and the media. 4) At least three interesting graphics thatyou either create or receive written per-mission to use. You can include a photo-graph or clip art (if you own the software)or create your own. We’ve talked aboutcopyright and you understand the impor-tance of respecting the legal rights ofcopyright holders. People often includetheir e-mail addresses on their homepages and you can e-mail them for per-mission to use something from their page.To ensure we don’t violate a copyright inthis class, you must include a link to thewritten permission to use the graphic onyour home page.5) Links to your position papers for thisclass.6) During the last day of class, you mustturn in a hard copy of your home page andthe home pages of the legal resources towhich you have linked, and any otherwritten material that is important to yourlink.7) During the last week of class, we willvisit each other’s home pages. So, youmust have launched your page onto theWorld Wide Web. Your classmates willcritique your home pages and suggest agrade based on the how effectively youmet the goals and objectives of theassignment. I will make the final decisionon your grade for this project, taking yourclassmates’ evaluations into account.

• Important to tell students: It is notnecessary to rush out and buy a computerprogram for designing home pages to getan A on this project. You can make anattractive, informative and interestinghome page using simple programs, likethe one which comes on Netscape or otherbrowers. The Web also has lots of infor-


5

mation on creating a Web page, includingvery helpful tutorials.

• Options: I give the students an optionof writing a final research paper (18-20pages) in lieu of this project. This hasbeen helpful, as there is usually one ortwo students who have not had muchexperience with the Web or design and areinitially intimidated by this project.

• Publicizing web pages: During the lastclass, I take digital photographs of eachstudent. Then, I put their pictures up onmy home page, linking their home page totheir picture. So, by clicking on a stu-dent’s picture, you are automaticallytaken to their home page. The students are

excited about the additional publicity thisgives their pages.

ImpactFrom a pedagogical perspective, I

find this exercise fascinating. It’s aninnovative way to educate both myselfand my students about the variety of hid-den research treasures available on theNet. It has the added benefit of puttingpressure on me initially to learn about thisrevolutionary new technology and then toupdate my own Web pages with new andinteresting material. A number of my col-leagues have learned about the projectand created similar assignments tailoredto their classes.


5

mation on creating a Web page, includingvery helpful tutorials.

• Options: I give the students an optionof writing a final research paper (18-20pages) in lieu of this project. This hasbeen helpful, as there is usually one ortwo students who have not had muchexperience with the Web or design and areinitially intimidated by this project.

• Publicizing web pages: During the lastclass, I take digital photographs of eachstudent. Then, I put their pictures up onmy home page, linking their home page totheir picture. So, by clicking on a stu-dent’s picture, you are automaticallytaken to their home page. The students are

excited about the additional publicity thisgives their pages.

ImpactFrom a pedagogical perspective, I

find this exercise fascinating. It’s aninnovative way to educate both myselfand my students about the variety of hid-den research treasures available on theNet. It has the added benefit of puttingpressure on me initially to learn about thisrevolutionary new technology and then toupdate my own Web pages with new andinteresting material. A number of my col-leagues have learned about the projectand created similar assignments tailoredto their classes.


6

Bringing the Newsroom to the Classroom

How to combat videotaping to convey the messages ofthe newsroom battlefield

Sue Ellen ChristianWestern Michigan University

IntroductionMaking your own videos of work-

ing journalists in their own settings is asimple, effective and engaging way toreinforce the lessons of a journalism text-book.

RationaleBrief video snippets on interview-

ing, writing and reporting that featurejournalists at your local newspaper, atnewspapers in cities you visit or those vis-iting campus, are engaging and effectiveways to augment textbook lessons andbring the diverse faces of the newsroominto the classroom. With an emphasis onfeaturing female and minority journalists,the video clips typically focus on a single“textbook issue” that a journalist experi-enced while reporting and writing a spe-cific story. Such a narrow focus allowsinstructors to assign students to read ajournalist’s published story after viewingthe video clip about that story. In this way,students can read about an issue, hear andsee a journalist discussing that issue asapplied to a specific story and then readthe published piece to see that techniquein use. Class discussions on the articles

can conclude the process. It is a layerededucational process that yields greatresults.

Implementation

• Keep it simple: This is not a profes-sional video, nor is it meant to be. Thinkof it as combat videotaping. Most com-munication departments have a handheldvideo for classroom purposes that teach-ers can borrow. Most reporters are flat-tered to be asked to talk for 5 to 10 min-utes on tape for classroom purposes only.If you go to the newsroom, it’s far easierto get that clip—which you can showagain and again to classes—than it is for areporter to find time to come to just one ofyour classes. If you doubt reporters willwant to talk on videotape at the request ofa complete stranger, remember what theydo every day of their lives; they ask peo-ple to tell their stories to thousands ofpeople, and you are just asking for a wordwith a classroom of students. One way toapproach journalists is to work backward,identifying a story they wrote that illus-trates a textbook point you want toemphasize. Calling in reaction to a specif-


6

Bringing the Newsroom to the Classroom

How to combat videotaping to convey the messages ofthe newsroom battlefield

Sue Ellen ChristianWestern Michigan University

IntroductionMaking your own videos of work-

ing journalists in their own settings is asimple, effective and engaging way toreinforce the lessons of a journalism text-book.

RationaleBrief video snippets on interview-

ing, writing and reporting that featurejournalists at your local newspaper, atnewspapers in cities you visit or those vis-iting campus, are engaging and effectiveways to augment textbook lessons andbring the diverse faces of the newsroominto the classroom. With an emphasis onfeaturing female and minority journalists,the video clips typically focus on a single“textbook issue” that a journalist experi-enced while reporting and writing a spe-cific story. Such a narrow focus allowsinstructors to assign students to read ajournalist’s published story after viewingthe video clip about that story. In this way,students can read about an issue, hear andsee a journalist discussing that issue asapplied to a specific story and then readthe published piece to see that techniquein use. Class discussions on the articles

can conclude the process. It is a layerededucational process that yields greatresults.

Implementation

• Keep it simple: This is not a profes-sional video, nor is it meant to be. Thinkof it as combat videotaping. Most com-munication departments have a handheldvideo for classroom purposes that teach-ers can borrow. Most reporters are flat-tered to be asked to talk for 5 to 10 min-utes on tape for classroom purposes only.If you go to the newsroom, it’s far easierto get that clip—which you can showagain and again to classes—than it is for areporter to find time to come to just one ofyour classes. If you doubt reporters willwant to talk on videotape at the request ofa complete stranger, remember what theydo every day of their lives; they ask peo-ple to tell their stories to thousands ofpeople, and you are just asking for a wordwith a classroom of students. One way toapproach journalists is to work backward,identifying a story they wrote that illus-trates a textbook point you want toemphasize. Calling in reaction to a speci-


7

ic story you’d like a writer to talk abouton tape makes the request more naturaland timely.

• Keep it narrowly focused: Select keytextbook lessons you want to be sure stu-dents learn; for example, organizing astory, interviewing victims, developing alead or finding sources. Know what youwant your on-camera journalists to talkabout so you can tailor the interview (withyou behind the camera) to a specificteaching point. Often, asking a journalistto walk through how they handled a par-ticular story produces usable and clearlypresented material. Some questions thathave worked well include: describe a timein which you chose not to name a sourceand why; give a specific example of howyou got a source to speak on the recordand why that source was essential for thestory; offer a reporting technique youused to add color to a story; relate an eth-ical dilemma you faced while reporting acertain story.

• Keep it current: Making your ownvideos means you can respond to currentevents and, in essence, report the story onbehalf of your students. It’s a wonderfulreminder for teachers of what it feels liketo be a journalist, as you are interviewingsources for the camera. Videotapingreporters on the latest local controversy orchanging newspaper ethics helps to fulfilla major calling of all journalists:Timeliness.

• Keep it dynamic: This doesn’t meanyour video has to be anything but a sim-ple head-and-shoulders shot. What itmeans is that your video is emphasizingone of the most exciting things aboutjournalism: No day on the job is the same.Capturing a reporter on camera talking

about what they do and how they do itconveys that notion in ways a textbookcan’t. With each reporter’s uniqueapproach to handling a lead or getting asource to talk, students learn about themany ways that a single problem can beapproached. Also, while it’s not alwayspossible, shooting video of a reporter oreditor on the job also gives the feeling andpace of a newsroom that a visiting jour-nalist can’t convey nearly as effectively tostudents in their own classroom setting.

ImpactThis teaching tool has been used in

both entry-level and upper-level reportingand writing courses. Upper-level studentsare presented with more in-depth discus-sions of news stories, while 100-level stu-dents respond best to shorter, more nar-rowly focused topics. The videos providestudents with access to role models,including female and minority journalists,when direct contact is not possible. Thevideos also allow students to see journal-ists in their own environment (one clip Iuse impresses students in part due to thetwo-foot-high stack of papers coveringthe reporter’s desk), to hear reporters’viewpoints and see their faces—they areno longer just faceless bylines. Readingthe published stories allows for a moredetailed, in-depth analysis. Studentresponse on anonymous evaluation formsis that the videos are a valuable part of theclass.

Instructor evaluation of the toolthrough exams is that the conceptsemphasized in the video clips and accom-panying news stories and class discussionwere among the most memorable in thecourse. Also, highlighting female andminority journalists in the videos sends animportant message to all students aboutnewsroom diversity.


7

ic story you’d like a writer to talk abouton tape makes the request more naturaland timely.

• Keep it narrowly focused: Select keytextbook lessons you want to be sure stu-dents learn; for example, organizing astory, interviewing victims, developing alead or finding sources. Know what youwant your on-camera journalists to talkabout so you can tailor the interview (withyou behind the camera) to a specificteaching point. Often, asking a journalistto walk through how they handled a par-ticular story produces usable and clearlypresented material. Some questions thathave worked well include: describe a timein which you chose not to name a sourceand why; give a specific example of howyou got a source to speak on the recordand why that source was essential for thestory; offer a reporting technique youused to add color to a story; relate an eth-ical dilemma you faced while reporting acertain story.

• Keep it current: Making your ownvideos means you can respond to currentevents and, in essence, report the story onbehalf of your students. It’s a wonderfulreminder for teachers of what it feels liketo be a journalist, as you are interviewingsources for the camera. Videotapingreporters on the latest local controversy orchanging newspaper ethics helps to fulfilla major calling of all journalists:Timeliness.

• Keep it dynamic: This doesn’t meanyour video has to be anything but a sim-ple head-and-shoulders shot. What itmeans is that your video is emphasizingone of the most exciting things aboutjournalism: No day on the job is the same.Capturing a reporter on camera talking

about what they do and how they do itconveys that notion in ways a textbookcan’t. With each reporter’s uniqueapproach to handling a lead or getting asource to talk, students learn about themany ways that a single problem can beapproached. Also, while it’s not alwayspossible, shooting video of a reporter oreditor on the job also gives the feeling andpace of a newsroom that a visiting jour-nalist can’t convey nearly as effectively tostudents in their own classroom setting.

ImpactThis teaching tool has been used in

both entry-level and upper-level reportingand writing courses. Upper-level studentsare presented with more in-depth discus-sions of news stories, while 100-level stu-dents respond best to shorter, more nar-rowly focused topics. The videos providestudents with access to role models,including female and minority journalists,when direct contact is not possible. Thevideos also allow students to see journal-ists in their own environment (one clip Iuse impresses students in part due to thetwo-foot-high stack of papers coveringthe reporter’s desk), to hear reporters’viewpoints and see their faces—they areno longer just faceless bylines. Readingthe published stories allows for a moredetailed, in-depth analysis. Studentresponse on anonymous evaluation formsis that the videos are a valuable part of theclass.

Instructor evaluation of the toolthrough exams is that the conceptsemphasized in the video clips and accom-panying news stories and class discussionwere among the most memorable in thecourse. Also, highlighting female andminority journalists in the videos sends animportant message to all students aboutnewsroom diversity.


8

Service Learning in Audio Production

Joan ConnersRegis University

IntroductionOne assignment in my audio pro-

duction class was a student production ofan audiotape that could be sent toprospective students who were visuallyimpaired, for whom a traditional admis-sions videotape would not be ideal.

Rationale

• Student attention to projects: With anoutside “client” for the assignment, stu-dents are more concerned about having aquality production, not just getting theassignment done “good enough”.

• Great hands-on learning about soundquality, interviewing and editing audio-tape.

• Learning the importance of deadlines:When one student’s work on the projectrelies on another student’s contribution becompleted, there is greater pressure tomeet assigned deadlines.

Implementation

• Students viewed the existing admissionsvideotape to develop ideas for content andtopics to be covered in an admissionsaudiotape.

• Students held meetings with the Directorof Disability Services to learn aboutissues for visually impaired students,which helped focus their attention on con-tent and production quality issues for thetape.

• The class of 15 was divided into groupsof three and assigned to complete particu-lar tasks for production: Interviewinguniversity officials and students, gather-ing natural sound from campus, screeningmusic that could be used, scriptwriting,narration recording and editing and post-production editing.

Impact

• Positive feedback from students, manysaying they learned more about produc-tion from that assignment than from therest of the class and text combined!

• Positive feedback from our collegeAdmissions Office and DisabilityServices (good “community building” onour campus for our department).

• Changes for future: Students felt theydid not have enough time to completesome portions of their assigned tasks, andwere also frustrated when their workrelied on getting tape from other class-mates who were missing deadlines.


8

Service Learning in Audio Production

Joan ConnersRegis University

IntroductionOne assignment in my audio pro-

duction class was a student production ofan audiotape that could be sent toprospective students who were visuallyimpaired, for whom a traditional admis-sions videotape would not be ideal.

Rationale

• Student attention to projects: With anoutside “client” for the assignment, stu-dents are more concerned about having aquality production, not just getting theassignment done “good enough”.

• Great hands-on learning about soundquality, interviewing and editing audio-tape.

• Learning the importance of deadlines:When one student’s work on the projectrelies on another student’s contribution becompleted, there is greater pressure tomeet assigned deadlines.

Implementation

• Students viewed the existing admissionsvideotape to develop ideas for content andtopics to be covered in an admissionsaudiotape.

• Students held meetings with the Directorof Disability Services to learn aboutissues for visually impaired students,which helped focus their attention on con-tent and production quality issues for thetape.

• The class of 15 was divided into groupsof three and assigned to complete particu-lar tasks for production: Interviewinguniversity officials and students, gather-ing natural sound from campus, screeningmusic that could be used, scriptwriting,narration recording and editing and post-production editing.

Impact

• Positive feedback from students, manysaying they learned more about produc-tion from that assignment than from therest of the class and text combined!

• Positive feedback from our collegeAdmissions Office and DisabilityServices (good “community building” onour campus for our department).

• Changes for future: Students felt theydid not have enough time to completesome portions of their assigned tasks, andwere also frustrated when their workrelied on getting tape from other class-mates who were missing deadlines.


9

The Game of Life and American Values

How to teach the concept of ideology

Mia ConsalvoOhio University

IntroductionIt is often difficult to teach students

about the concept of ideology withoutresorting to the idea (or having studentstake away the idea) that ideology is a formof “propaganda” which only foreign gov-ernments try to “push” on their citizens.

This exercise shows how ideologiesare prevalent in everyone’s daily life, andhow America has specific ideologies aswell, by having students play variousboard games intended for children thatcontain ideologies (such as the benefits ofcapitalism, the prevalence of genderstereotypes and the assumption of hetero-sexuality).

RationaleOften when introducing potentially

controversial ideas, students are resistantand may claim the instructor is “biased.”

This exercise uses materials stu-dents are familiar with to show the pres-ence of ideology in everyday life, andhow it is taught to us at a very young age.Students are asked to reflect on the expe-rience and come to their own conclusions,which generally leads to greater accept-ance of the idea that ideologies are perva-sive in everyone’s lives, and can even bepositive forces.

Implementation

• Depending on how large your class is,buy (or borrow) 3-6 board games such asLife, Monopoly, Payday, The Battle of theSexes, The Barbie Board Game orMystery Date.

• Plan a class period of at least 90 minutesin length (if possible) for the activity, asstudents should have enough time for abrief introduction, time to set up and playthe game and time for discussion after-wards.

• Begin the session by talking about theconcept of ideology, giving a general def-inition and discussing different institu-tions that have historically promoted par-ticular ideologies (the church, schools,governments). Usually after giving thedefinition and using one example todescribe it, have students try to come upwith other examples in small groups tosee how ideologies can be part of dailylife.

• After talking about how various institu-tions promote ideologies, shift focus a bitto mention how nations can promote ide-ologies, and how they can become “com-


9

The Game of Life and American Values

How to teach the concept of ideology

Mia ConsalvoOhio University

IntroductionIt is often difficult to teach students

about the concept of ideology withoutresorting to the idea (or having studentstake away the idea) that ideology is a formof “propaganda” which only foreign gov-ernments try to “push” on their citizens.

This exercise shows how ideologiesare prevalent in everyone’s daily life, andhow America has specific ideologies aswell, by having students play variousboard games intended for children thatcontain ideologies (such as the benefits ofcapitalism, the prevalence of genderstereotypes and the assumption of hetero-sexuality).

RationaleOften when introducing potentially

controversial ideas, students are resistantand may claim the instructor is “biased.”

This exercise uses materials stu-dents are familiar with to show the pres-ence of ideology in everyday life, andhow it is taught to us at a very young age.Students are asked to reflect on the expe-rience and come to their own conclusions,which generally leads to greater accept-ance of the idea that ideologies are perva-sive in everyone’s lives, and can even bepositive forces.

Implementation

• Depending on how large your class is,buy (or borrow) 3-6 board games such asLife, Monopoly, Payday, The Battle of theSexes, The Barbie Board Game orMystery Date.

• Plan a class period of at least 90 minutesin length (if possible) for the activity, asstudents should have enough time for abrief introduction, time to set up and playthe game and time for discussion after-wards.

• Begin the session by talking about theconcept of ideology, giving a general def-inition and discussing different institu-tions that have historically promoted par-ticular ideologies (the church, schools,governments). Usually after giving thedefinition and using one example todescribe it, have students try to come upwith other examples in small groups tosee how ideologies can be part of dailylife.

• After talking about how various institu-tions promote ideologies, shift focus a bitto mention how nations can promote ide-ologies, and how they can become “com-


10

mon sense” enough that people end uptransmitting them through the culture invarious ways.

• At this point take out the board gamesand tell the students that they are going toget into small groups and play a game, tosee how even young children can learnthe ideology of the nation or place inwhich they live. Distribute the games tothe groups and have them play the gameeither to completion, or for a set time (atleast 30 minutes).

• While students are playing, put thesequestions on the board (or PowerPoint)for them to think about while playing, andto discuss afterwards:1) How do you win the game?2) What are you penalized for in thegame?3) What are you rewarded for?4) How does the game reflect “real” life?

• When the students finish their games,have each group talk about their owngame in terms of the above questions tocome up with some answers. After 5-10minutes, have the class reconvene to dis-cuss how each game tied in with theabove questions. Usually students areeager to discuss how their game worked,and to share how surprised they are at thevalues being expressed in the games.

• The class can be ended by discussing(briefly) the concept of “hegemony” andhow a government can keep its citizens

under control either by force or throughpersuasion. Talk about how these gamesare one method for persuading the veryyoung that the values of the culture arerewarded and right, and are part of “com-mon sense.”

ImpactStudents generally love this class

exercise. It is something that I generallyuse during the first week of class, as theconcept of ideology is an important basisfor my courses. Further, since the stu-dents are having fun playing in smallgroups, the exercise works well as an ice-breaker, allowing the students to get toknow each other a bit and get used to par-ticipating in my class in a “safe” way.Discussion is also generally good, as stu-dents can draw on their past experienceswith games and feel that they can con-tribute to class. This helps establish acomfortable atmosphere for the rest of thesemester.

If you can find one, it is great tohave a board game from the 1950s (or ear-lier) to show students how ideologies canchange over time. They can usually iden-tify very well how stereotypes of genderhave evolved, and many also pick up onhow games such as Life demand that play-ers engage in certain traditional ritualssuch as getting married and having chil-dren. Also, I’ve found that having malestudents play games such as Barbie worksout particularly well (even if they objectinitially), because it forces them to con-sider stereotypes of gender.


10

mon sense” enough that people end uptransmitting them through the culture invarious ways.

• At this point take out the board gamesand tell the students that they are going toget into small groups and play a game, tosee how even young children can learnthe ideology of the nation or place inwhich they live. Distribute the games tothe groups and have them play the gameeither to completion, or for a set time (atleast 30 minutes).

• While students are playing, put thesequestions on the board (or PowerPoint)for them to think about while playing, andto discuss afterwards:1) How do you win the game?2) What are you penalized for in thegame?3) What are you rewarded for?4) How does the game reflect “real” life?

• When the students finish their games,have each group talk about their owngame in terms of the above questions tocome up with some answers. After 5-10minutes, have the class reconvene to dis-cuss how each game tied in with theabove questions. Usually students areeager to discuss how their game worked,and to share how surprised they are at thevalues being expressed in the games.

• The class can be ended by discussing(briefly) the concept of “hegemony” andhow a government can keep its citizens

under control either by force or throughpersuasion. Talk about how these gamesare one method for persuading the veryyoung that the values of the culture arerewarded and right, and are part of “com-mon sense.”

ImpactStudents generally love this class

exercise. It is something that I generallyuse during the first week of class, as theconcept of ideology is an important basisfor my courses. Further, since the stu-dents are having fun playing in smallgroups, the exercise works well as an ice-breaker, allowing the students to get toknow each other a bit and get used to par-ticipating in my class in a “safe” way.Discussion is also generally good, as stu-dents can draw on their past experienceswith games and feel that they can con-tribute to class. This helps establish acomfortable atmosphere for the rest of thesemester.

If you can find one, it is great tohave a board game from the 1950s (or ear-lier) to show students how ideologies canchange over time. They can usually iden-tify very well how stereotypes of genderhave evolved, and many also pick up onhow games such as Life demand that play-ers engage in certain traditional ritualssuch as getting married and having chil-dren. Also, I’ve found that having malestudents play games such as Barbie worksout particularly well (even if they objectinitially), because it forces them to con-sider stereotypes of gender.


11

Developing a Companion CD-ROM

How to digitally distribute course materials

Judi CookSalem State College

IntroductionAdvances in technology offer us

new opportunities in the classroom. Thisproject takes the traditional paper methodof distributing the course syllabus, hand-outs, etc. and replaces it with a CD-ROMversion. The CD allows for an abundantamount of information to be stored in oneconvenient location. It also encourages usto add new media formats such as digitalgraphics, digital video and web links toour course materials.

RationaleThe purpose of the CD is three-fold.

For one, it serves a purpose for housingthe course materials in an untraditionalway. Students respond positively to theCD as they are consumers of CD prod-ucts. Second, the CD provides an oppor-tunity to discuss the impact of digital pub-lishing. I found that while I saved mydepartment money by means of reducingmy print copying costs, I shifted theresponsibility of printing to the students.This can serve as a discussion point on theimpact of new media. Third, the CDserves as an example of how students candistribute their own materials on CD.After using the CD in class, several stu-

dents expressed an interest in putting theirown portfolios on CD.

Implementation

• Begin by deciding what materials toinclude on the CD. For example:1) A syllabus created in MSWord2) A scanned image prepared in AdobePhotoshop3) A PowerPoint presentation4) A digital video clip5) A hotlink list of relevant websites

• Next, consider how you want to presentyour materials. Here are just a few possi-bilities:1) For a simple CD, you may just wantto arrange your files in well-organizedfolders for the students to access on a file-by-file basis. 2) To develop a more sophisticated CD,consider creating a graphical user inter-face consisting of hyperlinks to all thefiles on the CD. You can quickly developsuch an interface with MS PowerPoint orwith Macromedia Director. Both pro-grams will allow you to incorporate text,graphics and animation in a self-runningapplication. Students will simply run the


11

Developing a Companion CD-ROM

How to digitally distribute course materials

Judi CookSalem State College

IntroductionAdvances in technology offer us

new opportunities in the classroom. Thisproject takes the traditional paper methodof distributing the course syllabus, hand-outs, etc. and replaces it with a CD-ROMversion. The CD allows for an abundantamount of information to be stored in oneconvenient location. It also encourages usto add new media formats such as digitalgraphics, digital video and web links toour course materials.

RationaleThe purpose of the CD is three-fold.

For one, it serves a purpose for housingthe course materials in an untraditionalway. Students respond positively to theCD as they are consumers of CD prod-ucts. Second, the CD provides an oppor-tunity to discuss the impact of digital pub-lishing. I found that while I saved mydepartment money by means of reducingmy print copying costs, I shifted theresponsibility of printing to the students.This can serve as a discussion point on theimpact of new media. Third, the CDserves as an example of how students candistribute their own materials on CD.After using the CD in class, several stu-

dents expressed an interest in putting theirown portfolios on CD.

Implementation

• Begin by deciding what materials toinclude on the CD. For example:1) A syllabus created in MSWord2) A scanned image prepared in AdobePhotoshop3) A PowerPoint presentation4) A digital video clip5) A hotlink list of relevant websites

• Next, consider how you want to presentyour materials. Here are just a few possi-bilities:1) For a simple CD, you may just wantto arrange your files in well-organizedfolders for the students to access on a file-by-file basis. 2) To develop a more sophisticated CD,consider creating a graphical user inter-face consisting of hyperlinks to all thefiles on the CD. You can quickly developsuch an interface with MS PowerPoint orwith Macromedia Director. Both pro-grams will allow you to incorporate text,graphics and animation in a self-runningapplication. Students will simply run the


12

program and then view a hyper-linkedtable of contents. 3) A third option would be to create anhtml document for the CD, which wouldrequire a browser such as NetscapeNavigator in order to run. This optionwould differ from a course website in thatit would only be available on the CD andwould not require an Internet connection.However, links to external websiteswould seamlessly connect when the stu-dents used the CD on a computer con-nected to the Internet.

• Once you’ve created your files, the nextstep is to burn a test CD. It is a good ideato burn a hybrid CD that can be used onboth Windows and Macintosh platforms.If your files require any “helper” applica-tions, such as the PowerPoint Viewer, youmay wish to burn them on the CD as well.I also recommend preparing a “ReadMe.txt” file that details how to use yourCD as well as what the necessary mini-mum system requirements are to accessthe files. Test your CD on as many differ-

ent computers as you can in order to antic-ipate compatibility problems.

• The final step is to create labels for theCDs. These can be purchased at any officesupply store and printed on any desk jet orlaser printer. Many label packages comewith templates for designing CD labels.

ImpactA small survey was distributed to

students who used the CD (N=15). Theresults indicated that:

• 86% of the students thought the CD wasa useful tool.

• 93% of the students thought the CD waseasy to use.

• After viewing the CD, 87% had ideas fordeveloping their own CDs.

• 93% of the students said that incorporat-ing technology into the classroom wasimportant to them.


12

program and then view a hyper-linkedtable of contents. 3) A third option would be to create anhtml document for the CD, which wouldrequire a browser such as NetscapeNavigator in order to run. This optionwould differ from a course website in thatit would only be available on the CD andwould not require an Internet connection.However, links to external websiteswould seamlessly connect when the stu-dents used the CD on a computer con-nected to the Internet.

• Once you’ve created your files, the nextstep is to burn a test CD. It is a good ideato burn a hybrid CD that can be used onboth Windows and Macintosh platforms.If your files require any “helper” applica-tions, such as the PowerPoint Viewer, youmay wish to burn them on the CD as well.I also recommend preparing a “ReadMe.txt” file that details how to use yourCD as well as what the necessary mini-mum system requirements are to accessthe files. Test your CD on as many differ-

ent computers as you can in order to antic-ipate compatibility problems.

• The final step is to create labels for theCDs. These can be purchased at any officesupply store and printed on any desk jet orlaser printer. Many label packages comewith templates for designing CD labels.

ImpactA small survey was distributed to

students who used the CD (N=15). Theresults indicated that:

• 86% of the students thought the CD wasa useful tool.

• 93% of the students thought the CD waseasy to use.

• After viewing the CD, 87% had ideas fordeveloping their own CDs.

• 93% of the students said that incorporat-ing technology into the classroom wasimportant to them.


13

Micro-Creativity

How to use Creativity Tickler Exercises to improve students’ facility in developing fresh language for advertising assignments

Linda Conway CorrellUniversity of Florida

IntroductionTurning your classroom into a copy-

writer's office, where students useCreativity Ticklers, a series of 45-minuteword and ideation exercises to developfacility in nontraditional applications oflanguage, is an innovative teachingapproach that improves students' facilitywith advertising executions.

RationaleIn creating advertising, the profes-

sional copywriter is constantly challengedto find fresh language to express ideas.Creativity Ticklers provide new tools thatyou can use in the classroom to assistyour students in accomplishing this goal.These exercises are also useful in helpingstudents develop headlines and slogans,two of the most important elements ofcopywriting. Additionally:

• Creativity Ticklers transform the class-room into a copywriter's office, wherestudents build headline and slogan writingskills.

• Ticklers improve students' concentrationby directing their focus to a single task for

a predetermined amount of time. Thisincreased ability to concentrate carriesover into other in-class assignments.

• Ticklers introduce a sense of play thatstudents find relaxing and confidence-building.

• Ticklers provide a sense of creativeaccomplishment as students use their newskills to complete assignments.

• Ticklers raise the level of interest andparticipation, which gives a greater senseof accomplishment for both students andteacher.

ImplementationOnce a week for 10 weeks, set aside

a class period where you introduce yourstudents to one of the Creativity Ticklersand give them 45 minutes to complete it.

• Creativity Tickler 1: Word DisseminationMake a list of 50 four-letter-or-morewords found in one of the followingphrases:


13

Micro-Creativity

How to use Creativity Tickler Exercises to improve students’ facility in developing fresh language for advertising assignments

Linda Conway CorrellUniversity of Florida

IntroductionTurning your classroom into a copy-

writer's office, where students useCreativity Ticklers, a series of 45-minuteword and ideation exercises to developfacility in nontraditional applications oflanguage, is an innovative teachingapproach that improves students' facilitywith advertising executions.

RationaleIn creating advertising, the profes-

sional copywriter is constantly challengedto find fresh language to express ideas.Creativity Ticklers provide new tools thatyou can use in the classroom to assistyour students in accomplishing this goal.These exercises are also useful in helpingstudents develop headlines and slogans,two of the most important elements ofcopywriting. Additionally:

• Creativity Ticklers transform the class-room into a copywriter's office, wherestudents build headline and slogan writingskills.

• Ticklers improve students' concentrationby directing their focus to a single task for

a predetermined amount of time. Thisincreased ability to concentrate carriesover into other in-class assignments.

• Ticklers introduce a sense of play thatstudents find relaxing and confidence-building.

• Ticklers provide a sense of creativeaccomplishment as students use their newskills to complete assignments.

• Ticklers raise the level of interest andparticipation, which gives a greater senseof accomplishment for both students andteacher.

ImplementationOnce a week for 10 weeks, set aside

a class period where you introduce yourstudents to one of the Creativity Ticklersand give them 45 minutes to complete it.

• Creativity Tickler 1: Word DisseminationMake a list of 50 four-letter-or-morewords found in one of the followingphrases:


14

Media PlannerTarget AudienceArt DirectionRadio ProductionResearch DirectorSenior CopywriterCreative BriefAccount ServicePositioning LineDemographicsAvoid proper names, foreign words andmultiple forms of the same word.

• Creativity Tickler 2:Bacwards/ForwardsMake a list of 50 three-letter-or-morewords that when spelled backwards spella different word.Examples:ton/notloop/poolregal/lagerPlurals are acceptable; proper names andforeign words are not. (The game ofBoggle is an excellent tool to facilitatethis Tickler.)

• Creativity Tickler 3: …Two, Three, SwitchSelect 25 four-letter words. Change thesecond letter to form other words; changethe third letter to form other words. Formthree or more new words. Avoid propernames and foreign words.Example: slapslap, soap, swap, slop, slip

• Creativity Tickler 4: Be HomophonicMake a list of 50 homophone pairs (wordsthat sound the same but are spelled differ-ently).Examples:pear/pare/pair/peresuite/sweetcereal/serial

• Creativity Tickler 5: Rhyme TimeSelect five product categories (cosmetics,fast food, etc.). Create five rhyming pro-motional ideas for each, with explana-tions. Example: low-calorie foods “lite bites “ (lower calories, lower price)“spare fare” (both lean and frugal)

• Creativity Tickler 6: Position is EverythingCreate 15 slogans for an advertising cam-paign. (Adverteasing is an excellent gameto facilitate this Tickler.)

• Creativity Tickler 7: Gnu ZooUsing homophones and alternative defini-tions, put together a collection of 25"new" animals.Examples:bare - a grizzly with no furmouse: a rat that attaches itself to com-puters

• Creativity Tickler 8: Come to your SensesUsing your five senses, create 20 morequestions outside of the box, and answerthem.Examples:What does happiness smell like?What color is Tuesday?What flavor is truth?What do you feel when you touch ascream?What sound does curiosity produce?

• Creative Tickler 9: Letter SwappingSelect 20 four-letter words, and rearrangetheir letters to create at least two ana-grams.


14

Media PlannerTarget AudienceArt DirectionRadio ProductionResearch DirectorSenior CopywriterCreative BriefAccount ServicePositioning LineDemographicsAvoid proper names, foreign words andmultiple forms of the same word.

• Creativity Tickler 2:Bacwards/ForwardsMake a list of 50 three-letter-or-morewords that when spelled backwards spella different word.Examples:ton/notloop/poolregal/lagerPlurals are acceptable; proper names andforeign words are not. (The game ofBoggle is an excellent tool to facilitatethis Tickler.)

• Creativity Tickler 3: …Two, Three, SwitchSelect 25 four-letter words. Change thesecond letter to form other words; changethe third letter to form other words. Formthree or more new words. Avoid propernames and foreign words.Example: slapslap, soap, swap, slop, slip

• Creativity Tickler 4: Be HomophonicMake a list of 50 homophone pairs (wordsthat sound the same but are spelled differ-ently).Examples:pear/pare/pair/peresuite/sweetcereal/serial

• Creativity Tickler 5: Rhyme TimeSelect five product categories (cosmetics,fast food, etc.). Create five rhyming pro-motional ideas for each, with explana-tions. Example: low-calorie foods “lite bites “ (lower calories, lower price)“spare fare” (both lean and frugal)

• Creativity Tickler 6: Position is EverythingCreate 15 slogans for an advertising cam-paign. (Adverteasing is an excellent gameto facilitate this Tickler.)

• Creativity Tickler 7: Gnu ZooUsing homophones and alternative defini-tions, put together a collection of 25"new" animals.Examples:bare - a grizzly with no furmouse: a rat that attaches itself to com-puters

• Creativity Tickler 8: Come to your SensesUsing your five senses, create 20 morequestions outside of the box, and answerthem.Examples:What does happiness smell like?What color is Tuesday?What flavor is truth?What do you feel when you touch ascream?What sound does curiosity produce?

• Creative Tickler 9: Letter SwappingSelect 20 four-letter words, and rearrangetheir letters to create at least two ana-grams.


15

Example:last: salt, slattide: diet, edit

• Creative Tickler 10: Do it YourselfCreate your own Tickler.

ImpactThis GIFT has been implemented in

an Advertising Copywriting andVisualization course where students applywhat they have learned from their Ticklerassignments to print advertisements andradio commercials. (The homophoneexercises are proving particularly help-ful.)

Students are encouraged to enter

their work in competition. This year, 38entries were submitted to the AmericanAdvertising Federation District FourADDY competition. Students captured 21Gold and Silver ADDYs. Entries arebeing assembled for a department exhibi-tion, and faculty and students will beinvited to view the work. Additionally,student-written radio commercials cap-tured first and second place in theCommercial Radio division of the 2002Missouri Broadcast Educators' StudentMedia Competition, and a student-writtenradio commercial captured first place inthe commercial division of the 2001National Broadcast Society StudentCompetition last fall.


15

Example:last: salt, slattide: diet, edit

• Creative Tickler 10: Do it YourselfCreate your own Tickler.

ImpactThis GIFT has been implemented in

an Advertising Copywriting andVisualization course where students applywhat they have learned from their Ticklerassignments to print advertisements andradio commercials. (The homophoneexercises are proving particularly help-ful.)

Students are encouraged to enter

their work in competition. This year, 38entries were submitted to the AmericanAdvertising Federation District FourADDY competition. Students captured 21Gold and Silver ADDYs. Entries arebeing assembled for a department exhibi-tion, and faculty and students will beinvited to view the work. Additionally,student-written radio commercials cap-tured first and second place in theCommercial Radio division of the 2002Missouri Broadcast Educators' StudentMedia Competition, and a student-writtenradio commercial captured first place inthe commercial division of the 2001National Broadcast Society StudentCompetition last fall.


16

The Front Page Game

How to encourage students to develop news judgment

Mary Carmen CupitoNorthern Kentucky University

IntroductionStudents play the roles of editors at

a news meeting to decide which storiesbelong on tomorrow’s front page. At theend, they compare their choices withthose of a real newspaper.

RationaleThis is a simple activity, but it effec-

tively challenges new journalism studentswho have little understanding of howreporters and editors evaluate news sto-ries. Students also learn that news judg-ment is just that—a judgment call thatdepends upon an individual’s perspective,audience and values.

Implementation

• First, discuss and define the characteris-tics of a good news story: timeliness,impact, conflict, proximity, novelty andcelebrity.

• Then write a dozen headlines from thefront page of a recent newspaper on theboard, taking care to include every onethat appeared on the front page, as well assome from deep inside. Include a sensa-tional crime story and an internationalstory, if possible.

• Because some students will not haveread the paper, describe each story briefly.

• Then ask students to assume they areeditors at the daily news meeting of ametropolitan daily. Or assign students toplay the roles of metro editor, businesseditor, etc. Their job is to decide whichfive stories (or however many stories real-ly were on the front page) belong on thefront page for tomorrow’s edition. Havestudents think for a few minutes, thenvote for their choices for the front pagewith a show of hands.

• Write the vote tally beside each head-line. Then ask who voted for it and why,and who didn’t vote for it and why.

• Show them the real front page.

ImpactIt is remarkable how effectively this

simple exercise engages students andencourages them to use news judgment.Students typically perk up as the teacherbegins to write headlines and to describeeach story from the local newspaper. Theybecome animated as they argue for theirfavorite stories. And they enjoy the men-tal challenge of debating why certain sto-


16

The Front Page Game

How to encourage students to develop news judgment

Mary Carmen CupitoNorthern Kentucky University

IntroductionStudents play the roles of editors at

a news meeting to decide which storiesbelong on tomorrow’s front page. At theend, they compare their choices withthose of a real newspaper.

RationaleThis is a simple activity, but it effec-

tively challenges new journalism studentswho have little understanding of howreporters and editors evaluate news sto-ries. Students also learn that news judg-ment is just that—a judgment call thatdepends upon an individual’s perspective,audience and values.

Implementation

• First, discuss and define the characteris-tics of a good news story: timeliness,impact, conflict, proximity, novelty andcelebrity.

• Then write a dozen headlines from thefront page of a recent newspaper on theboard, taking care to include every onethat appeared on the front page, as well assome from deep inside. Include a sensa-tional crime story and an internationalstory, if possible.

• Because some students will not haveread the paper, describe each story briefly.

• Then ask students to assume they areeditors at the daily news meeting of ametropolitan daily. Or assign students toplay the roles of metro editor, businesseditor, etc. Their job is to decide whichfive stories (or however many stories real-ly were on the front page) belong on thefront page for tomorrow’s edition. Havestudents think for a few minutes, thenvote for their choices for the front pagewith a show of hands.

• Write the vote tally beside each head-line. Then ask who voted for it and why,and who didn’t vote for it and why.

• Show them the real front page.

ImpactIt is remarkable how effectively this

simple exercise engages students andencourages them to use news judgment.Students typically perk up as the teacherbegins to write headlines and to describeeach story from the local newspaper. Theybecome animated as they argue for theirfavorite stories. And they enjoy the men-tal challenge of debating why certain sto-


17

ries are more newsworthy than others.Four things invariably happen dur-

ing this exercise:1) Students learn that stories in the news-paper are interesting. 2) They realize that other people evaluatestories differently than they do, and thatjournalists view stories differently thanmany of their readers do.3) They learn to think on their feet, craft-ing arguments for or against a story as areal journalist would—arguing for exam-ple, that because a story’s impact wassmall it should be bumped inside, or thatplacing a particular crime story on thefront page would be sensationalism.4) The stories that earn the highest votesfrom students are never the same as thoseon the real front page.

This exercise is a terrific startingpoint for a discussion about news judg-ment. It allows students to see that rea-sonable people may disagree about thevalue of individual stories. It helps theprofessor demonstrate how real news-rooms work, noting that such discussionsoccur daily in real newsrooms. It enablesthe professor to point out that at manynewspapers, the decision about what goeson the front page is made by an editor orgroup of editors who presumably havemore refined news judgment thanreporters—and that the professor willassume such a role in the classroom.Finally, it is an entertaining way toencourage students to think like reporters.


17

ries are more newsworthy than others.Four things invariably happen dur-

ing this exercise:1) Students learn that stories in the news-paper are interesting. 2) They realize that other people evaluatestories differently than they do, and thatjournalists view stories differently thanmany of their readers do.3) They learn to think on their feet, craft-ing arguments for or against a story as areal journalist would—arguing for exam-ple, that because a story’s impact wassmall it should be bumped inside, or thatplacing a particular crime story on thefront page would be sensationalism.4) The stories that earn the highest votesfrom students are never the same as thoseon the real front page.

This exercise is a terrific startingpoint for a discussion about news judg-ment. It allows students to see that rea-sonable people may disagree about thevalue of individual stories. It helps theprofessor demonstrate how real news-rooms work, noting that such discussionsoccur daily in real newsrooms. It enablesthe professor to point out that at manynewspapers, the decision about what goeson the front page is made by an editor orgroup of editors who presumably havemore refined news judgment thanreporters—and that the professor willassume such a role in the classroom.Finally, it is an entertaining way toencourage students to think like reporters.


18

Interviewing: The Public Radio Files

Carolyn Stewart DyerUniversity of Iowa

IntroductionMost of the interviewers on public

radio programs such as “All ThingsConsidered,” “This American Life” and“Fresh Air” are masters of this form ofboth gathering information and presentingthem in an interesting manner. With theadvent of streaming audio, we have theopportunity to bring these expert inter-viewers into the classroom and to sendthem home with students for listening ondemand. Using a web page with links toa variety of interviews and interviewers’work, this project makes demonstratingand analyzing the successful or unsuc-cessful interview a snap. Students oftenget hooked on public radio, too.

RationaleFor years both the textbooks and I

told my advanced reporting students theyneeded to prepare for interviews, to knowtheir subject and the subject’s subjectthoroughly and to plan their questions, yetstudents would go into interviews at thelast minute, unprepared and uninspired.They were lucky if they got a good quoteand luckier still to get complex ideas andinformation to enrich their stories.

Published Q & A interviews withfamous people from Rolling Stone,Playboy and elsewhere are only partially

successful in engaging students in theinterview process. Students often can’timagine having the opportunity to inter-view their heroes or idols. In fact manyare fearful of doing any interviews at all.

With radio interviews of folks bothordinary and extraordinary, studentsclamp on their headphones, pay totalattention and hear the exchange, the paus-es, the occasional false starts and tune into the process much more immediatelythan they can to print. One can point stu-dents to interviews representing a varietyof styles to meet class or individual stu-dent needs. And one can select interviewtopics that are particularly likely to appealto students.

Implementation

• To lure students into the project anddemonstrate that even the pros make bigblunders on interviews, I play an inter-view by Ira Glass from “This AmericanLife” with Margy Rocklin, the Hollywoodreporter, about her very first interviewwith a celebrity—Moon Unit Zappa.During the interview Rocklin laughed,choked on coffee, blew it out her nose andrecovered only after Moon’s mother per-formed the Heimlich maneuver on her.The piece is funny. I follow it up with a


18

Interviewing: The Public Radio Files

Carolyn Stewart DyerUniversity of Iowa

IntroductionMost of the interviewers on public

radio programs such as “All ThingsConsidered,” “This American Life” and“Fresh Air” are masters of this form ofboth gathering information and presentingthem in an interesting manner. With theadvent of streaming audio, we have theopportunity to bring these expert inter-viewers into the classroom and to sendthem home with students for listening ondemand. Using a web page with links toa variety of interviews and interviewers’work, this project makes demonstratingand analyzing the successful or unsuc-cessful interview a snap. Students oftenget hooked on public radio, too.

RationaleFor years both the textbooks and I

told my advanced reporting students theyneeded to prepare for interviews, to knowtheir subject and the subject’s subjectthoroughly and to plan their questions, yetstudents would go into interviews at thelast minute, unprepared and uninspired.They were lucky if they got a good quoteand luckier still to get complex ideas andinformation to enrich their stories.

Published Q & A interviews withfamous people from Rolling Stone,Playboy and elsewhere are only partially

successful in engaging students in theinterview process. Students often can’timagine having the opportunity to inter-view their heroes or idols. In fact manyare fearful of doing any interviews at all.

With radio interviews of folks bothordinary and extraordinary, studentsclamp on their headphones, pay totalattention and hear the exchange, the paus-es, the occasional false starts and tune into the process much more immediatelythan they can to print. One can point stu-dents to interviews representing a varietyof styles to meet class or individual stu-dent needs. And one can select interviewtopics that are particularly likely to appealto students.

Implementation

• To lure students into the project anddemonstrate that even the pros make bigblunders on interviews, I play an inter-view by Ira Glass from “This AmericanLife” with Margy Rocklin, the Hollywoodreporter, about her very first interviewwith a celebrity—Moon Unit Zappa.During the interview Rocklin laughed,choked on coffee, blew it out her nose andrecovered only after Moon’s mother per-formed the Heimlich maneuver on her.The piece is funny. I follow it up with a


19

clip from “Valley Girl,” the song FrankZappa did with his then prepubescentdaughter.

• Because students will find such differentinterviews interesting, the second part ofthe assignment is homework. Studentsmust listen to several interviews linkedfrom the class web page and write ananalysis of each. Linked interviewsinclude ones by Susan Stamberg, espe-cially the 30 posted to commemorate her30th anniversary with National PublicRadio in 2001; Noah Adams of NPR;Terry Gross, host of “Fresh Air;” andMichael Silverblatt, host of “Bookworm”on KCRW Santa Monica. There are alsolinks to the NPR programs, “MorningEdition,” “All Things Considered” and“Weekend Edition” as well as the archivesof “This American Life.”

• In their written analyses students identi-fy what the interviewer knew about thesubject before the interview and how heor she conducted the interview. Whatsorts of questions did they ask? How didthey build up to questions? How did theyfollow them up? Did the interviewer havean apparent strategy for the questioning?How were inadequate answers handled?What was the apparent relationship

between the interviewer and interviewee?What did the student learn about inter-viewing from this interview?

• In the next class session, students areasked to nominate interviews for thewhole class to hear. Students who nomi-nate them provide the commentary andanalysis for the interviews we listen to.

ImpactThe Margy Rocklin interview gen-

erally hooks students on the project.Students usually listen to more interviewsthan are assigned and more than theywrite analyses for. For example, theymay listen to an entire hour-long “ThisAmerican Life” after selecting one seg-ment. In class students participate active-ly and enthusiastically, sometimes shout-ing their nominations and interruptingeach other to comment on the pieces. (Inclasses at this university, that is highlyunusual.) They are clearly impressed bythe amount of preparation these inter-viewers have done, meeting the primaryobjective for the assignment. And theamount of preparation they do for futureassignments increases. They also reportthat they have expanded their repertoireof interviewing tactics and strategies.Their stories provide evidence.


19

clip from “Valley Girl,” the song FrankZappa did with his then prepubescentdaughter.

• Because students will find such differentinterviews interesting, the second part ofthe assignment is homework. Studentsmust listen to several interviews linkedfrom the class web page and write ananalysis of each. Linked interviewsinclude ones by Susan Stamberg, espe-cially the 30 posted to commemorate her30th anniversary with National PublicRadio in 2001; Noah Adams of NPR;Terry Gross, host of “Fresh Air;” andMichael Silverblatt, host of “Bookworm”on KCRW Santa Monica. There are alsolinks to the NPR programs, “MorningEdition,” “All Things Considered” and“Weekend Edition” as well as the archivesof “This American Life.”

• In their written analyses students identi-fy what the interviewer knew about thesubject before the interview and how heor she conducted the interview. Whatsorts of questions did they ask? How didthey build up to questions? How did theyfollow them up? Did the interviewer havean apparent strategy for the questioning?How were inadequate answers handled?What was the apparent relationship

between the interviewer and interviewee?What did the student learn about inter-viewing from this interview?

• In the next class session, students areasked to nominate interviews for thewhole class to hear. Students who nomi-nate them provide the commentary andanalysis for the interviews we listen to.

ImpactThe Margy Rocklin interview gen-

erally hooks students on the project.Students usually listen to more interviewsthan are assigned and more than theywrite analyses for. For example, theymay listen to an entire hour-long “ThisAmerican Life” after selecting one seg-ment. In class students participate active-ly and enthusiastically, sometimes shout-ing their nominations and interruptingeach other to comment on the pieces. (Inclasses at this university, that is highlyunusual.) They are clearly impressed bythe amount of preparation these inter-viewers have done, meeting the primaryobjective for the assignment. And theamount of preparation they do for futureassignments increases. They also reportthat they have expanded their repertoireof interviewing tactics and strategies.Their stories provide evidence.


20

Copy Edit the World!

How to motivate students to be critical readers and sharper editors

Frank E. Fee Jr.University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionCopy Edit the World! uses extra-

credit for continual reinforcement andlearning. Students see for themselveshow precision is important in their workof professionals in their career tracks.Student participation also gives theinstructor additional feedback on learningobjectives and motivation.

RationaleThis easy-to-administer program

meets two important classroom objectivesin a way that promotes out-of-class learn-ing and is fun for students as well. It pro-motes critical reading and attention todetail in communications. Benefitsinclude that it:

• Provides an extra-credit opportunity thatis relevant to course content and objec-tives and supplements classroom learn-ing.

• Promotes critical reading and sharpensstudents’ eyes for errors of all sorts.

• Motivates students to become betterreaders.

• Encourages precision communication.

• Helps identify knowledge gaps andexpands the available “teachablemoments.”

• Offers students opportunities to applythe lessons of lectures and readings.

• Is self-paced and rewards student initia-tive.

• Drives home the point that errors of allsorts creep into a wide variety of publiccommunications and that it must be some-body’s job to guard against them.

Moreover, this program followsreward theory found in management stud-ies. Copy Edit the World! is:

• Immediate—The points are easily calcu-lated with each entry.

• Consistent—The reward is available forevery instance.

• Equitable—Anyone can participate.


20

Copy Edit the World!

How to motivate students to be critical readers and sharper editors

Frank E. Fee Jr.University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionCopy Edit the World! uses extra-

credit for continual reinforcement andlearning. Students see for themselveshow precision is important in their workof professionals in their career tracks.Student participation also gives theinstructor additional feedback on learningobjectives and motivation.

RationaleThis easy-to-administer program

meets two important classroom objectivesin a way that promotes out-of-class learn-ing and is fun for students as well. It pro-motes critical reading and attention todetail in communications. Benefitsinclude that it:

• Provides an extra-credit opportunity thatis relevant to course content and objec-tives and supplements classroom learn-ing.

• Promotes critical reading and sharpensstudents’ eyes for errors of all sorts.

• Motivates students to become betterreaders.

• Encourages precision communication.

• Helps identify knowledge gaps andexpands the available “teachablemoments.”

• Offers students opportunities to applythe lessons of lectures and readings.

• Is self-paced and rewards student initia-tive.

• Drives home the point that errors of allsorts creep into a wide variety of publiccommunications and that it must be some-body’s job to guard against them.

Moreover, this program followsreward theory found in management stud-ies. Copy Edit the World! is:

• Immediate—The points are easily calcu-lated with each entry.

• Consistent—The reward is available forevery instance.

• Equitable—Anyone can participate.


21

• Impersonal—Quantitative, not subjec-tive; students can see what they’ll get.

Implementation

The following is taken from the syl-labus: Extra Credit. You have the oppor-tunity to gain extra credit by joining theCopy Edit the World! project. Basically,for the first half of the course I give:

• 4 points for an error (typo or other)found in a publication intended for gener-al public circulation.

• 2 points for an error found in a newspa-per, magazine or journalism Web site.

• The rationale is that newspaper, maga-zine and journalism Web site errors aretoo easy to find, and that by expanding thescope of the 4-pointers you will see howerrors creep into lots of other publications(menus, course syllabi, posters, fliers,church bulletins, etc.).

• The points go to 2 and 1 after Midterm.

• You may hand in examples right up tothe last day of class, and there is no max-imum on points.

• The points are applied to the quizgrades.

• The instructor is the final arbiter on whatcounts as an acceptable submission inCopy Edit the World!

• Examples you submit must identify theerror, say what's wrong and show howyou'd correct the error.

• As it is expected that this will be yourown work, and not the result of a collec-

tive enterprise, please sign the universityhonor pledge with each submission.

• The instructor reserves the right toamend the rules as experience indicates.

• To avoid student and instructor overloadat term’s end, a total of no more than 30points will be accepted in each of the lasttwo class meetings.

Impact

• For StudentsThere is an anecdotal correlation

between participation in Copy Edit theWorld! and final grades. Since the extrapoints go toward a portion of the finalgrade that is worth only 10 percent tobegin with, the reasonable inference isthat the exercise sharpens their work inother areas of the course.

Students report the exercise turnsthem into rabid fact-checkers and editors.Some continue to send particularly egre-gious examples years after taking thecourse.

• For InstructorsCopy Edit the World! fosters student

interest in precision and using the skillsbeing taught in the classroom and pro-motes an appreciation of their applicationin the “real world.”

Lack of participation can be an earlyclue to the student who is trouble and anopportunity for timely intervention—anoffice chat.

Lack of participation also offers adiscussion point when students come in tocomplain about low grades (yes, there is acorrelation there, too). Bringing up a lowor non-existent bonus bank can help stu-dents see and take responsibility for theirown success.


21

• Impersonal—Quantitative, not subjec-tive; students can see what they’ll get.

Implementation

The following is taken from the syl-labus: Extra Credit. You have the oppor-tunity to gain extra credit by joining theCopy Edit the World! project. Basically,for the first half of the course I give:

• 4 points for an error (typo or other)found in a publication intended for gener-al public circulation.

• 2 points for an error found in a newspa-per, magazine or journalism Web site.

• The rationale is that newspaper, maga-zine and journalism Web site errors aretoo easy to find, and that by expanding thescope of the 4-pointers you will see howerrors creep into lots of other publications(menus, course syllabi, posters, fliers,church bulletins, etc.).

• The points go to 2 and 1 after Midterm.

• You may hand in examples right up tothe last day of class, and there is no max-imum on points.

• The points are applied to the quizgrades.

• The instructor is the final arbiter on whatcounts as an acceptable submission inCopy Edit the World!

• Examples you submit must identify theerror, say what's wrong and show howyou'd correct the error.

• As it is expected that this will be yourown work, and not the result of a collec-

tive enterprise, please sign the universityhonor pledge with each submission.

• The instructor reserves the right toamend the rules as experience indicates.

• To avoid student and instructor overloadat term’s end, a total of no more than 30points will be accepted in each of the lasttwo class meetings.

Impact

• For StudentsThere is an anecdotal correlation

between participation in Copy Edit theWorld! and final grades. Since the extrapoints go toward a portion of the finalgrade that is worth only 10 percent tobegin with, the reasonable inference isthat the exercise sharpens their work inother areas of the course.

Students report the exercise turnsthem into rabid fact-checkers and editors.Some continue to send particularly egre-gious examples years after taking thecourse.

• For InstructorsCopy Edit the World! fosters student

interest in precision and using the skillsbeing taught in the classroom and pro-motes an appreciation of their applicationin the “real world.”

Lack of participation can be an earlyclue to the student who is trouble and anopportunity for timely intervention—anoffice chat.

Lack of participation also offers adiscussion point when students come in tocomplain about low grades (yes, there is acorrelation there, too). Bringing up a lowor non-existent bonus bank can help stu-dents see and take responsibility for theirown success.


22

Analyzing Magazine Covers Pre- and Post-Sept. 11

How to help students think critically about the role of mass media

Carol T. FletcherHofstra University

IntroductionAfter 9/11, consumer magazine cov-

ers changed significantly. These changesincluded greater use of red, white andblue, more frequent portrayal of authorityfigures and people in uniform, increasinguse of men rather than women and moremention of patriotic words, comfortingimages and words about home and heal-ing in cover lines.

By setting up an exercise in whichstudents discover these differences ontheir own, professors can urge students tothink critically about bias and the role themedia play in American culture.

RationaleStudents are quick to recognize cen-

sorship in the foreign press, but slow tonotice the ways in which their own pressfails to represent a full range of possibleideas. This exercise shows students thatself-censorship can be the most powerfulconstraint of all.

It also forces students to considerwhether the principal role of the press is

to reflect or to mold society, and whetherthe function of magazines is to entertainor educate.

Implementation

• On one side of the classroom, spread outa couple of dozen magazines thatappeared on the newsstand immediatelyprior to 9/11. Include not only news mag-azines, but also publications devoted tosports, health, home, teens and other top-ics.

• On the other side of the classroom,spread out issues of the same magazinesthat appeared on the newsstand after 9/11.Since many monthly magazines are pro-duced several months ahead of time, it isbest to use magazines from, say,December 2001.

• Ask students to walk around and exam-ine the covers of the magazines. What dif-ferences do they notice in the colors,words and images used? Do the covers


22

Analyzing Magazine Covers Pre- and Post-Sept. 11

How to help students think critically about the role of mass media

Carol T. FletcherHofstra University

IntroductionAfter 9/11, consumer magazine cov-

ers changed significantly. These changesincluded greater use of red, white andblue, more frequent portrayal of authorityfigures and people in uniform, increasinguse of men rather than women and moremention of patriotic words, comfortingimages and words about home and heal-ing in cover lines.

By setting up an exercise in whichstudents discover these differences ontheir own, professors can urge students tothink critically about bias and the role themedia play in American culture.

RationaleStudents are quick to recognize cen-

sorship in the foreign press, but slow tonotice the ways in which their own pressfails to represent a full range of possibleideas. This exercise shows students thatself-censorship can be the most powerfulconstraint of all.

It also forces students to considerwhether the principal role of the press is

to reflect or to mold society, and whetherthe function of magazines is to entertainor educate.

Implementation

• On one side of the classroom, spread outa couple of dozen magazines thatappeared on the newsstand immediatelyprior to 9/11. Include not only news mag-azines, but also publications devoted tosports, health, home, teens and other top-ics.

• On the other side of the classroom,spread out issues of the same magazinesthat appeared on the newsstand after 9/11.Since many monthly magazines are pro-duced several months ahead of time, it isbest to use magazines from, say,December 2001.

• Ask students to walk around and exam-ine the covers of the magazines. What dif-ferences do they notice in the colors,words and images used? Do the covers


23

show a single, large photo or severalsmaller ones? Do they show men orwomen, authority figures or dissidents,people smiling or angry?

• Have students write down a descriptionof post-9/11 covers. They will most like-ly say things like, “The covers are all red,white and blue” and “most of the coversshow male authority figures.”

• Ask students: What impact do the visualattributes you just described have on thereader?

• Ask students: “If you went to a foreigncountry you knew nothing about, visited anewsstand and saw that all the magazineshad the attributes you described above,would you say the press in that countrywas free?”

• Discuss whether magazines ought toplay a comforting or placating role insociety. Should they reflect popular opin-

ion or critically examine it? Should newsmagazines play the same role as servicemagazines? Do magazines have a respon-sibility to educate, or simply to entertain?

Impact

• Students are surprised to find bias intheir own media. They are also astonishedto see that they have such different viewsfrom one another on the questions above.

• Several students came back the follow-ing semester to tell me that when they dis-cussed bias in their ethics or media criti-cism classes, they shared this examplewith the class. The exercise has a visualimpact that makes it memorable.

• Several teachers at other universities—one in a journalism department, one inhistory and one sociology—tried thisexercise at my suggestion and weredelighted with the results.


23

show a single, large photo or severalsmaller ones? Do they show men orwomen, authority figures or dissidents,people smiling or angry?

• Have students write down a descriptionof post-9/11 covers. They will most like-ly say things like, “The covers are all red,white and blue” and “most of the coversshow male authority figures.”

• Ask students: What impact do the visualattributes you just described have on thereader?

• Ask students: “If you went to a foreigncountry you knew nothing about, visited anewsstand and saw that all the magazineshad the attributes you described above,would you say the press in that countrywas free?”

• Discuss whether magazines ought toplay a comforting or placating role insociety. Should they reflect popular opin-

ion or critically examine it? Should newsmagazines play the same role as servicemagazines? Do magazines have a respon-sibility to educate, or simply to entertain?

Impact

• Students are surprised to find bias intheir own media. They are also astonishedto see that they have such different viewsfrom one another on the questions above.

• Several students came back the follow-ing semester to tell me that when they dis-cussed bias in their ethics or media criti-cism classes, they shared this examplewith the class. The exercise has a visualimpact that makes it memorable.

• Several teachers at other universities—one in a journalism department, one inhistory and one sociology—tried thisexercise at my suggestion and weredelighted with the results.


24

Keeping Your Focus with Fizzies and Oprah

How to transform your topic into a thesis statement

Scott FosdickUniversity of Missouri––Columbia

IntroductionToo many beginning writers either

try to jam too many elements into one arti-cle or try to write without having any cen-tral idea at all in mind. This multi-methodapproach uses Fizzies to drive home howicky it tastes when you mix separate storyideas together.

Step two is putting your idea on theOprah Winfrey show to see if it will earnand keep audience interest.

RationaleResearch shows that different people

like to use different senses when learning.Research also shows that today's youthwatch a lot of television. This idea com-bines the sense of taste with the students'natural understanding of how a talk showworks to encourage them to think about theessence of a story in new ways.

Implementation

• Fizzies are soda pop in dehydrated tabletform––like flavored Alka Seltzer. Holdone aloft and describe it as the boiled downessence of a great piece of journalism––thestory's thesis. Plop it in a clear glass of

water and let students watch as it seepsinto every corner of the story.

• Do the same with another Fizzie of a dif-ferent flavor.

• Blindfold a volunteer and invite him orher to taste the first one, then the other,then a mixture of the two beverages. Askthe guinea pig to guess the flavor:"Grape!" "Orange!" "Ewwwww!"Invariably, the mixed brew tastes awful,like a mishmash, neither fish nor fowl.Declare your first point: One thesis is bet-ter than two.

• Define your terms: A good thesis is astatement with a point of view that is bothastonishing and credible.

• Transform yourself into Oprah Winfreyand your students into members of theaudience who are desperate to be invitedup on stage. Their ticket is a good thesis.

• Remind students that every magazine hasa different host, with different interests.Winners are those who can do the follow-ing:


24

Keeping Your Focus with Fizzies and Oprah

How to transform your topic into a thesis statement

Scott FosdickUniversity of Missouri––Columbia

IntroductionToo many beginning writers either

try to jam too many elements into one arti-cle or try to write without having any cen-tral idea at all in mind. This multi-methodapproach uses Fizzies to drive home howicky it tastes when you mix separate storyideas together.

Step two is putting your idea on theOprah Winfrey show to see if it will earnand keep audience interest.

RationaleResearch shows that different people

like to use different senses when learning.Research also shows that today's youthwatch a lot of television. This idea com-bines the sense of taste with the students'natural understanding of how a talk showworks to encourage them to think about theessence of a story in new ways.

Implementation

• Fizzies are soda pop in dehydrated tabletform––like flavored Alka Seltzer. Holdone aloft and describe it as the boiled downessence of a great piece of journalism––thestory's thesis. Plop it in a clear glass of

water and let students watch as it seepsinto every corner of the story.

• Do the same with another Fizzie of a dif-ferent flavor.

• Blindfold a volunteer and invite him orher to taste the first one, then the other,then a mixture of the two beverages. Askthe guinea pig to guess the flavor:"Grape!" "Orange!" "Ewwwww!"Invariably, the mixed brew tastes awful,like a mishmash, neither fish nor fowl.Declare your first point: One thesis is bet-ter than two.

• Define your terms: A good thesis is astatement with a point of view that is bothastonishing and credible.

• Transform yourself into Oprah Winfreyand your students into members of theaudience who are desperate to be invitedup on stage. Their ticket is a good thesis.

• Remind students that every magazine hasa different host, with different interests.Winners are those who can do the follow-ing:


25

1) Interest the host of the target publica-tion2) State their thesis clearly and simply3) Astonish4) Make their claim credible

• Offer an extended example: Supposethe host publication is Cat Fancy. "Dogsand cats are evil agents of the warlordXandar," is clear, simple, astonishing andof interest to the publication. But it's notvery credible. Oprah moves on when shehears comments like this. But credibilityis not enough. We might agree that"Most pets are friendly," but wouldn'twant to read a story on that topic. A goodthesis never evokes cries of "So what?"Here's one that, if true, would be a surebet: "Recent research shows that the ureain most deodorants drives cats crazy."

• Pass out worksheets full of a mixture oftopics and theses, and ask students todecide which are which. Then ask them

to transform the topics into good theses.

• As a final illustration of the importanceof one voice driving one central thesis,ask students to pair up for a tandem writ-ing exercise. One person writes the firstparagraph to a story. The partner readsthat paragraph, adds a second that extendsthe story line and passes it back to the firstwriter, who adds a third––and so on, untilthey reach a conclusion or time runs out.The result is almost always a two-headedmonster at war with itself.

ImpactYou can expect two results from

these techniques:1) More focused student writing2) Most importantly, students will have afirm grasp on what a thesis, or centralidea, is, so that when you point to a split-focus in their writing, they'll know whatyou're talking about and why it's impor-tant.


25

1) Interest the host of the target publica-tion2) State their thesis clearly and simply3) Astonish4) Make their claim credible

• Offer an extended example: Supposethe host publication is Cat Fancy. "Dogsand cats are evil agents of the warlordXandar," is clear, simple, astonishing andof interest to the publication. But it's notvery credible. Oprah moves on when shehears comments like this. But credibilityis not enough. We might agree that"Most pets are friendly," but wouldn'twant to read a story on that topic. A goodthesis never evokes cries of "So what?"Here's one that, if true, would be a surebet: "Recent research shows that the ureain most deodorants drives cats crazy."

• Pass out worksheets full of a mixture oftopics and theses, and ask students todecide which are which. Then ask them

to transform the topics into good theses.

• As a final illustration of the importanceof one voice driving one central thesis,ask students to pair up for a tandem writ-ing exercise. One person writes the firstparagraph to a story. The partner readsthat paragraph, adds a second that extendsthe story line and passes it back to the firstwriter, who adds a third––and so on, untilthey reach a conclusion or time runs out.The result is almost always a two-headedmonster at war with itself.

ImpactYou can expect two results from

these techniques:1) More focused student writing2) Most importantly, students will have afirm grasp on what a thesis, or centralidea, is, so that when you point to a split-focus in their writing, they'll know whatyou're talking about and why it's impor-tant.


26

The Beginner’s Portfolio Project

How to develop both conceptual and executional skillsin the introductory advertising design course

W. Glenn GriffinUniversity of Texas––Austin

IntroductionMost introductory design courses

for advertising students teach basic layoutprinciples and offer training for varioussoftware programs. The Beginner’sPortfolio Project is an end-of-the-semes-ter assignment that offers students anopportunity to demonstrate knowledge ofthese basics, plus the chance to think con-ceptually, write copy and work accordingto “real-world” client guidelines.

RationaleThe Beginner’s Portfolio Project

offers ad students an early opportunity todo what they are dying to do from the daythey enter the major––to actually createads on their own! This assignment isdesigned to test students’ mastery of basicconceptual and executional skills in thecontext of working for a “client.”Students will gain an appreciation for thefact that creative work isn’t done in a vac-uum––it is also a function of understand-ing the product and meeting clients’needs.

Additionally, the Beginner’sPortfolio Project requires students to

apply their design/creative skills across avariety of advertising media––not just thetraditional 8.5” x 11” magazine ad. Bycreating an end-of-semester portfolio, stu-dents are required to apply and synthesizetheir knowledge in a campaign context.

Implementation

• Choosing/Developing a Client: Forthis type of project, it is probably best touse a fictional product. Given that addesign classes are about developing stu-dents’ visual literacy and layout skills,you’ll want to avoid having them createadvertising for an authentic client with anestablished visual identity. I also recom-mend choosing a rather simple productwith which your students will already befamiliar. They shouldn’t have to do a lotof background research to understandwhat it is or how it is used. Additionally,you’ll want to choose a product thatwould realistically be advertised across avariety of media. (I even asked my stu-dents to do some package design workthat falls outside traditional ad design.)


26

The Beginner’s Portfolio Project

How to develop both conceptual and executional skillsin the introductory advertising design course

W. Glenn GriffinUniversity of Texas––Austin

IntroductionMost introductory design courses

for advertising students teach basic layoutprinciples and offer training for varioussoftware programs. The Beginner’sPortfolio Project is an end-of-the-semes-ter assignment that offers students anopportunity to demonstrate knowledge ofthese basics, plus the chance to think con-ceptually, write copy and work accordingto “real-world” client guidelines.

RationaleThe Beginner’s Portfolio Project

offers ad students an early opportunity todo what they are dying to do from the daythey enter the major––to actually createads on their own! This assignment isdesigned to test students’ mastery of basicconceptual and executional skills in thecontext of working for a “client.”Students will gain an appreciation for thefact that creative work isn’t done in a vac-uum––it is also a function of understand-ing the product and meeting clients’needs.

Additionally, the Beginner’sPortfolio Project requires students to

apply their design/creative skills across avariety of advertising media––not just thetraditional 8.5” x 11” magazine ad. Bycreating an end-of-semester portfolio, stu-dents are required to apply and synthesizetheir knowledge in a campaign context.

Implementation

• Choosing/Developing a Client: Forthis type of project, it is probably best touse a fictional product. Given that addesign classes are about developing stu-dents’ visual literacy and layout skills,you’ll want to avoid having them createadvertising for an authentic client with anestablished visual identity. I also recom-mend choosing a rather simple productwith which your students will already befamiliar. They shouldn’t have to do a lotof background research to understandwhat it is or how it is used. Additionally,you’ll want to choose a product thatwould realistically be advertised across avariety of media. (I even asked my stu-dents to do some package design workthat falls outside traditional ad design.)


27

• Selecting Media: Once you’ve chosena product, the next step is to select threeor four design projects that will constitutethe student portfolio. Obvious choices areprint ads, billboards, specialty items, etc.I would recommend avoiding broadcaststoryboards, since this category of cre-ative work is usually too advanced forstudents at this stage in their coursework.

• Writing the Assignment: I have devel-oped a format for presenting the assign-ment that I find is easy for the students touse and understand. Please refer to theexample on the next page. The instructoralso creates a basic logo for the fictionalclient and chooses preferred colors as partof putting the assignment together. (Thesevisual elements are usually already fixedwhen creating advertising for a product.)You’ll notice that I include “quotes fromthe client” as a means of communicatingmandatory requirements for each project.Since this assignment is intended for adesign course, most copy is provided tostudents in text files, leaving layout andaesthetic decisions to the student.

• Preparing the Laboratory/ComputerFiles: Most mid-sized to larger ad pro-grams provide students with a computerlaboratory where they can completeassignments for a design course. Theinstructor can load the product logo andany other specified graphics onto the labmachines in advance of distributing theassignment. The location of electronicfiles to be used by the students should beindicated on the assignment.

• Presenting the Assignment: On the daythat the assignment is to be distributed inclass, I recommend going over the actualdocument with your students to make surethat clarification is made where necessary

and that questions are answered.Instructors can make transparencies or putthe documents on PowerPoint for thispresentation.

• Grading the Portfolios: Here’s thebeauty of this idea. Although it may seemthat grading 20+ portfolios at the end of asemester would be a nightmare, gradingcan––and for purposes of this assign-ment––should be rather simple. Studentsshould understand that the key to successon this assignment is to follow instruc-tions carefully and to give the clients whatthey requested. Instructors can develop a“checksheet” to score according to howwell the student matched the requirementsof each project. I tended to focus on neat-ness and accuracy far more than the aes-thetic beauty of the work, especially whenone considers that only a few students inthese courses want to pursue creativecareers. Don’t get mired down in subjec-tive evaluation of the conceptualaspects—focus on how well the portfoliodemonstrates the students’ mastery of thebasic skills an introductory design courseis intended to teach.

Impact

• The Beginner’s Portfolio Project is anassignment that offers students the oppor-tunity to demonstrate what they havelearned in a practical sense, rather thanvia a lengthy multiple choice exam. It’s afinal exam that they can get excited aboutrather than dread.

• This idea offers students with a learningexperience that transcends the traditionalcontent areas of introductory advertisingdesign courses.

• By creating a portfolio earlier in their


27

• Selecting Media: Once you’ve chosena product, the next step is to select threeor four design projects that will constitutethe student portfolio. Obvious choices areprint ads, billboards, specialty items, etc.I would recommend avoiding broadcaststoryboards, since this category of cre-ative work is usually too advanced forstudents at this stage in their coursework.

• Writing the Assignment: I have devel-oped a format for presenting the assign-ment that I find is easy for the students touse and understand. Please refer to theexample on the next page. The instructoralso creates a basic logo for the fictionalclient and chooses preferred colors as partof putting the assignment together. (Thesevisual elements are usually already fixedwhen creating advertising for a product.)You’ll notice that I include “quotes fromthe client” as a means of communicatingmandatory requirements for each project.Since this assignment is intended for adesign course, most copy is provided tostudents in text files, leaving layout andaesthetic decisions to the student.

• Preparing the Laboratory/ComputerFiles: Most mid-sized to larger ad pro-grams provide students with a computerlaboratory where they can completeassignments for a design course. Theinstructor can load the product logo andany other specified graphics onto the labmachines in advance of distributing theassignment. The location of electronicfiles to be used by the students should beindicated on the assignment.

• Presenting the Assignment: On the daythat the assignment is to be distributed inclass, I recommend going over the actualdocument with your students to make surethat clarification is made where necessary

and that questions are answered.Instructors can make transparencies or putthe documents on PowerPoint for thispresentation.

• Grading the Portfolios: Here’s thebeauty of this idea. Although it may seemthat grading 20+ portfolios at the end of asemester would be a nightmare, gradingcan––and for purposes of this assign-ment––should be rather simple. Studentsshould understand that the key to successon this assignment is to follow instruc-tions carefully and to give the clients whatthey requested. Instructors can develop a“checksheet” to score according to howwell the student matched the requirementsof each project. I tended to focus on neat-ness and accuracy far more than the aes-thetic beauty of the work, especially whenone considers that only a few students inthese courses want to pursue creativecareers. Don’t get mired down in subjec-tive evaluation of the conceptualaspects—focus on how well the portfoliodemonstrates the students’ mastery of thebasic skills an introductory design courseis intended to teach.

Impact

• The Beginner’s Portfolio Project is anassignment that offers students the oppor-tunity to demonstrate what they havelearned in a practical sense, rather thanvia a lengthy multiple choice exam. It’s afinal exam that they can get excited aboutrather than dread.

• This idea offers students with a learningexperience that transcends the traditionalcontent areas of introductory advertisingdesign courses.

• By creating a portfolio earlier in their


28

academic program, students are betterprepared for the challenges of upper-divi-sion advertising courses (creative ad cam-paigns, for example).

• The vast majority of my students whocompleted this project said that they

enjoyed working on it and preferred it toother forms of final evaluation such asmultiple-choice exams. Positive mentionof this project was made on course andinstructor evaluations collected at the endof the term.

Example: Assignment Format


28

Example: Assignment Format

academic program, students are betterprepared for the challenges of upper-divi-sion advertising courses (creative ad cam-paigns, for example).

• The vast majority of my students whocompleted this project said that they

enjoyed working on it and preferred it toother forms of final evaluation such asmultiple-choice exams. Positive mentionof this project was made on course andinstructor evaluations collected at the endof the term.


29

Better Than Bleeding All Over It

How to use a tape recorder to improve feedback onstudent writing assignments

Jim HallVirginia Commonwealth University

IntroductionThis GIFT is about the use of an

audio tape to record teacher comments onstudent writing assignments.

RationaleOne of the first things I noticed

when I became a journalism teacher washow similar the job was to the job ofnewspaper editor. This was especially truewhen it came to written assignments.Since I gave my students “real-life”assignments, such as covering schoolboard meetings or interviewing newsmak-ers, their finished assignments were simi-lar to the stories done by realreporters––not nearly as accomplished, ofcourse, but similar nonetheless.

But I quickly realized that thereview process for the two assignmentswas very different. Good editors talkedwith their reporters before they went onassignments and after they returned. Theyinsisted that reporters sit beside them atthe computer terminal as they reviewedand discussed their finished stories.

I had no such opportunity with aclass of 25 students. I invited students to

talk with me individually while they wereworking on their assignments, or after Ireturned their graded papers. But fewcame to talk with me. I missed the give-and-take that was a regular part of myrelationship with editors. And I think thestudents, without realizing it, missed ittoo. These “coaching” sessions betweenwriter and interested reviewer are anexcellent way to learn.

I searched for a way to recreate thisprocess with students, and I hit upon theuse of a tape recorder. The use of a taperecorder followed from my insistence thatmy students read their writing aloud. Ibelieve that reading aloud is a great wayto test for clarity and grace. As historianBarbara Tuchman has said, “After sevenyears’ apprenticeship in journalism, Ihave discovered that an essential elementfor good writing is a good ear. One mustlisten to one's own prose.” So I tried topractice what I preached by reading aloudmy students’ work. What I ended updoing was “talking” to the students, as ifthey were beside me. Finally I decided torecord these sessions. A recording wouldgive the students far more information


29

Better Than Bleeding All Over It

How to use a tape recorder to improve feedback onstudent writing assignments

Jim HallVirginia Commonwealth University

IntroductionThis GIFT is about the use of an

audio tape to record teacher comments onstudent writing assignments.

RationaleOne of the first things I noticed

when I became a journalism teacher washow similar the job was to the job ofnewspaper editor. This was especially truewhen it came to written assignments.Since I gave my students “real-life”assignments, such as covering schoolboard meetings or interviewing newsmak-ers, their finished assignments were simi-lar to the stories done by realreporters––not nearly as accomplished, ofcourse, but similar nonetheless.

But I quickly realized that thereview process for the two assignmentswas very different. Good editors talkedwith their reporters before they went onassignments and after they returned. Theyinsisted that reporters sit beside them atthe computer terminal as they reviewedand discussed their finished stories.

I had no such opportunity with aclass of 25 students. I invited students to

talk with me individually while they wereworking on their assignments, or after Ireturned their graded papers. But fewcame to talk with me. I missed the give-and-take that was a regular part of myrelationship with editors. And I think thestudents, without realizing it, missed ittoo. These “coaching” sessions betweenwriter and interested reviewer are anexcellent way to learn.

I searched for a way to recreate thisprocess with students, and I hit upon theuse of a tape recorder. The use of a taperecorder followed from my insistence thatmy students read their writing aloud. Ibelieve that reading aloud is a great wayto test for clarity and grace. As historianBarbara Tuchman has said, “After sevenyears’ apprenticeship in journalism, Ihave discovered that an essential elementfor good writing is a good ear. One mustlisten to one's own prose.” So I tried topractice what I preached by reading aloudmy students’ work. What I ended updoing was “talking” to the students, as ifthey were beside me. Finally I decided torecord these sessions. A recording wouldgive the students far more information


30

than I could give them in comments writ-ten in the margins of their papers, Ithought. And it seemed more personalthan just “bleeding” all over their work.So I insisted that my students give me ablank audio tape when they turned in awritten assignment. I recorded my grad-ing sessions on their tapes and returnedthem with the finished papers.

ImplementationThe implementation of this GIFT is

very simple.

• Students are required to turn in blank,standard-size audio tapes whenever theyhand in written assignments.

• When the teacher grades the paper, he orshe inserts the student’s tape into a taperecorder and records the grading session.This requires the teacher to read aloud thestudent paper and to verbalize his or herthoughts and reactions. For example, ifthe teacher finds a misspelled word, theteacher might underline the word in thetext and say aloud into the tape, “Checkyour dictionary, Phillip.” If the teacherreads a particularly well-written para-graph, he or she might place a check markbeside it on the paper and say aloud,“Perfect metaphor, Joan. Good job.”

• The teacher also can summarize at theend, adding a personal note. Perhaps this

paper is an improvement over earlierones, or, for the first time, the student hasavoided a certain punctuation problem.The teacher also can fully explain thegrade and suggest ways to improve thepaper. The paper would have few markson it, but the tape would be filled withvaluable feedback.

• The student can submit a new blank tapefor the next assignment, or he or she canrecycle the first tape. Most grading ses-sions last about 10-15 minutes, dependingon the assignment, so several can fit on asingle tape.

ImpactSome students told me that they

never listened to these tapes. The lettergrade that I wrote on their papers was allthey were concerned with. But manyother students enjoyed the tapes. They lis-tened to them as they would a recordedbook, reading along with me. Like mostbeginning writers, they hungered forfeedback, and the tape offered far morefeedback than they would get with stan-dard grading techniques. And it was a lotmore personal. I addressed the students byname, as if they were seated beside me. Ipraised their strong passages and criti-cized their lapses. With the tapes, I rein-forced the principles of good writing andcommunicated clearly my own standards.


30

than I could give them in comments writ-ten in the margins of their papers, Ithought. And it seemed more personalthan just “bleeding” all over their work.So I insisted that my students give me ablank audio tape when they turned in awritten assignment. I recorded my grad-ing sessions on their tapes and returnedthem with the finished papers.

ImplementationThe implementation of this GIFT is

very simple.

• Students are required to turn in blank,standard-size audio tapes whenever theyhand in written assignments.

• When the teacher grades the paper, he orshe inserts the student’s tape into a taperecorder and records the grading session.This requires the teacher to read aloud thestudent paper and to verbalize his or herthoughts and reactions. For example, ifthe teacher finds a misspelled word, theteacher might underline the word in thetext and say aloud into the tape, “Checkyour dictionary, Phillip.” If the teacherreads a particularly well-written para-graph, he or she might place a check markbeside it on the paper and say aloud,“Perfect metaphor, Joan. Good job.”

• The teacher also can summarize at theend, adding a personal note. Perhaps this

paper is an improvement over earlierones, or, for the first time, the student hasavoided a certain punctuation problem.The teacher also can fully explain thegrade and suggest ways to improve thepaper. The paper would have few markson it, but the tape would be filled withvaluable feedback.

• The student can submit a new blank tapefor the next assignment, or he or she canrecycle the first tape. Most grading ses-sions last about 10-15 minutes, dependingon the assignment, so several can fit on asingle tape.

ImpactSome students told me that they

never listened to these tapes. The lettergrade that I wrote on their papers was allthey were concerned with. But manyother students enjoyed the tapes. They lis-tened to them as they would a recordedbook, reading along with me. Like mostbeginning writers, they hungered forfeedback, and the tape offered far morefeedback than they would get with stan-dard grading techniques. And it was a lotmore personal. I addressed the students byname, as if they were seated beside me. Ipraised their strong passages and criti-cized their lapses. With the tapes, I rein-forced the principles of good writing andcommunicated clearly my own standards.


31

Teaching Financial Management the Easy Way

How to use a computer simulation program in a media management class

Joseph M. HarperKent State University

IntroductionI have used a computer simulation

game in teaching about newspaperfinances in media management classes formore than 20 years. The NewspaperSimulation game—Newsim—was firstintroduced in media management classesat the University of Texas and used datafrom my doctoral dissertation.

Based on experiences from usingthe original model, I have developed anew game—MediaSim—which willallow students to “run” not only a news-paper but also a radio or television station.In this day of media convergence, stu-dents benefit from learning about othermedia.

Each student, or team, is given twoyears of historical data related tohis/her/their media property. This dataincludes operational information such asthe newspaper’s circulation, advertisinglinage, budget information such as adver-tising revenue and expenses for majordepartments and market information suchas population and spendable income data.After studying this information, the stu-dents makes operating decisions such ashow much to charge for advertising, what

level to set salaries and how much tobudget for departmental expenses.

The students run their newspaper orbroadcast station for three years, makingdecisions for Year 2, for example, basedon their results from Year 1 and the one-and three-year goals they established.

RationaleMost journalism students—and

young professionals—have a very limitedunderstanding of the financial operationof their company whether they work fornewspapers, magazines, broadcast sta-tions or Internet businesses. Yet gradu-ates are being put into supervisory posi-tions at earlier ages—positions that oftenrequire some knowledge of budgeting atminimum.

In addition, business reporting is anincreasingly important beat, and thisrequires reporters to be able to understandbasic financial documents. Participationin this exercise will give those personssome background to get started on thebusiness beat.

ImplementationThe section on financial manage-


31

Teaching Financial Management the Easy Way

How to use a computer simulation program in a media management class

Joseph M. HarperKent State University

IntroductionI have used a computer simulation

game in teaching about newspaperfinances in media management classes formore than 20 years. The NewspaperSimulation game—Newsim—was firstintroduced in media management classesat the University of Texas and used datafrom my doctoral dissertation.

Based on experiences from usingthe original model, I have developed anew game—MediaSim—which willallow students to “run” not only a news-paper but also a radio or television station.In this day of media convergence, stu-dents benefit from learning about othermedia.

Each student, or team, is given twoyears of historical data related tohis/her/their media property. This dataincludes operational information such asthe newspaper’s circulation, advertisinglinage, budget information such as adver-tising revenue and expenses for majordepartments and market information suchas population and spendable income data.After studying this information, the stu-dents makes operating decisions such ashow much to charge for advertising, what

level to set salaries and how much tobudget for departmental expenses.

The students run their newspaper orbroadcast station for three years, makingdecisions for Year 2, for example, basedon their results from Year 1 and the one-and three-year goals they established.

RationaleMost journalism students—and

young professionals—have a very limitedunderstanding of the financial operationof their company whether they work fornewspapers, magazines, broadcast sta-tions or Internet businesses. Yet gradu-ates are being put into supervisory posi-tions at earlier ages—positions that oftenrequire some knowledge of budgeting atminimum.

In addition, business reporting is anincreasingly important beat, and thisrequires reporters to be able to understandbasic financial documents. Participationin this exercise will give those personssome background to get started on thebusiness beat.

ImplementationThe section on financial manage-


32

ment in many semester-long media man-agement courses takes about two weeks,and this game is central to that module.The time spent on the game can be altereddepending on the professor’s class out-line. (In fact, it could be used in a two- orthree-day workshop.) A typical schedulefor this section of the class might containfour 90-minute class sessions:

• First Class: Assign reading for this classto introduce basic financial reports suchas the budget, profit/loss statement andbalance sheet. Lecture/discussion on howto read these reports. Assign reading forsecond class on goals and objectives.

• Second Class: In class discuss settinggoals and objectives and how managersmake decisions to achieve goals. Alsodiscuss how to interpret the two years of“historical” data, for example, the finan-cial and operating reports about the mediaproperty the students will run.Assignment for third class: Set one-yearand three-year goals for each student’snewspaper or broadcast station.

• Third Class: If computers are availablein class, have students make operatingdecisions for first simulated year and runthe program (it takes only a mouse click;results are available in a second or two). Ifcomputers are not available, have stu-dents run program before class and bringresults to class. Discuss first-year resultsand rerun program with new set of deci-sions for Year 1. Also discuss whetherresults were in line with goals and objec-tives.

• Fourth Class: Run Year 2 and Year 3.

Discuss results for three-year period.Have students/teams analyze their resultsfor the three-year period and report onchanges they would make if they wereplaying the game again.

Grading is based on the goals thatthe students set, the rationale for the deci-sions they make (in relation to their goals)and their analyses of financial and operat-ing results. Notably, and there is someargument on this point, I do not base thegrade on how much money the student’snewspaper or broadcast station makes. Infact, students are encouraged to set goalsthat relate, for example, to the quality ofthe newspaper’s or TV station’s newscontent.

ImpactCourse surveys and anecdotal

responses almost without exception indi-cate that students find the gaming experi-ence interesting and educational. Whilemost students in media management donot find financial management a particu-larly interesting topic, the simulationgame and the almost instantaneous feed-back the participants receive get studentsabsorbed in the learning process. Somestudents have become so enmeshed in thegame that they have become upset overmediocre or poor financial results.

Much of the learning takes place inthe class discussions before and after eachround (“Year”) of play. Using two- andthree-person teams works well because ofthe interaction required in making deci-sions before each “Year” and in dis-cussing the results following each round.


32

ment in many semester-long media man-agement courses takes about two weeks,and this game is central to that module.The time spent on the game can be altereddepending on the professor’s class out-line. (In fact, it could be used in a two- orthree-day workshop.) A typical schedulefor this section of the class might containfour 90-minute class sessions:

• First Class: Assign reading for this classto introduce basic financial reports suchas the budget, profit/loss statement andbalance sheet. Lecture/discussion on howto read these reports. Assign reading forsecond class on goals and objectives.

• Second Class: In class discuss settinggoals and objectives and how managersmake decisions to achieve goals. Alsodiscuss how to interpret the two years of“historical” data, for example, the finan-cial and operating reports about the mediaproperty the students will run.Assignment for third class: Set one-yearand three-year goals for each student’snewspaper or broadcast station.

• Third Class: If computers are availablein class, have students make operatingdecisions for first simulated year and runthe program (it takes only a mouse click;results are available in a second or two). Ifcomputers are not available, have stu-dents run program before class and bringresults to class. Discuss first-year resultsand rerun program with new set of deci-sions for Year 1. Also discuss whetherresults were in line with goals and objec-tives.

• Fourth Class: Run Year 2 and Year 3.

Discuss results for three-year period.Have students/teams analyze their resultsfor the three-year period and report onchanges they would make if they wereplaying the game again.

Grading is based on the goals thatthe students set, the rationale for the deci-sions they make (in relation to their goals)and their analyses of financial and operat-ing results. Notably, and there is someargument on this point, I do not base thegrade on how much money the student’snewspaper or broadcast station makes. Infact, students are encouraged to set goalsthat relate, for example, to the quality ofthe newspaper’s or TV station’s newscontent.

ImpactCourse surveys and anecdotal

responses almost without exception indi-cate that students find the gaming experi-ence interesting and educational. Whilemost students in media management donot find financial management a particu-larly interesting topic, the simulationgame and the almost instantaneous feed-back the participants receive get studentsabsorbed in the learning process. Somestudents have become so enmeshed in thegame that they have become upset overmediocre or poor financial results.

Much of the learning takes place inthe class discussions before and after eachround (“Year”) of play. Using two- andthree-person teams works well because ofthe interaction required in making deci-sions before each “Year” and in dis-cussing the results following each round.


33

Journalism Jeopardy with Your Host (Your Name Goes Here)

How to thoroughly enjoy one class session that is focused on journalism trivia with topics like “U.S. Presidents and the press,” “American newspa-pers,” “Famous journalists” and “Journalism–NOT!!!”

Cheryl HecklerMiami University (Ohio)

IntroductionYou push them regarding deadlines,

and leads and transitions. Especially tran-sitions. You give them a midterm on thefirst amendment and a final on FOIA….

So you can just imagine their sur-prise when they walk in the door one dayand see you in a suit or tux and the chalk-board looking like a Jeopardy board.

“I’ll take U.S. Presidents for $200,Cheryl.”

“One of the two U.S. presidentsawarded the Nobel Peace Prize, heentered office when McKinley was assas-sinated and was a darling of the press.”

Or how about “Journalism–NOT!!!” for $300?

“Chevy Chase, Colin Quinn, DennisMiller, Norm MacDonald.”

Today’s audio daily double, underthe category of “Famous Journalists”: Anearly CBS anchor “reporting from therooftops of London.”

This is simply a lovely way to enjoy

a class, teach them something about jour-nalism and history, and allow your stu-dents to see each other’s skills in a differ-ent light.

RationaleThis exercise can be used in several

ways: a break from the routine; a rein-forcement for points you’ve alreadytaught and especially a chance to buildbridges. But it is not an easy class. Youwill end the day absolutely exhaustedbecause students will get so into thegame, they will argue over points–a greatproblem to have because of their enthusi-asm.

ImplementationYou can use Journalism Jeopardy

for anything you teach. I use it as a breakfrom the norm and as reinforcement forpoints I want them to hold well past thesemester’s end. For instance, imaginethese categories:


33

Journalism Jeopardy with Your Host (Your Name Goes Here)

How to thoroughly enjoy one class session that is focused on journalism trivia with topics like “U.S. Presidents and the press,” “American newspa-pers,” “Famous journalists” and “Journalism–NOT!!!”

Cheryl HecklerMiami University (Ohio)

IntroductionYou push them regarding deadlines,

and leads and transitions. Especially tran-sitions. You give them a midterm on thefirst amendment and a final on FOIA….

So you can just imagine their sur-prise when they walk in the door one dayand see you in a suit or tux and the chalk-board looking like a Jeopardy board.

“I’ll take U.S. Presidents for $200,Cheryl.”

“One of the two U.S. presidentsawarded the Nobel Peace Prize, heentered office when McKinley was assas-sinated and was a darling of the press.”

Or how about “Journalism–NOT!!!” for $300?

“Chevy Chase, Colin Quinn, DennisMiller, Norm MacDonald.”

Today’s audio daily double, underthe category of “Famous Journalists”: Anearly CBS anchor “reporting from therooftops of London.”

This is simply a lovely way to enjoy

a class, teach them something about jour-nalism and history, and allow your stu-dents to see each other’s skills in a differ-ent light.

RationaleThis exercise can be used in several

ways: a break from the routine; a rein-forcement for points you’ve alreadytaught and especially a chance to buildbridges. But it is not an easy class. Youwill end the day absolutely exhaustedbecause students will get so into thegame, they will argue over points–a greatproblem to have because of their enthusi-asm.

ImplementationYou can use Journalism Jeopardy

for anything you teach. I use it as a breakfrom the norm and as reinforcement forpoints I want them to hold well past thesemester’s end. For instance, imaginethese categories:


34

• Leads (delayed-identification, feature,hard news...)

• The Bill of Rights (since we journalistsspend so much time defending it in ournewspapers, this is a great way to rein-force their memorizing it)

• International Journalism (Leaders andpolitical parties throughout the world.Again, a wonderful reinforcement tool ofmaterials already introduced.)

• Journalism and Cinema (From “CitizenKane” to “Almost Famous” and “TheInsider”). Especially popular with stu-dents who feel like they are on the outside

• Colonial Journalism

• Name That Literary Source: A greatplace to teach them about journalists whowent on to become great literary figures.Hemmingway, Mitchell.

• Famous Women/Black/Break-ThroughJournalists

In my classes, students are placed ingroups of four or five. Instead of buzzers,they must stand up to answer. For eachfive answers it gets right, a group receivescandy. The group having the most correctanswers gets special candy. The individ-ual who gets a Daily Double gets specialcandy. An outstanding performance byany single student earns him/her an OhioMagazine coffee mug.

ImpactIn my experience, this ranks right

up there with being able to speak intelli-gently to them about what was in the mostrecent issue of Rolling Stone. Studentsconnect. And they leave the classroomsaying things like, “Can you believe thatabout LBJ?” or “Geez, who knewMelanie knew so much about presidentialhistory.” They write with enthusiasmabout it in the course-end evaluations.


34

• Leads (delayed-identification, feature,hard news...)

• The Bill of Rights (since we journalistsspend so much time defending it in ournewspapers, this is a great way to rein-force their memorizing it)

• International Journalism (Leaders andpolitical parties throughout the world.Again, a wonderful reinforcement tool ofmaterials already introduced.)

• Journalism and Cinema (From “CitizenKane” to “Almost Famous” and “TheInsider”). Especially popular with stu-dents who feel like they are on the outside

• Colonial Journalism

• Name That Literary Source: A greatplace to teach them about journalists whowent on to become great literary figures.Hemmingway, Mitchell.

• Famous Women/Black/Break-ThroughJournalists

In my classes, students are placed ingroups of four or five. Instead of buzzers,they must stand up to answer. For eachfive answers it gets right, a group receivescandy. The group having the most correctanswers gets special candy. The individ-ual who gets a Daily Double gets specialcandy. An outstanding performance byany single student earns him/her an OhioMagazine coffee mug.

ImpactIn my experience, this ranks right

up there with being able to speak intelli-gently to them about what was in the mostrecent issue of Rolling Stone. Studentsconnect. And they leave the classroomsaying things like, “Can you believe thatabout LBJ?” or “Geez, who knewMelanie knew so much about presidentialhistory.” They write with enthusiasmabout it in the course-end evaluations.


35

Writing the Statement of Personal Ethicsin Communication

How to assess the integration and application of student learning in communication ethics

Gail Ritchie HensonBellarmine University

IntroductionThe assignment to write a personal

statement of communication ethics servesas a culminating experience for students.It provides students a valuable opportunityto reflect, synthesize, formulate and articu-late a public document for their personaluse and to use in interview situations.

RationaleStudents report this to be one of the

most valuable experiences of their aca-demic career. Prospective employers areimpressed when a student includes this in aresume or portfolio. This assignment pro-vides an important transition betweenclassroom and what lies beyond.

If students never have the reason toformulate and articulate their own ethics,then they may not anticipate and plan theirresponses to life challenges. In life, thereare no multiple choice tests or semesterexams; rather there are continual chal-lenges and opportunities to make deci-sions. Whenever an advertiser, an editor, aproducer or any other communication pro-fessional or academic has to decide where

to draw a line and if that line should becrossed, that person must draw on a set ofpersonal ethics and professional ethics.

ImplementationStudents are given the assignment as

printed below:

Personal Statement of Ethics Maximum length: 5 pagesTask: This is the culminating exercise ofCommunication Ethics. Students writetheir own code of communication ethics,one they could explain to another person,whether a prospective employer or afriend.

• Part I: FoundationThe statement should start with a

reflection the foundation they bring to eth-ical decision making, synthesizing profes-sional, philosophical, religious or othercore beliefs.

• Part II: The Code of ConductUsing other professional codes of

conduct as guides for the format, and


35

Writing the Statement of Personal Ethicsin Communication

How to assess the integration and application of student learning in communication ethics

Gail Ritchie HensonBellarmine University

IntroductionThe assignment to write a personal

statement of communication ethics servesas a culminating experience for students.It provides students a valuable opportunityto reflect, synthesize, formulate and articu-late a public document for their personaluse and to use in interview situations.

RationaleStudents report this to be one of the

most valuable experiences of their aca-demic career. Prospective employers areimpressed when a student includes this in aresume or portfolio. This assignment pro-vides an important transition betweenclassroom and what lies beyond.

If students never have the reason toformulate and articulate their own ethics,then they may not anticipate and plan theirresponses to life challenges. In life, thereare no multiple choice tests or semesterexams; rather there are continual chal-lenges and opportunities to make deci-sions. Whenever an advertiser, an editor, aproducer or any other communication pro-fessional or academic has to decide where

to draw a line and if that line should becrossed, that person must draw on a set ofpersonal ethics and professional ethics.

ImplementationStudents are given the assignment as

printed below:

Personal Statement of Ethics Maximum length: 5 pagesTask: This is the culminating exercise ofCommunication Ethics. Students writetheir own code of communication ethics,one they could explain to another person,whether a prospective employer or afriend.

• Part I: FoundationThe statement should start with a

reflection the foundation they bring to eth-ical decision making, synthesizing profes-sional, philosophical, religious or othercore beliefs.

• Part II: The Code of ConductUsing other professional codes of

conduct as guides for the format, and


36

incorporating other relevant guides (forexample, professional, religious, philo-sophical, experiential), the student writesa one- or two- page statement that clearlydelineates the student’s code as pertains toethical communication, with provisionsfor addressing dilemmas that studentsmight encounter in the future. Issues tocover would include such matters as deal-ing with truth, conflicts of interests, howone treats people, fair play, confidences,lines the student would draw, etc.

• Part III: ApplicationStudents provide two case studies

that might arise in which they would haveto draw on their code of conduct for mak-ing a decision.

• Part IV: ReflectionStudents write a one-paragraph

summary reflecting on the experience ofwriting their code of ethics.

Students submit a copy of this to theprofessor and attach a copy of this fortheir portfolio and resume.

Impact

• Student Impact: The experience,according to student evaluations and per-sonal reflections as required in part IV,profoundly affects the students. For manystudents, it is the first time they have

articulated such a creed to act on in dailyliving. After a semester of case studies,writing responses and listening to profes-sionals talk about times when they areasked to cross an ethical line, studentsnow have to wrestle with their own ethi-cal positions and justifications. It is apowerful learning experience.

• Assessment Value: Writing the personalstatement of communication ethics pro-vides authentic assessment of studentlearning, comprehension, synthesis andapplication of learning.

• Personal Impact: As a veteran of 28years of college teaching, I continuallyfind these statements of ethics to be a timeof hope and renewal for me in this voca-tion of teaching. To witness, especially inPart IV, student reflections on the processof wrestling with their personal ethics andcommitting themselves in their statement,is a powerful experience.

• Internship and Prospective EmployerImpact: Prospective internship sponsorsand employers are very pleased, and oftenmoved, by the depth of thought in theseethical statements.

This document provides somethingunique for our students and thus isimmensely important for the Departmentof Communication and for our students.


36

incorporating other relevant guides (forexample, professional, religious, philo-sophical, experiential), the student writesa one- or two- page statement that clearlydelineates the student’s code as pertains toethical communication, with provisionsfor addressing dilemmas that studentsmight encounter in the future. Issues tocover would include such matters as deal-ing with truth, conflicts of interests, howone treats people, fair play, confidences,lines the student would draw, etc.

• Part III: ApplicationStudents provide two case studies

that might arise in which they would haveto draw on their code of conduct for mak-ing a decision.

• Part IV: ReflectionStudents write a one-paragraph

summary reflecting on the experience ofwriting their code of ethics.

Students submit a copy of this to theprofessor and attach a copy of this fortheir portfolio and resume.

Impact

• Student Impact: The experience,according to student evaluations and per-sonal reflections as required in part IV,profoundly affects the students. For manystudents, it is the first time they have

articulated such a creed to act on in dailyliving. After a semester of case studies,writing responses and listening to profes-sionals talk about times when they areasked to cross an ethical line, studentsnow have to wrestle with their own ethi-cal positions and justifications. It is apowerful learning experience.

• Assessment Value: Writing the personalstatement of communication ethics pro-vides authentic assessment of studentlearning, comprehension, synthesis andapplication of learning.

• Personal Impact: As a veteran of 28years of college teaching, I continuallyfind these statements of ethics to be a timeof hope and renewal for me in this voca-tion of teaching. To witness, especially inPart IV, student reflections on the processof wrestling with their personal ethics andcommitting themselves in their statement,is a powerful experience.

• Internship and Prospective EmployerImpact: Prospective internship sponsorsand employers are very pleased, and oftenmoved, by the depth of thought in theseethical statements.

This document provides somethingunique for our students and thus isimmensely important for the Departmentof Communication and for our students.


37

Music Video Creation as a Tool to UnderstandVideography and Video Editing

How to make students spend hours learning to shootand edit video–and love it

Brian K. JohnsonUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

IntroductionWhile college freshmen are con-

sumers of video through broadcast jour-nalism and movies, few of them under-stand the conventions of videography andvideo editing. Students are also avid con-sumers of music videos and some spend agreat deal of time watching television sta-tions like MTV. Learning to shoot effec-tive video sequences and efficient, tightvideo editing can be confusing andtedious for students who have had noprior training in film or video. An excitingand unique way to motivate students tolearn videography and video editing is tohave them create a music video. The sto-rytelling techniques of a music video arethe same as the conventions used inbroadcast news, so this project gives stu-dents a deep understanding of telling astory with video.

RationaleStudents love watching music

videos. Music is an important part of theirlives in college, so it follows that theymight be motivated to throw themselvesinto a project that would produce a music

video as its final product. Along the waythe students will learn a thing or twoabout shooting video sequences and edit-ing video so that it tells a story and match-ing images to the audio. While using anon–journalistic genre of storytellingmight seem to be of little value to newsvideo, the truth is that many music videoshave excellent, tight editing and and inter-esting videography. These characteristicscan make any news story better. Due tostudent excitement about the project, theyspend far more hours perfecting theirmusic video than they might if the assign-ment were to just to shoot and edit a typi-cal news story.

These skills transfer to the journalis-tic stories they complete for the semesterproject. By making this a group project,the students’ anxiety about learning a newskill in a major assignment is reduced. Asnewspapers also move to web–baseddelivery of news many newspaper photo-journalists are expected to learn to pro-duce video stories. As the line blursbetween print and broadcast news, thesevideo skills become important to all jour-nalists.


37

Music Video Creation as a Tool to UnderstandVideography and Video Editing

How to make students spend hours learning to shootand edit video–and love it

Brian K. JohnsonUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

IntroductionWhile college freshmen are con-

sumers of video through broadcast jour-nalism and movies, few of them under-stand the conventions of videography andvideo editing. Students are also avid con-sumers of music videos and some spend agreat deal of time watching television sta-tions like MTV. Learning to shoot effec-tive video sequences and efficient, tightvideo editing can be confusing andtedious for students who have had noprior training in film or video. An excitingand unique way to motivate students tolearn videography and video editing is tohave them create a music video. The sto-rytelling techniques of a music video arethe same as the conventions used inbroadcast news, so this project gives stu-dents a deep understanding of telling astory with video.

RationaleStudents love watching music

videos. Music is an important part of theirlives in college, so it follows that theymight be motivated to throw themselvesinto a project that would produce a music

video as its final product. Along the waythe students will learn a thing or twoabout shooting video sequences and edit-ing video so that it tells a story and match-ing images to the audio. While using anon–journalistic genre of storytellingmight seem to be of little value to newsvideo, the truth is that many music videoshave excellent, tight editing and and inter-esting videography. These characteristicscan make any news story better. Due tostudent excitement about the project, theyspend far more hours perfecting theirmusic video than they might if the assign-ment were to just to shoot and edit a typi-cal news story.

These skills transfer to the journalis-tic stories they complete for the semesterproject. By making this a group project,the students’ anxiety about learning a newskill in a major assignment is reduced. Asnewspapers also move to web–baseddelivery of news many newspaper photo-journalists are expected to learn to pro-duce video stories. As the line blursbetween print and broadcast news, thesevideo skills become important to all jour-nalists.


38

Implementation

• Music Video—This is a group project.Each group will have four members andyou will grade each other on level of par-ticipation in the project. Choose a piece ofmusic mutually acceptable to the group,then decide how you will illustrate thatpiece with video you shoot and edit into apackage. Compress the package for webdelivery. Total package length:Maximum 4 minutes.

• By the point in the semester where stu-dents will produce their music video theyhave had assignments where they havelearned to shoot and edit simple videosequences:

Action/Reaction—The basic building–block of a sequence is showing action andreaction. For example, if you show some-one in a seat at a Krannert Center theaterwatching something, then you need tohave another shot showing what the per-son was watching. You are to videotapeand edit three Action/Reaction groups.The three groups do not need to be relat-ed. Total package length: Maximum 30seconds.

•They also have produced a simple storyfor an assignment called Beginning toEnd.

Beginning to End—To tell a story a videopackage needs a beginning, middle andend. You will shoot and edit a story usingA c t i o n / R e a c t i o n ;Overall/Medium/Close–up shots;Beginning/Middle/End to tell the story ofa process.

Maybe you will show your roommatemaking chocolate chip cookies, for exam-

ple (and then bring in the cookies for theclass!) Total package length: Maximum30 seconds.

• Students are assigned to a group andhave several meetings to decide on whichsong to use, story board the story, scoutlocations and check out the light at vari-ous times of day when they may shoot.

• Once they have shot their video, theediting process starts. Over the course ofseveral lab periods, some in class andmany outside of class, the students edittheir video into a finished music video.Along the way the professor critiques theproject and gives suggestions forimprovement. Once the project is com-plete the students are required to evaluatetheir group members’ involvement andperformance.

ImpactStudents were so excited about this

project that they wanted to do anothermusic video rather than the assigned finalproject. What I allowed them to do wasproduce another music video as an extracredit assignment. Even though the extracredit came at the end of the semesterwhen they had many other tests and proj-ects to complete in other classes, morethan one-third of the class chose to do thisextra credit assignment.

I’ve never seen students more moti-vated to spend long hours in the lab work-ing on a project. I was so energized bytheir excitement that I even spent somelong hours in the lab helping them perfecttheir music videos.

The results were well worth theeffort. These projects were some of thebest I have ever received. This was from agroup of freshmen where most (90 per-cent) had never picked up a video camera


38

Implementation

• Music Video—This is a group project.Each group will have four members andyou will grade each other on level of par-ticipation in the project. Choose a piece ofmusic mutually acceptable to the group,then decide how you will illustrate thatpiece with video you shoot and edit into apackage. Compress the package for webdelivery. Total package length:Maximum 4 minutes.

• By the point in the semester where stu-dents will produce their music video theyhave had assignments where they havelearned to shoot and edit simple videosequences:

Action/Reaction—The basic building–block of a sequence is showing action andreaction. For example, if you show some-one in a seat at a Krannert Center theaterwatching something, then you need tohave another shot showing what the per-son was watching. You are to videotapeand edit three Action/Reaction groups.The three groups do not need to be relat-ed. Total package length: Maximum 30seconds.

•They also have produced a simple storyfor an assignment called Beginning toEnd.

Beginning to End—To tell a story a videopackage needs a beginning, middle andend. You will shoot and edit a story usingA c t i o n / R e a c t i o n ;Overall/Medium/Close–up shots;Beginning/Middle/End to tell the story ofa process.

Maybe you will show your roommatemaking chocolate chip cookies, for exam-

ple (and then bring in the cookies for theclass!) Total package length: Maximum30 seconds.

• Students are assigned to a group andhave several meetings to decide on whichsong to use, story board the story, scoutlocations and check out the light at vari-ous times of day when they may shoot.

• Once they have shot their video, theediting process starts. Over the course ofseveral lab periods, some in class andmany outside of class, the students edittheir video into a finished music video.Along the way the professor critiques theproject and gives suggestions forimprovement. Once the project is com-plete the students are required to evaluatetheir group members’ involvement andperformance.

ImpactStudents were so excited about this

project that they wanted to do anothermusic video rather than the assigned finalproject. What I allowed them to do wasproduce another music video as an extracredit assignment. Even though the extracredit came at the end of the semesterwhen they had many other tests and proj-ects to complete in other classes, morethan one-third of the class chose to do thisextra credit assignment.

I’ve never seen students more moti-vated to spend long hours in the lab work-ing on a project. I was so energized bytheir excitement that I even spent somelong hours in the lab helping them perfecttheir music videos.

The results were well worth theeffort. These projects were some of thebest I have ever received. This was from agroup of freshmen where most (90 per-cent) had never picked up a video camera


39

before this class. Their final projects,video personality profiles, were excellentalso, due to their experience producingthe music videos. They learned how

important it is to coordinate the visualswith the audio, and how a tightly editedpiece is more effective than one which isnot.


39

before this class. Their final projects,video personality profiles, were excellentalso, due to their experience producingthe music videos. They learned how

important it is to coordinate the visualswith the audio, and how a tightly editedpiece is more effective than one which isnot.


40

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test

How to recognize the relevance of brand names in the world of advertising

Cathy JohnsonAngelo State University

IntroductionBy taste testing a variety of brands

of chocolate chip cookies in class and rat-ing them, students recognize the impor-tance of brand names with respect toadvertising.

RationaleThis activity is a fun way to make a

big impact relative to an important com-ponent of an introductory advertisingcourse. It demonstrates much more force-fully than lecture the relevance of brandnames in relation to consumerbehavior/buying. There is a little costinvolved, but you may find the payoffworth it.

ImplementationEarly in the semester, in a single

class session (can be done in 50 minutes,although a little more time would workwell), students are asked to taste test avariety of brands of chocolate chip cook-ies and rate each brand on a scale of oneto five according to five criteria.

• Select five brands of chocolate chipcookies for the experiment. This worksbest to choose a combination of easily

recognized brands and some local storebrands. These should also all be the stan-dard hard cookies, not a combination ofhard and soft/chewy cookies.

• Break class into groups of four.Acknowledge that for various reasons noteveryone will be able to taste the cookies,but those individuals can still participatein some aspects of rating the cookies.

• Prior to class, prepare sandwich bags offour cookies each for all five brands.Label them Brand 1, Brand 2, etc. Youwill need one bag per brand per studentgroup. For example, if you have 20 stu-dents in the class, you would need a totalof 25 bags of four cookies each, five eachof five brands.

• Give each group one rating sheet. Eachcookie brand will be rated on a scale of 1-5 least preferred to most preferred on thefollowing criteria:

SizeAppearanceNumber of chocolate chipsTasteTexture


40

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test

How to recognize the relevance of brand names in the world of advertising

Cathy JohnsonAngelo State University

IntroductionBy taste testing a variety of brands

of chocolate chip cookies in class and rat-ing them, students recognize the impor-tance of brand names with respect toadvertising.

RationaleThis activity is a fun way to make a

big impact relative to an important com-ponent of an introductory advertisingcourse. It demonstrates much more force-fully than lecture the relevance of brandnames in relation to consumerbehavior/buying. There is a little costinvolved, but you may find the payoffworth it.

ImplementationEarly in the semester, in a single

class session (can be done in 50 minutes,although a little more time would workwell), students are asked to taste test avariety of brands of chocolate chip cook-ies and rate each brand on a scale of oneto five according to five criteria.

• Select five brands of chocolate chipcookies for the experiment. This worksbest to choose a combination of easily

recognized brands and some local storebrands. These should also all be the stan-dard hard cookies, not a combination ofhard and soft/chewy cookies.

• Break class into groups of four.Acknowledge that for various reasons noteveryone will be able to taste the cookies,but those individuals can still participatein some aspects of rating the cookies.

• Prior to class, prepare sandwich bags offour cookies each for all five brands.Label them Brand 1, Brand 2, etc. Youwill need one bag per brand per studentgroup. For example, if you have 20 stu-dents in the class, you would need a totalof 25 bags of four cookies each, five eachof five brands.

• Give each group one rating sheet. Eachcookie brand will be rated on a scale of 1-5 least preferred to most preferred on thefollowing criteria:

SizeAppearanceNumber of chocolate chipsTasteTexture


41

• Distribute the first brand of cookie andask each group to reach a consensus andrate the cookie on the criteria sheet.Everyone in the class is taste testing andrating the same brand at the same time.You may want to provide paper plates, sostudents may reserve part of a cookie andlabel its placement on the plate in order togo back later for more comparison. Afterall the groups have had a few minutes torate Brand 1, distribute Brand 2. Continuethis procedure through Brand 5.

You will also want to provide some-thing to “wash it down.” I offer cups ofmilk or water. So while they are tastingand rating, I am playing flight attendantand serving beverages.

• Collect the rating sheets.

• Depending on the length of the class,you may not have time to correlate thescores in all five categories. In that case,ask which category is most important tothem in their purchase decisions. Theywill always say taste, so you may declarea winner (brand name) simply based ontaste, which conserves time.

• Also, save the original packaging thecookies came in and make some observa-tions about the packages, which you havecarefully hidden from view up to thispoint. Many store brands will use packag-ing similar in look and color to a well-rec-ognized brand. The blue packaging ofChips Ahoy is often imitated, for exam-ple. And some store brands use theupright packaging used by more upscale

cookies such as Pepperidge Farm.

ImpactWhile a few students are already

fairly astute regarding the qualities of var-ious chocolate chip cookies, most seemquite surprised by the outcome. Somehave even accused me of making a mis-take and mixing up the brands. During thetaste testing process, not knowing whichbrand they were tasting, they once calledChips Ahoy the ghetto cookies. So one ofthe best-known brand names is far fromthe best-tasting cookie. Wal-Mart’s Sam’sChoice brand almost always wins thetaste test. This is quite surprising to stu-dents. Most had never even heard of ortasted Sam’s Choice chocolate chip cook-ies.

We talk about the role advertising ofbrand names plays in our decision tomake purchases, and the fact that Sam’sChoice cookies are never advertised.

This is an activity that sticks in theminds of students, because it’s rare theyhave ever spent a whole class session eat-ing cookies. So when I make reference toit throughout the semester when talkingabout brand names, they DO rememberthe activity.

I do this early in the semester, so thegroup activity component does help stu-dents meet others in the class they mightnot otherwise meet. I have them numberoff to create the groups to facilitate this.

And of course I’m a favorite teacherat least for the day, because “all we did inclass today was cookies!”


41

• Distribute the first brand of cookie andask each group to reach a consensus andrate the cookie on the criteria sheet.Everyone in the class is taste testing andrating the same brand at the same time.You may want to provide paper plates, sostudents may reserve part of a cookie andlabel its placement on the plate in order togo back later for more comparison. Afterall the groups have had a few minutes torate Brand 1, distribute Brand 2. Continuethis procedure through Brand 5.

You will also want to provide some-thing to “wash it down.” I offer cups ofmilk or water. So while they are tastingand rating, I am playing flight attendantand serving beverages.

• Collect the rating sheets.

• Depending on the length of the class,you may not have time to correlate thescores in all five categories. In that case,ask which category is most important tothem in their purchase decisions. Theywill always say taste, so you may declarea winner (brand name) simply based ontaste, which conserves time.

• Also, save the original packaging thecookies came in and make some observa-tions about the packages, which you havecarefully hidden from view up to thispoint. Many store brands will use packag-ing similar in look and color to a well-rec-ognized brand. The blue packaging ofChips Ahoy is often imitated, for exam-ple. And some store brands use theupright packaging used by more upscale

cookies such as Pepperidge Farm.

ImpactWhile a few students are already

fairly astute regarding the qualities of var-ious chocolate chip cookies, most seemquite surprised by the outcome. Somehave even accused me of making a mis-take and mixing up the brands. During thetaste testing process, not knowing whichbrand they were tasting, they once calledChips Ahoy the ghetto cookies. So one ofthe best-known brand names is far fromthe best-tasting cookie. Wal-Mart’s Sam’sChoice brand almost always wins thetaste test. This is quite surprising to stu-dents. Most had never even heard of ortasted Sam’s Choice chocolate chip cook-ies.

We talk about the role advertising ofbrand names plays in our decision tomake purchases, and the fact that Sam’sChoice cookies are never advertised.

This is an activity that sticks in theminds of students, because it’s rare theyhave ever spent a whole class session eat-ing cookies. So when I make reference toit throughout the semester when talkingabout brand names, they DO rememberthe activity.

I do this early in the semester, so thegroup activity component does help stu-dents meet others in the class they mightnot otherwise meet. I have them numberoff to create the groups to facilitate this.

And of course I’m a favorite teacherat least for the day, because “all we did inclass today was cookies!”


42

“This Really Happened...”

How to show students the difference between a topic and a story

Lee JolliffeDrake University

IntroductionStudents in introductory writing

classes struggle to tell whether they have a“story” or merely a topic. Meshing con-cepts from literary study and JonFranklin’s book Writing for Story, apreparatory lecture shows students how tobuild a fictional short story from elementslike characters, place and actions. Nextsession, students each have to tell a story,something that happened to them. Andpresto! They begin to see the narrative ele-ments in real life and how to weave theseinto their feature articles.

RationaleThe innovation is encouraging stu-

dents to tell funny stories in class andusing this as an object lesson in nonfictionstorytelling and narrative theory. (A fun“subtext” is that students in the class buildenormous camaraderie from the exerciseand remember it for years.)

Implementation

• Develop a lecture/discussion of fictionalelements and how they are built into shortstory form. Franklin’s Writing for Story is

very helpful here. Students readily con-tribute such elements as characters, setting,time, mood and conflict. Help them seepotential in “consensus” plots, too. Showon the board how action evolves to formplot through a chart showing StoryDevelopment #1, #2, etc., until Resolution,for instance.

• Assign students to think of somethingfunny, important or even horrifying thathappened to them personally. They are toplan to tell it in the next class session.

• Tell a story of your own, as an example.My favorite involves my college room-mate’s husband (topping 300 pounds), avisiting cat named The Dread PirateRoberts (who loved to catch bats) and atennis racket (fairly effective in bringingdown bats). Yes, he did knock it out of theair and scoop it out of the house.

• Spend a session, or possibly two, havingstudents tell their stories. Let them build upa self-sustaining amount of momentum(three or four stories at least) before youbegin to teach your way into the story-telling. As students finish particular sto-


42

“This Really Happened...”

How to show students the difference between a topic and a story

Lee JolliffeDrake University

IntroductionStudents in introductory writing

classes struggle to tell whether they have a“story” or merely a topic. Meshing con-cepts from literary study and JonFranklin’s book Writing for Story, apreparatory lecture shows students how tobuild a fictional short story from elementslike characters, place and actions. Nextsession, students each have to tell a story,something that happened to them. Andpresto! They begin to see the narrative ele-ments in real life and how to weave theseinto their feature articles.

RationaleThe innovation is encouraging stu-

dents to tell funny stories in class andusing this as an object lesson in nonfictionstorytelling and narrative theory. (A fun“subtext” is that students in the class buildenormous camaraderie from the exerciseand remember it for years.)

Implementation

• Develop a lecture/discussion of fictionalelements and how they are built into shortstory form. Franklin’s Writing for Story is

very helpful here. Students readily con-tribute such elements as characters, setting,time, mood and conflict. Help them seepotential in “consensus” plots, too. Showon the board how action evolves to formplot through a chart showing StoryDevelopment #1, #2, etc., until Resolution,for instance.

• Assign students to think of somethingfunny, important or even horrifying thathappened to them personally. They are toplan to tell it in the next class session.

• Tell a story of your own, as an example.My favorite involves my college room-mate’s husband (topping 300 pounds), avisiting cat named The Dread PirateRoberts (who loved to catch bats) and atennis racket (fairly effective in bringingdown bats). Yes, he did knock it out of theair and scoop it out of the house.

• Spend a session, or possibly two, havingstudents tell their stories. Let them build upa self-sustaining amount of momentum(three or four stories at least) before youbegin to teach your way into the story-telling. As students finish particular sto-


43

ries, then, help everyone see the characterdevelopment, the stock characters, theimportance of build-up, the humor in sim-ple occurrences, where the plot develop-ment occurred in the story.

• Now give students topic-type informa-tion about a subject (varying from semes-ter to semester). I’ve used everythingfrom a promo piece on a book aboutbanana slugs as pets to short pieces aboutcollegiate life, stripped of their “color”.Have the students seek out the anecdotes(the short stories) that can make or breaka feature article. Once they’ve practiced atime or two, they’re ready to a) add arange of anecdotes to their own work andb) tackle article forms that require extend-ed story-telling through the length of thepiece.

ImpactStudents love this assignment. They

refer to it among themselves at J-schoolparties—I overhear “Oh, yeah, I remem-

ber you saying that at storytelling day” or“You haven’t had storytelling yet? Justwait.” Telling personal stories builds thesense of knowing one another and helpscreate a more friendly, open atmospherein the classroom and among our majors.

For the teacher, it helps break downsome barriers students bring to class andmakes for easier relations with studentslater in the semester, when they have totake criticism from you or meet with youone-on-one to go over their work.

It also achieves its educational goal.Students who start out thinking they arewriting articles if they turn in paraphrasedweb sites or articles cobbled togetherfrom other, published articles finallybegin to see how they can build their own,using their own ideas. The lesson fits intoa series on article forms and our “stan-dard” narratives in feature-writing. By theend of the semester, students begin towrite suspended stories interwoven withexposition—a far more complex formthan they started the semester with.


43

ries, then, help everyone see the characterdevelopment, the stock characters, theimportance of build-up, the humor in sim-ple occurrences, where the plot develop-ment occurred in the story.

• Now give students topic-type informa-tion about a subject (varying from semes-ter to semester). I’ve used everythingfrom a promo piece on a book aboutbanana slugs as pets to short pieces aboutcollegiate life, stripped of their “color”.Have the students seek out the anecdotes(the short stories) that can make or breaka feature article. Once they’ve practiced atime or two, they’re ready to a) add arange of anecdotes to their own work andb) tackle article forms that require extend-ed story-telling through the length of thepiece.

ImpactStudents love this assignment. They

refer to it among themselves at J-schoolparties—I overhear “Oh, yeah, I remem-

ber you saying that at storytelling day” or“You haven’t had storytelling yet? Justwait.” Telling personal stories builds thesense of knowing one another and helpscreate a more friendly, open atmospherein the classroom and among our majors.

For the teacher, it helps break downsome barriers students bring to class andmakes for easier relations with studentslater in the semester, when they have totake criticism from you or meet with youone-on-one to go over their work.

It also achieves its educational goal.Students who start out thinking they arewriting articles if they turn in paraphrasedweb sites or articles cobbled togetherfrom other, published articles finallybegin to see how they can build their own,using their own ideas. The lesson fits intoa series on article forms and our “stan-dard” narratives in feature-writing. By theend of the semester, students begin towrite suspended stories interwoven withexposition—a far more complex formthan they started the semester with.


44

Beyond Schindler’s List

How to understand the importance of government inthe sunshine by keeping public records/meetings open to all

Kenneth C. KillebrewUniversity of South Florida

IntroductionGovernment has taken advantage of

the volatility in today's world, undermin-ing the right of the people to know whattheir government is doing. Couched interms like "privacy concerns" and a needto "protect innocent citizens" a number ofstate and the federal government is chip-ping away at many well-established legalrights of individuals (though it is portrayedas the media). They are essentially takinggovernment out of the sunshine and mov-ing away from 50 years of well-establishedlegal precedents.

RationaleThe rationale is to challenge students

to understand that everything their govern-ments do for (to) them is not necessarilygood for them. It is designed to allowthem to put away the emotional baggagethat many have been operating under sinceSept. 11 and to provide a provocative dis-cussion on the merits of an open societyand government. The examples are drawnfrom cases in Great Britain where theyincarcerated a number of IRA members.

The U.S. government has done the samething with foreign nationals since Sept. 11and has a history of incarceration withoutcharging people in World War II. Thepoint is to show students that where rulesexist requiring information in theSunshine, these arrests seldom occur.

Implementation

• First, the students are divided into equalgroups (four to five groups generally).Each group should be ethnically andracially diverse.

• Next, one student is called out fromamong all groups. The student called outis then placed in "detention." (This is pre-arranged with the student.) Each group isgiven a set of information about the deten-tion. What the groups don't know is thateach group has been given different infor-mation. None of it is wrong, but severalare riddled with omissions.

• Each group is then assigned to "holdcourt" about the student based on the infor-


44

Beyond Schindler’s List

How to understand the importance of government inthe sunshine by keeping public records/meetings open to all

Kenneth C. KillebrewUniversity of South Florida

IntroductionGovernment has taken advantage of

the volatility in today's world, undermin-ing the right of the people to know whattheir government is doing. Couched interms like "privacy concerns" and a needto "protect innocent citizens" a number ofstate and the federal government is chip-ping away at many well-established legalrights of individuals (though it is portrayedas the media). They are essentially takinggovernment out of the sunshine and mov-ing away from 50 years of well-establishedlegal precedents.

RationaleThe rationale is to challenge students

to understand that everything their govern-ments do for (to) them is not necessarilygood for them. It is designed to allowthem to put away the emotional baggagethat many have been operating under sinceSept. 11 and to provide a provocative dis-cussion on the merits of an open societyand government. The examples are drawnfrom cases in Great Britain where theyincarcerated a number of IRA members.

The U.S. government has done the samething with foreign nationals since Sept. 11and has a history of incarceration withoutcharging people in World War II. Thepoint is to show students that where rulesexist requiring information in theSunshine, these arrests seldom occur.

Implementation

• First, the students are divided into equalgroups (four to five groups generally).Each group should be ethnically andracially diverse.

• Next, one student is called out fromamong all groups. The student called outis then placed in "detention." (This is pre-arranged with the student.) Each group isgiven a set of information about the deten-tion. What the groups don't know is thateach group has been given different infor-mation. None of it is wrong, but severalare riddled with omissions.

• Each group is then assigned to "holdcourt" about the student based on the infor-


45

mation they have received about the stu-dent. They are given several options fromwhich to make their decisions, includingreleasing the student, holding them with-out charge (though this may violate theirrights) or actually filing charges. Their bal-lots on whether the student should becharged are secret.

• Once the ballots are tallied, the groupannounces its decision. There is no dis-cussion at this point…it is saved until allgroups have announced their votes.

• Only one group has the complete infor-mation about the "detention." This groupis asked to present its vote last. There isenough information given to this group toeasily tell the others to let the student gofree without charges. The other groups areat a severe disadvantage and generallymake judgments that lead to the filing of"charges."

• The last group is then asked to read the

information they have been given. Thisallows the other groups, which have debat-ed the issue hotly to this point, to see thatinformation must be complete beforeinformed decisions can be made.

ImpactSome students are absolutely befud-

dled by the exercise. Others become a bitangry at being tricked. Why would wechoose to withhold information that couldset someone free? It slowly starts to dawnon them that the purpose may be to not setpeople free. This leads to a discussionabout all information and how it is impor-tant to be as completely informed as possi-ble and that the public can not be informedif government designs to keep issues in thedark.

As a teaching assignment, it becomesabsolutely fascinating to watch those whohave strongly believed that governmentmust be allowed to work in secret discoverthat government may not always work tothe best interests of all.

Example: Police Report

Billy Bates Arrested by Federal Officials

Federal officials have arrested Billy (John Adams)Bates and are holding him in custody. The informa-tion included in this packet may or may not implicateBates in crimes against the public, the State ofFlorida and the people of the United States. Reviewthe packet of information carefully and decide whatmust be done. You are all members of a federal grandjury probing a series of terrorist incidents thathave plagued the southeast the past six months. IsBates one of those who should be charged? Take a lookat the information in the report. Let us know.


45

Example: Police Report

Billy Bates Arrested by Federal Officials

Federal officials have arrested Billy (John Adams)Bates and are holding him in custody. The informa-tion included in this packet may or may not implicateBates in crimes against the public, the State ofFlorida and the people of the United States. Reviewthe packet of information carefully and decide whatmust be done. You are all members of a federal grandjury probing a series of terrorist incidents thathave plagued the southeast the past six months. IsBates one of those who should be charged? Take a lookat the information in the report. Let us know.

mation they have received about the stu-dent. They are given several options fromwhich to make their decisions, includingreleasing the student, holding them with-out charge (though this may violate theirrights) or actually filing charges. Their bal-lots on whether the student should becharged are secret.

• Once the ballots are tallied, the groupannounces its decision. There is no dis-cussion at this point…it is saved until allgroups have announced their votes.

• Only one group has the complete infor-mation about the "detention." This groupis asked to present its vote last. There isenough information given to this group toeasily tell the others to let the student gofree without charges. The other groups areat a severe disadvantage and generallymake judgments that lead to the filing of"charges."

• The last group is then asked to read the

information they have been given. Thisallows the other groups, which have debat-ed the issue hotly to this point, to see thatinformation must be complete beforeinformed decisions can be made.

ImpactSome students are absolutely befud-

dled by the exercise. Others become a bitangry at being tricked. Why would wechoose to withhold information that couldset someone free? It slowly starts to dawnon them that the purpose may be to not setpeople free. This leads to a discussionabout all information and how it is impor-tant to be as completely informed as possi-ble and that the public can not be informedif government designs to keep issues in thedark.

As a teaching assignment, it becomesabsolutely fascinating to watch those whohave strongly believed that governmentmust be allowed to work in secret discoverthat government may not always work tothe best interests of all.


46

Incident/Arrest ReportBureau County Police Department

Description ofOffender

Height: _________Weight: _________Gender: _________Eyes: ___________Hair: ___________Race/Ethnicity:__________________Identifying Marks:__________________

Description ofOffense/Incident

Criminal Violation: _________________________________Location of Crime: ______Date & Time of Occurrence:___________________________If injury, suspected cause:___________________________Investigative Unit/Officers Assigned: ________________

Code: Reporting _________________________________Victim Name (if applicable): ____________________Address: ________________________________________Work Phone: __________ Home Phone: __________

Description of Incident: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Report Prepared by (print): _____________________Signature of Officer: ___________________________

Example (continued)


46

Incident/Arrest ReportBureau County Police Department

Description ofOffender

Height: _________Weight: _________Gender: _________Eyes: ___________Hair: ___________Race/Ethnicity:__________________Identifying Marks:__________________

Description ofOffense/Incident

Criminal Violation: _________________________________Location of Crime: ______Date & Time of Occurrence:___________________________If injury, suspected cause:___________________________Investigative Unit/Officers Assigned: ________________

Code: Reporting _________________________________Victim Name (if applicable): ____________________Address: ________________________________________Work Phone: __________ Home Phone: __________

Description of Incident: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Report Prepared by (print): _____________________Signature of Officer: ___________________________

Example (continued)


47

The Morning Meeting

How to teach current events and news judgmentand make the classroom “real”

Richard LandesbergUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionGetting students to read the newspa-

per and stay current with world events canbe a daunting task. Trying to teach theinstinct needed for good news judgmentcan be equally difficult. This exercisetakes both those pedagogical problemsand presents them in a palatable way thatis both intellectually stimulating and fun.

RationaleThe morning editorial meeting is a

traditional practice in most media outlets.This “real world” exercise takes that prac-tice from the newsroom into the class-room. Based on the model of give-and-take editorial discussion common atCNN, this exercise allows the instructorto gauge how well a student is keeping upwith the news and to prod students intoreading more about current events. It alsostimulates thinking beyond the theoreticalon the issue of what constitutes “news.”Students develop and discuss how tocover a news story and how the coveragemay differ depending on what kind ofnews outlet one represents (for example,local television news versus network tele-vision news).

Implementation

• At the start of class, students are asked toleave their seats and stand in a semi-circlearound the instructor. This breaks the pat-tern of sitting down, raising hands andanswering questions, allowing this to bethe interactive session it is designed to be.

• A hypothetical newscast is suggested(for example, we are producing the 6 p.m.local news).

• Students are encouraged to shout outideas about what they think should be thelead story and what other stories shouldbe in the newscast.

• The instructor acts as a conductor of thisstudent orchestra of story ideas, often act-ing like a latter-day Phil Donahue, goingfrom student to student encouraging,cajoling, dragging ideas from everyone.

• All ideas are written on the board:1) Students are being observed for theirknowledge of current events.2) Students are being observed forwhether they spend pre-class time “read-


47

The Morning Meeting

How to teach current events and news judgmentand make the classroom “real”

Richard LandesbergUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionGetting students to read the newspa-

per and stay current with world events canbe a daunting task. Trying to teach theinstinct needed for good news judgmentcan be equally difficult. This exercisetakes both those pedagogical problemsand presents them in a palatable way thatis both intellectually stimulating and fun.

RationaleThe morning editorial meeting is a

traditional practice in most media outlets.This “real world” exercise takes that prac-tice from the newsroom into the class-room. Based on the model of give-and-take editorial discussion common atCNN, this exercise allows the instructorto gauge how well a student is keeping upwith the news and to prod students intoreading more about current events. It alsostimulates thinking beyond the theoreticalon the issue of what constitutes “news.”Students develop and discuss how tocover a news story and how the coveragemay differ depending on what kind ofnews outlet one represents (for example,local television news versus network tele-vision news).

Implementation

• At the start of class, students are asked toleave their seats and stand in a semi-circlearound the instructor. This breaks the pat-tern of sitting down, raising hands andanswering questions, allowing this to bethe interactive session it is designed to be.

• A hypothetical newscast is suggested(for example, we are producing the 6 p.m.local news).

• Students are encouraged to shout outideas about what they think should be thelead story and what other stories shouldbe in the newscast.

• The instructor acts as a conductor of thisstudent orchestra of story ideas, often act-ing like a latter-day Phil Donahue, goingfrom student to student encouraging,cajoling, dragging ideas from everyone.

• All ideas are written on the board:1) Students are being observed for theirknowledge of current events.2) Students are being observed forwhether they spend pre-class time “read-


48

ing-in” on one of the news web sitesinstead of reading their e-mail.3) Current events knowledge is tested inthis non-threatening environment ratherthan in the traditional method of a writtentest

• Students are asked “why”?1) Why is this news?2) Why should we cover this?3) Why is this important

• Students learn to defend their story ideasin much the same manner they will haveto defend those ideas in a newsroom.

• No idea is too silly to at least be talkedabout in terms of where it might fit, inwhat type of program it would work andhow it could be approached.

• Students are asked to put the stories in alogical order.

• Students are asked how they wouldcover the story.

• Students are asked what elements shouldbe included:1) Who should be interviewed?2) What information must be included?

• Students are then asked how they wouldapproach the story if this was a differenttype of newscast (for example, “NBCNightly News” instead of the local news)

• Assignment ends with a news show run-down having been created.1) Even those students who started theclass without being aware of the events ofthe day are now knowledgeable about sto-ries, issues and ideas.2) Peer pressure, and knowing that every-one gets called on for ideas in this exer-cise, makes students more likely to keepabreast of current events.

ImpactStudents describe this as one of the

most important exercises in their begin-ning broadcast journalism course. Thesenior associate dean, who reviewsinstructors, rates this as a unique andhighly effective teaching tool.

No where else do students get theopportunity to apply the theory of “whatmakes something news” to the practicalnewsroom. They get the added benefit ofhaving to think on their feet and answerquickly—great experience for anyonehoping to become a broadcaster in aworld where the ability to “go live” iscoveted by news directors. They alsointeract with classmates; interact with theinstructor; have a chance to think aboutnews, news coverage and its impact;debate the ethical nuance of news cover-age as applied to current events; and stu-dents have fun. It can also be a bondingexperience for the class, never more pro-foundly so than on Sept. 11 and the daysafter.


48

ing-in” on one of the news web sitesinstead of reading their e-mail.3) Current events knowledge is tested inthis non-threatening environment ratherthan in the traditional method of a writtentest

• Students are asked “why”?1) Why is this news?2) Why should we cover this?3) Why is this important

• Students learn to defend their story ideasin much the same manner they will haveto defend those ideas in a newsroom.

• No idea is too silly to at least be talkedabout in terms of where it might fit, inwhat type of program it would work andhow it could be approached.

• Students are asked to put the stories in alogical order.

• Students are asked how they wouldcover the story.

• Students are asked what elements shouldbe included:1) Who should be interviewed?2) What information must be included?

• Students are then asked how they wouldapproach the story if this was a differenttype of newscast (for example, “NBCNightly News” instead of the local news)

• Assignment ends with a news show run-down having been created.1) Even those students who started theclass without being aware of the events ofthe day are now knowledgeable about sto-ries, issues and ideas.2) Peer pressure, and knowing that every-one gets called on for ideas in this exer-cise, makes students more likely to keepabreast of current events.

ImpactStudents describe this as one of the

most important exercises in their begin-ning broadcast journalism course. Thesenior associate dean, who reviewsinstructors, rates this as a unique andhighly effective teaching tool.

No where else do students get theopportunity to apply the theory of “whatmakes something news” to the practicalnewsroom. They get the added benefit ofhaving to think on their feet and answerquickly—great experience for anyonehoping to become a broadcaster in aworld where the ability to “go live” iscoveted by news directors. They alsointeract with classmates; interact with theinstructor; have a chance to think aboutnews, news coverage and its impact;debate the ethical nuance of news cover-age as applied to current events; and stu-dents have fun. It can also be a bondingexperience for the class, never more pro-foundly so than on Sept. 11 and the daysafter.


49

Student Bios as Teaching Tools

How to personalize a large class

Phyllis V. LarsenUniversity of Nebraska—Lincoln

IntroductionThe anonymity students often feel

in large classes inhibits participation. Useof individual profile forms filled out bystudents gives teachers insight to psycho-graphics that help them get to know stu-dents and tailor class discussions andexamples to individual interests.

RationaleEngagement and learning in a class

increases as a teacher connects individu-ally with a student, yet the larger the class,the more difficult this is to do. By work-ing to make the class feel more personalto each individual, students are less likelyto doze through a lecture or assume theywon’t be missed if absent. A teacher whouses specific examples relevant to the stu-dents’ life makes them sit up and takenotice. If students can relate a class con-cept to their own job, for example, a deep-er understanding and appreciation of theconcept is possible.

Implementation

• By week two of class, enrollment shouldhave stabilized. Ask students to fill out aprofile form and attach a photo of them-selves or a photocopy of their student ID.

• Review all completed profiles and makenote of those with special considerations(accommodations for disabilities, forexample).

• Prior to each class meeting, select two ormore profiles as resources for examplesof class concepts. Example: Rather thanstating examples in general terms, younow have the ability to personalize theconcept. For example you might say“Corporations such as Best Buys, whereLindsey works…” and so on. If a seatingchart is also used in large classes, you’llbe able to make eye contact with Lindseysignaling that you know who she is andacknowledging her attendance. You canthen ask for her input on the conceptexample.

• Information gathered from the profilesalso help illustrate an introductory discus-sion of research methods and audienceanalysis since the profile is essentially asurvey gathering both demographic andpsychographic data. Example: “73% ofthis class said they worked part time,” etc.

Impact

• The teacher develops a cache of relevant


49

Student Bios as Teaching Tools

How to personalize a large class

Phyllis V. LarsenUniversity of Nebraska—Lincoln

IntroductionThe anonymity students often feel

in large classes inhibits participation. Useof individual profile forms filled out bystudents gives teachers insight to psycho-graphics that help them get to know stu-dents and tailor class discussions andexamples to individual interests.

RationaleEngagement and learning in a class

increases as a teacher connects individu-ally with a student, yet the larger the class,the more difficult this is to do. By work-ing to make the class feel more personalto each individual, students are less likelyto doze through a lecture or assume theywon’t be missed if absent. A teacher whouses specific examples relevant to the stu-dents’ life makes them sit up and takenotice. If students can relate a class con-cept to their own job, for example, a deep-er understanding and appreciation of theconcept is possible.

Implementation

• By week two of class, enrollment shouldhave stabilized. Ask students to fill out aprofile form and attach a photo of them-selves or a photocopy of their student ID.

• Review all completed profiles and makenote of those with special considerations(accommodations for disabilities, forexample).

• Prior to each class meeting, select two ormore profiles as resources for examplesof class concepts. Example: Rather thanstating examples in general terms, younow have the ability to personalize theconcept. For example you might say“Corporations such as Best Buys, whereLindsey works…” and so on. If a seatingchart is also used in large classes, you’llbe able to make eye contact with Lindseysignaling that you know who she is andacknowledging her attendance. You canthen ask for her input on the conceptexample.

• Information gathered from the profilesalso help illustrate an introductory discus-sion of research methods and audienceanalysis since the profile is essentially asurvey gathering both demographic andpsychographic data. Example: “73% ofthis class said they worked part time,” etc.

Impact

• The teacher develops a cache of relevant


50

examples rather than relying on thosewith no significance to the current groupof students.

• Profiles used in conjunction with a seat-ing chart allow the teacher to learn manynames and faces by semester’s end.Mentioning students by name gives anopportunity for positive feedback andenhances rapport. Many of my studentssay they’re impressed that I’ve gotten toknow so many of them on what seemslike a fairly personal level.

• Students are more likely to attend classand engage in discussion in an atmos-

phere where they are known and appreci-ated. On mid-term course evaluations,many students in my 112-person classmentioned that the course feels like asmaller seminar because of our class dis-cussions.

• Use of the profile form also helps withrecord keeping since one of the questionsconfirms that student meets course pre-requisites. Those who don’t typically dropthe course on their own, eliminating onemore administrative step for the instruc-tor. Profiles also provide informationhelpful in contacting students outside ofclass if needed.

Example: Profile Form

What name do you prefer to be called in class?

Phone #

E-mail address

Major

Year in school

Why are you taking this course?

What career plans are you considering?

What do you like to do when you aren't in class or studying?

If you have a job, what is it and where do you work?

Tell me something about yourself to help me remember you.

What other considerations should I understand to help you be success-ful in this course?

I have met the prerequisites for this class: (sophomore/junior/seniorwith 2.0 GPA).

Your signature

Last, First Name

Place your ID or a photo here and photocopy.

Course ID #/Title


50

Example: Profile Form

Last, First Name

Place your ID or a photo here and photocopy.

Course ID #/Title

examples rather than relying on thosewith no significance to the current groupof students.

• Profiles used in conjunction with a seat-ing chart allow the teacher to learn manynames and faces by semester’s end.Mentioning students by name gives anopportunity for positive feedback andenhances rapport. Many of my studentssay they’re impressed that I’ve gotten toknow so many of them on what seemslike a fairly personal level.

• Students are more likely to attend classand engage in discussion in an atmos-

phere where they are known and appreci-ated. On mid-term course evaluations,many students in my 112-person classmentioned that the course feels like asmaller seminar because of our class dis-cussions.

• Use of the profile form also helps withrecord keeping since one of the questionsconfirms that student meets course pre-requisites. Those who don’t typically dropthe course on their own, eliminating onemore administrative step for the instruc-tor. Profiles also provide informationhelpful in contacting students outside ofclass if needed.

What name do you prefer to be called in class?

Phone #

E-mail address

Major

Year in school

Why are you taking this course?

What career plans are you considering?

What do you like to do when you aren't in class or studying?

If you have a job, what is it and where do you work?

Tell me something about yourself to help me remember you.

What other considerations should I understand to help you be success-ful in this course?

I have met the prerequisites for this class: (sophomore/junior/seniorwith 2.0 GPA).

Your signature


51

The Carolina Community Media Project

How to put journalism theory into practicefrom day one

Jock LautererUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionHow do we get students excited

about writing for the news business if wekeep them chained to computers, workingfrom stale exercises?

Typically, beginning newswritingclasses rely on in-class writing exercisesthat utilize hypothetical news story sce-narios. After scanning a random assort-ment of facts, the student assigns priori-ties and attempts to write a meaningfulnews story. Pretty boring stuff.

But isn’t there some way to get stu-dents out of their chairs, out of the class-room, to get them into the community andthen to bring the community back inside?Yes, and we call it the CarolinaCommunity Media Project (with a nod ofappreciation to Ernest Boyer for his “the-ory into practice” teaching concept).

RationaleWhat if a beginning newswriting

class could find its own beat and make asignificant contribution to the community,the university and the industry?

Enter public service, stage right. College students across the nation

are performing many hours of publicservice. But these “hometown heroes”

don’t get much “good ink” in their news-papers back home. Starting last springsemester, the Project begin targeting thoseCarolina students working with publicservice initiatives such as Habitat forHumanity, the Big Buddies program,Latino tutoring projects and an annualcampus 24-hour Dance Marathon thatraised more than $122,000 this spring forthe state’s children’s hospital.

Since its inception last year, theProject has generated 79 separatestory/photo packages for N.C. communitynewspapers. Why community papers?Because such papers care about localnews to the degree that if we feed them agood local story/photo package about alocal college student, we know we stand agood chance of getting into print (roughly70 percent so far).

Only by covering real people in alive event on deadline—and then seeingone’s work in print—can a beginning stu-dent journalist get that thrilling taste ofthe best that journalism offers.

Implementation

• Line up community partners: Usingthe UNC Dance Marathon as an example:


51

The Carolina Community Media Project

How to put journalism theory into practicefrom day one

Jock LautererUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

IntroductionHow do we get students excited

about writing for the news business if wekeep them chained to computers, workingfrom stale exercises?

Typically, beginning newswritingclasses rely on in-class writing exercisesthat utilize hypothetical news story sce-narios. After scanning a random assort-ment of facts, the student assigns priori-ties and attempts to write a meaningfulnews story. Pretty boring stuff.

But isn’t there some way to get stu-dents out of their chairs, out of the class-room, to get them into the community andthen to bring the community back inside?Yes, and we call it the CarolinaCommunity Media Project (with a nod ofappreciation to Ernest Boyer for his “the-ory into practice” teaching concept).

RationaleWhat if a beginning newswriting

class could find its own beat and make asignificant contribution to the community,the university and the industry?

Enter public service, stage right. College students across the nation

are performing many hours of publicservice. But these “hometown heroes”

don’t get much “good ink” in their news-papers back home. Starting last springsemester, the Project begin targeting thoseCarolina students working with publicservice initiatives such as Habitat forHumanity, the Big Buddies program,Latino tutoring projects and an annualcampus 24-hour Dance Marathon thatraised more than $122,000 this spring forthe state’s children’s hospital.

Since its inception last year, theProject has generated 79 separatestory/photo packages for N.C. communitynewspapers. Why community papers?Because such papers care about localnews to the degree that if we feed them agood local story/photo package about alocal college student, we know we stand agood chance of getting into print (roughly70 percent so far).

Only by covering real people in alive event on deadline—and then seeingone’s work in print—can a beginning stu-dent journalist get that thrilling taste ofthe best that journalism offers.

Implementation

• Line up community partners: Usingthe UNC Dance Marathon as an example:


52

I contact the student leaders and get theirblessing, floor passes for the students anda list of the dance participants with con-tact information including hometowns.

• Line up newspaper partners: Afterhighlighting all the dancers from home-towns with community newspapers, Iassign my students potential subjects. I tryto connect a student-reporter from, say,Forest City, N.C., with a dancer from thatsame town. Also, I contact local editors,to get them excited about the project.

• Teach relevant skills: Now, when itcomes to teaching effective lead writing,interviewing skills, handling a basicpoint-and-shoot camera or previsualizingand organizing a good story—things inclass begin to get extremely relevant.When students realize they are stakehold-ers in the process, they pay very goodattention. As Rossini said, “Nothinginspires quite like necessity.”

• Set a time line for the student/reporters: Time management 101:

The week before: Students contacttheir dancers, get their cooperation andconduct an interview.

During the Marathon: Go to theMarathon and get the photograph and asense of the scene.

The Sunday after: Do a follow-upinterview. Write the story.

The package is due at the class peri-od following the Marathon. But we spendthe three-hour period in one-on-onestory/photo editing sessions. A caption-

writing session is included.

• Send story/photo packages to newspa-pers: I copy the stories to my computer,scan the photos and e-mail the packagesto the appropriate papers, requesting onlya clip in return. Along with the story Ienclose an editor’s note explaining theProject.

• Reflect on the experience: Hold a classdiscussion of challenges faced and over-come. Send thank-you notes.

ImpactStudent journalists get real-world

experience, a good grade and a clip (whileperforming a public service of their own).The “hometown hero” feels affirmed.The local newspaper prints another inter-esting local story. The University looksgood and your journalism program gets aboost. Editors, students and administra-tors love it.

• Editors: “Free copy? Is this a great country

or what?”“Keep the stories coming—espe-

cially kids from Andrews.”

• Students:“I didn’t really want to do this

assignment at first, but then when I sawmy story in print, and my byline, I wasthrilled. I never would have had this expe-rience if you hadn’t made us do it.”

“Thank you for this assignment.”


52

I contact the student leaders and get theirblessing, floor passes for the students anda list of the dance participants with con-tact information including hometowns.

• Line up newspaper partners: Afterhighlighting all the dancers from home-towns with community newspapers, Iassign my students potential subjects. I tryto connect a student-reporter from, say,Forest City, N.C., with a dancer from thatsame town. Also, I contact local editors,to get them excited about the project.

• Teach relevant skills: Now, when itcomes to teaching effective lead writing,interviewing skills, handling a basicpoint-and-shoot camera or previsualizingand organizing a good story—things inclass begin to get extremely relevant.When students realize they are stakehold-ers in the process, they pay very goodattention. As Rossini said, “Nothinginspires quite like necessity.”

• Set a time line for the student/reporters: Time management 101:

The week before: Students contacttheir dancers, get their cooperation andconduct an interview.

During the Marathon: Go to theMarathon and get the photograph and asense of the scene.

The Sunday after: Do a follow-upinterview. Write the story.

The package is due at the class peri-od following the Marathon. But we spendthe three-hour period in one-on-onestory/photo editing sessions. A caption-

writing session is included.

• Send story/photo packages to newspa-pers: I copy the stories to my computer,scan the photos and e-mail the packagesto the appropriate papers, requesting onlya clip in return. Along with the story Ienclose an editor’s note explaining theProject.

• Reflect on the experience: Hold a classdiscussion of challenges faced and over-come. Send thank-you notes.

ImpactStudent journalists get real-world

experience, a good grade and a clip (whileperforming a public service of their own).The “hometown hero” feels affirmed.The local newspaper prints another inter-esting local story. The University looksgood and your journalism program gets aboost. Editors, students and administra-tors love it.

• Editors: “Free copy? Is this a great country

or what?”“Keep the stories coming—espe-

cially kids from Andrews.”

• Students:“I didn’t really want to do this

assignment at first, but then when I sawmy story in print, and my byline, I wasthrilled. I never would have had this expe-rience if you hadn’t made us do it.”

“Thank you for this assignment.”


53

Enliven history and public record research —in the cemetery

How to use the local cemetery to teach public recordresearch and history in a reporting class

Carol S. LomickyUniversity of Nebraska—Kearney

IntroductionWhile much has been written about

using the cemetery as a teaching resourcefor history lessons, its usefulness in jour-nalism courses has been overlooked.

This project uses the cemetery andits inhabitants to pique interest in historyand public documents. In fact, when stu-dents investigate a person—whose lifehas essentially been reduced to the ellipticenscription on a gravestone—they findhumanity among dusty documents andhistory comes to life.

RationaleComputers have journalism students

more reluctant than ever to pursue the tra-ditional paper chase in public documents.Add an historical component to an assign-ment and resistance increases markedly.Thus, the challenge for teachers is tospark an interest in the paper version ofdocument research—still an importanttool of journalism. Likewise, if betterjournalism is fostered through an under-standing of history, teachers shouldattempt to stimulate student interest inlooking at the past.

Literally buried in cemeteries every-where are stories that can enliven the his-tory and/or public documents units injournalism courses. Some 15,125 peopleinhabited the cemetery used in this proj-ect, which involved students selecting aperson to investigate through documentresearch. This assignment also reinforcessuch skills as accurate notetaking, obser-vation and dealing with sources. Studentsalso wrote a narrative news story abouttheir subject’s life and times.

Implementation

• Week 1

Assignment: Research a person buried inthe local cemetery by examining publicdocuments and related sources and write astory.

Cemetery Trip: Students find an area inthe cemetery to walk among the graves,read the markers and select a person. It’sa good idea to check how far back localrecords exist. Given the resources in thislocale, students were limited to people


53

Enliven history and public record research —in the cemetery

How to use the local cemetery to teach public recordresearch and history in a reporting class

Carol S. LomickyUniversity of Nebraska—Kearney

IntroductionWhile much has been written about

using the cemetery as a teaching resourcefor history lessons, its usefulness in jour-nalism courses has been overlooked.

This project uses the cemetery andits inhabitants to pique interest in historyand public documents. In fact, when stu-dents investigate a person—whose lifehas essentially been reduced to the ellipticenscription on a gravestone—they findhumanity among dusty documents andhistory comes to life.

RationaleComputers have journalism students

more reluctant than ever to pursue the tra-ditional paper chase in public documents.Add an historical component to an assign-ment and resistance increases markedly.Thus, the challenge for teachers is tospark an interest in the paper version ofdocument research—still an importanttool of journalism. Likewise, if betterjournalism is fostered through an under-standing of history, teachers shouldattempt to stimulate student interest inlooking at the past.

Literally buried in cemeteries every-where are stories that can enliven the his-tory and/or public documents units injournalism courses. Some 15,125 peopleinhabited the cemetery used in this proj-ect, which involved students selecting aperson to investigate through documentresearch. This assignment also reinforcessuch skills as accurate notetaking, obser-vation and dealing with sources. Studentsalso wrote a narrative news story abouttheir subject’s life and times.

Implementation

• Week 1

Assignment: Research a person buried inthe local cemetery by examining publicdocuments and related sources and write astory.

Cemetery Trip: Students find an area inthe cemetery to walk among the graves,read the markers and select a person. It’sa good idea to check how far back localrecords exist. Given the resources in thislocale, students were limited to people


54

whose deaths were not before 1880.

• Week 2

Historical Research Documents:Suggested order of research, locations ofdocuments and information in the recordfollows.

Obituary (newspapers, public or universi-ty libraries, historical society). Check foradditional story about person’s death.

Other printed sources (newspapers, maga-zines, almanacs) for political, social, cul-tural context of subject’s life.

Cemetery records (cemetery office, his-torical society). Date of death and burial,cause of death, burial plot ownership.

City directories (public or universitylibraries). Names, address, sometimesspouse and children, employer or profes-sion.

Census (government repository library).Recorded by family name, lists children,other residents in the home, and address,age and citizenship of household head.Sometimes lists married children.

School census (county superintendent ofschools, county clerk, historical society).Lists children, ages 5-20, in householdsby names and ages.

Probate (county court, historical society).Hand-written wills (in older records).Lists heirs and addresses, executor, inven-tory of personal property, newspapernotices and bills. Adoption and guardian-ship records often included.

Delayed birth records (county clerk, his-

torical society). Legal document for peo-ple born before 1905, to obtain SocialSecurity.

Marriage records (county clerk). Indexedby year, then by name of either party.Couple’s names, hometowns, ages, placesof birth, parents, marriage date, witnesses,who performed ceremony, etc.

Military records (county veterans office).Records become public when veterandies. Includes military discharge infor-mation, lists of veterans buries in thecounty, newspaper clippings, photo-graphs, letters.

Naturalization (historical society holdsolder records).

Other record-holders: register of deeds totrace property ownership, election com-misioner, the courts. The location ofrecords will vary from state to state.Mortuaries and churches, although non-public, also may provide information.

• Week 3

Progress Reports: Students reportprogress. Other students are particularlyhelpful at this point because the researchof the entire class encompasses a varietyof resources.

• Week 4

Class Presentations/Stories Due:Students introduce the subject. Studentsare encouraged to show sample docu-ments, photos, newspaper clippingsand/or other relevant information. Allow“debriefing” time—be prepared as stu-dents may want to share thoughts aboutlife—and death.


54

whose deaths were not before 1880.

• Week 2

Historical Research Documents:Suggested order of research, locations ofdocuments and information in the recordfollows.

Obituary (newspapers, public or universi-ty libraries, historical society). Check foradditional story about person’s death.

Other printed sources (newspapers, maga-zines, almanacs) for political, social, cul-tural context of subject’s life.

Cemetery records (cemetery office, his-torical society). Date of death and burial,cause of death, burial plot ownership.

City directories (public or universitylibraries). Names, address, sometimesspouse and children, employer or profes-sion.

Census (government repository library).Recorded by family name, lists children,other residents in the home, and address,age and citizenship of household head.Sometimes lists married children.

School census (county superintendent ofschools, county clerk, historical society).Lists children, ages 5-20, in householdsby names and ages.

Probate (county court, historical society).Hand-written wills (in older records).Lists heirs and addresses, executor, inven-tory of personal property, newspapernotices and bills. Adoption and guardian-ship records often included.

Delayed birth records (county clerk, his-

torical society). Legal document for peo-ple born before 1905, to obtain SocialSecurity.

Marriage records (county clerk). Indexedby year, then by name of either party.Couple’s names, hometowns, ages, placesof birth, parents, marriage date, witnesses,who performed ceremony, etc.

Military records (county veterans office).Records become public when veterandies. Includes military discharge infor-mation, lists of veterans buries in thecounty, newspaper clippings, photo-graphs, letters.

Naturalization (historical society holdsolder records).

Other record-holders: register of deeds totrace property ownership, election com-misioner, the courts. The location ofrecords will vary from state to state.Mortuaries and churches, although non-public, also may provide information.

• Week 3

Progress Reports: Students reportprogress. Other students are particularlyhelpful at this point because the researchof the entire class encompasses a varietyof resources.

• Week 4

Class Presentations/Stories Due:Students introduce the subject. Studentsare encouraged to show sample docu-ments, photos, newspaper clippingsand/or other relevant information. Allow“debriefing” time—be prepared as stu-dents may want to share thoughts aboutlife—and death.


55

ImpactThis assignment helped students

connect information from documents typ-ically mined by journalists with a personwhose grave they had visited. Studentswere excited about their subjects’ lives,not to mention the historical context:prices of food, gasoline and clothing,descriptions of local landmarks and busi-nesses, movies and music, the weatherand war. But there also was failure and

tragedy: of the nine subjects, two com-mitted suicide, one died at age 37 shortlyafter release from a mental hospital and a33-year-old tuberculosis victim lived anddied in apparent isolation.

Six of the students’ stories werepublished in the local historical associa-tion newsletter. Their work also was fea-tured in the organization’s annual year-book.


55

ImpactThis assignment helped students

connect information from documents typ-ically mined by journalists with a personwhose grave they had visited. Studentswere excited about their subjects’ lives,not to mention the historical context:prices of food, gasoline and clothing,descriptions of local landmarks and busi-nesses, movies and music, the weatherand war. But there also was failure and

tragedy: of the nine subjects, two com-mitted suicide, one died at age 37 shortlyafter release from a mental hospital and a33-year-old tuberculosis victim lived anddied in apparent isolation.

Six of the students’ stories werepublished in the local historical associa-tion newsletter. Their work also was fea-tured in the organization’s annual year-book.


56

The Silly-Dilly Style Quiz

How to help students learn and love the AP stylebook

Miles MaguireUniversity of Wsiconsin—Oshkosh

IntroductionMany beginning journalism stu-

dents think they need a style guide aboutas much as—to borrow a feminist slo-gan—a fish needs a bicycle. The Silly-Dilly Style Quiz helps students overcometheir natural resistance to what many ofthem perceive as an irrelevant rulebookand open their eyes to some of thenuances of usage and logic of languagethat are described in the Associated PressStylebook and Briefing on Media Law.

RationaleThe Silly-Dilly Style Quiz puts the

responsibility for teaching AP style in thehands of students and asks them to turn aserious subject into nonsense (age-appro-priate behavior for most undergraduates).As a result, they stop seeing AP style as analien and arcane set of strictures, and theirinitial hostility is replaced by humor—and even affection.

Implementation

• Introduce students to AP style by pre-senting them with a quiz disguised as agame. The quiz is a nonsense story chock-full of AP style mistakes—all taken from

one chapter of the stylebook. It becomes agame when students are asked to circle allof the errors they can find. Tell them howmany errors to look for, and to make theirtask manageable remind them to look forwords that begin with a given letter (theletter of that particular chapter). The quizshould be open book and timed so it does-n’t go on for too long.

• Correct the quiz in class, but don’t gradeit. On their first time through, studentswill usually find only a small percentageof the mistakes and will be surprised tosee how many style issues can arise ineven a short passage.

• Tell students that it’s their turn. Studentsare then assigned to take a chapter of thestylebook and teach its highlights to theclass. Their presentations, which areworth 5 percent of their final grade, are intwo parts—an explanation of about fivetricky or surprising entries in their chapterand then a quiz that contains 10 to 15 stylemistakes. As with the original examplethat you give them, the student quizshould be farcical. The class takes thequiz on an open-book basis and then cor-rects it together, with the student-teacher


56

The Silly-Dilly Style Quiz

How to help students learn and love the AP stylebook

Miles MaguireUniversity of Wsiconsin—Oshkosh

IntroductionMany beginning journalism stu-

dents think they need a style guide aboutas much as—to borrow a feminist slo-gan—a fish needs a bicycle. The Silly-Dilly Style Quiz helps students overcometheir natural resistance to what many ofthem perceive as an irrelevant rulebookand open their eyes to some of thenuances of usage and logic of languagethat are described in the Associated PressStylebook and Briefing on Media Law.

RationaleThe Silly-Dilly Style Quiz puts the

responsibility for teaching AP style in thehands of students and asks them to turn aserious subject into nonsense (age-appro-priate behavior for most undergraduates).As a result, they stop seeing AP style as analien and arcane set of strictures, and theirinitial hostility is replaced by humor—and even affection.

Implementation

• Introduce students to AP style by pre-senting them with a quiz disguised as agame. The quiz is a nonsense story chock-full of AP style mistakes—all taken from

one chapter of the stylebook. It becomes agame when students are asked to circle allof the errors they can find. Tell them howmany errors to look for, and to make theirtask manageable remind them to look forwords that begin with a given letter (theletter of that particular chapter). The quizshould be open book and timed so it does-n’t go on for too long.

• Correct the quiz in class, but don’t gradeit. On their first time through, studentswill usually find only a small percentageof the mistakes and will be surprised tosee how many style issues can arise ineven a short passage.

• Tell students that it’s their turn. Studentsare then assigned to take a chapter of thestylebook and teach its highlights to theclass. Their presentations, which areworth 5 percent of their final grade, are intwo parts—an explanation of about fivetricky or surprising entries in their chapterand then a quiz that contains 10 to 15 stylemistakes. As with the original examplethat you give them, the student quizshould be farcical. The class takes thequiz on an open-book basis and then cor-rects it together, with the student-teacher


57

leading discussion and calling on fellowstudents to cite style mistakes they’vefound. The quizzes are not graded or col-lected but rather kept as study guides.

• Spread the style quizzes out over thesemester. Schedule the style presentationsand quizzes so that you have one for eachclass meeting until each student has had aturn. They’re a good way of alleviatingthe tedium of routine lectures.

• Meet with students beforehand to ensurequality control. Some students can do agreat job with this assignment with mini-mal guidance, but others will try to blowit off. I strongly encourage them to meetwith me (partly through my gradingscheme) once they have developed a pres-entation outline and a style quiz. Themeetings only take a couple of minutesand allow the teacher to clarify points ofconfusion and head off the possibility ofincorrect interpretations of AP style.

• Reuse material from the style presenta-tions and quizzes in graded exams. Thisapproach gives students a sense of owner-ship in the contents of the stylebook andencourages them to take reasonable carein making their presentations and takingthe quizzes—since what they do or don’tdo will come back to haunt them.

ImpactAt a minimum, this exercise will

ensure that every student in your class hasclosely read at least one chapter of thestylebook. In addition, the series ofquizzes reinforces the idea of the style-book as an essential tool.

The dynamics of the class arechanged once students are given responsi-bility for teaching this material. Theybecome less resistant to the notion of AP

style because it is something that they dis-cover on their own and in a way thatmakes them style king- or queen-for-a-day.

Over the course of the semester, stu-dents stop viewing the AP stylebook assomething that is imposed upon them andinstead see it as a helpful referencesource. As they become more familiarwith its contents, they get in the habit ofconsulting it whenever they write.

The quizzes add a touch of levity toevery class session, and students will tryto outdo each other in coming up withtangled story lines and twisted tales.

Example

Silly-Dilly Style Quiz

Using the A chapter of the AP style-book, review the following the passageand circle all style errors that you find.You should be able to find approximatelytwo dozen errors.

A eight-year-old walking home fromschool along Seventh Ave. was mauledyesterday by a stray animal.

The boy was identified as JohnJones, who lives with his grandfather at600 Seventh Ave. “These strays are justrunning amuck in this town,” said thegrandfather, Steven Jones, senior. “I justhope little Johnny will be alright. Wewon’t know for sure for awhile.”

One witness described the animalthat allegedly bit the boy as small andwhite, looking “almost like an Arcticfox.” The animal quickly ran away afterthe incident, and he hasn’t been seensince.

An average of 25 dog bites is report-ed in this area annually, officials said yes-terday. But the most recent canine assault


57

leading discussion and calling on fellowstudents to cite style mistakes they’vefound. The quizzes are not graded or col-lected but rather kept as study guides.

• Spread the style quizzes out over thesemester. Schedule the style presentationsand quizzes so that you have one for eachclass meeting until each student has had aturn. They’re a good way of alleviatingthe tedium of routine lectures.

• Meet with students beforehand to ensurequality control. Some students can do agreat job with this assignment with mini-mal guidance, but others will try to blowit off. I strongly encourage them to meetwith me (partly through my gradingscheme) once they have developed a pres-entation outline and a style quiz. Themeetings only take a couple of minutesand allow the teacher to clarify points ofconfusion and head off the possibility ofincorrect interpretations of AP style.

• Reuse material from the style presenta-tions and quizzes in graded exams. Thisapproach gives students a sense of owner-ship in the contents of the stylebook andencourages them to take reasonable carein making their presentations and takingthe quizzes—since what they do or don’tdo will come back to haunt them.

ImpactAt a minimum, this exercise will

ensure that every student in your class hasclosely read at least one chapter of thestylebook. In addition, the series ofquizzes reinforces the idea of the style-book as an essential tool.

The dynamics of the class arechanged once students are given responsi-bility for teaching this material. Theybecome less resistant to the notion of AP

style because it is something that they dis-cover on their own and in a way thatmakes them style king- or queen-for-a-day.

Over the course of the semester, stu-dents stop viewing the AP stylebook assomething that is imposed upon them andinstead see it as a helpful referencesource. As they become more familiarwith its contents, they get in the habit ofconsulting it whenever they write.

The quizzes add a touch of levity toevery class session, and students will tryto outdo each other in coming up withtangled story lines and twisted tales.

Example

Silly-Dilly Style Quiz

Using the A chapter of the AP style-book, review the following the passageand circle all style errors that you find.You should be able to find approximatelytwo dozen errors.

A eight-year-old walking home fromschool along Seventh Ave. was mauledyesterday by a stray animal.

The boy was identified as JohnJones, who lives with his grandfather at600 Seventh Ave. “These strays are justrunning amuck in this town,” said thegrandfather, Steven Jones, senior. “I justhope little Johnny will be alright. Wewon’t know for sure for awhile.”

One witness described the animalthat allegedly bit the boy as small andwhite, looking “almost like an Arcticfox.” The animal quickly ran away afterthe incident, and he hasn’t been seensince.

An average of 25 dog bites is report-ed in this area annually, officials said yes-terday. But the most recent canine assault


58

was the fifth in the last month, whichaugurs for a much higher total this year.In an acknowledgement of the problem,officials said they wanted to do more tocontrol strays but that county facilitiesare not large enough to accomodate thecapture of additional ones.

The stray animal issue has movedinto politics, with some arguing that notenough is being done in expectation of agrowing problem. “The affect of not doingmore is a threat to our children,” said Dr.Tom Thomson, who plans to challenge thecurrent county dogcatcher in the next

election. “The Administration isn’t doingenough to solve this problem. Those peo-ple are so adverse to change that it’s as ifthey all have altzheimers disease overthere.”

Dr. Thomson, who has a Ph.D. infood marketing and works for the GreatAtlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., predictedthat the number of animal bites wouldreach an all time record this year and thatthe issue would be the most significant indebates among himself and the two otherannounced candidates in the upcomingelection campaign.


58

was the fifth in the last month, whichaugurs for a much higher total this year.In an acknowledgement of the problem,officials said they wanted to do more tocontrol strays but that county facilitiesare not large enough to accomodate thecapture of additional ones.

The stray animal issue has movedinto politics, with some arguing that notenough is being done in expectation of agrowing problem. “The affect of not doingmore is a threat to our children,” said Dr.Tom Thomson, who plans to challenge thecurrent county dogcatcher in the next

election. “The Administration isn’t doingenough to solve this problem. Those peo-ple are so adverse to change that it’s as ifthey all have altzheimers disease overthere.”

Dr. Thomson, who has a Ph.D. infood marketing and works for the GreatAtlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., predictedthat the number of animal bites wouldreach an all time record this year and thatthe issue would be the most significant indebates among himself and the two otherannounced candidates in the upcomingelection campaign.


59

Mining for Gold: Expanding Your PR Resources

How to encourage students to identify PR literature and pioneers

Kimberly Williams MooreUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel HillNorth Carolina State University

IntroductionThere is a shortage of accessible lit-

erature available to instructors on theimportance of placing public relations in ahistorical context. Some texts are good atcertain timelines, however, the vastmajority of them fall short in recognizingthe accomplishments of people of colorand women. In addition, the language ofsome texts is far too distant for under-graduates to enjoy and find interesting.

RationaleThe idea of “mining” the library for

pioneers and additional public relationstexts provides students with an easy wayto get into the library and find some use inthe activity for themselves. They areencouraged, from the first day of class,not to be satisfied with what the textbooksays about history, women and people ofcolor. Students are told to find the truththrough research and inquiry in the libraryhalls on campus, in the community orusing on-line library resources.

Implementation

• List the types of treasures available inthe library on the syllabus.

• Use the language of archaeology.Describe “digs, artifacts, curators, valu-able minerals and deposits, preservationand tools for digging.”

• Provide opportunities for sharing thediamonds and gold with the class.

• Give class prizes for the most rare arti-facts—particularly things the instructorwas not aware of and things the class con-siders to be the most significant to ongo-ing dialogue about history, women andpeople of color in the PR field.

• Use the list of literature treasures to cre-ate an extended bibliography for studentsto take with them.

• Make a list of the most innovative pio-neers to include in subsequent syllabi.


59

Mining for Gold: Expanding Your PR Resources

How to encourage students to identify PR literature and pioneers

Kimberly Williams MooreUniversity of North Carolina—Chapel HillNorth Carolina State University

IntroductionThere is a shortage of accessible lit-

erature available to instructors on theimportance of placing public relations in ahistorical context. Some texts are good atcertain timelines, however, the vastmajority of them fall short in recognizingthe accomplishments of people of colorand women. In addition, the language ofsome texts is far too distant for under-graduates to enjoy and find interesting.

RationaleThe idea of “mining” the library for

pioneers and additional public relationstexts provides students with an easy wayto get into the library and find some use inthe activity for themselves. They areencouraged, from the first day of class,not to be satisfied with what the textbooksays about history, women and people ofcolor. Students are told to find the truththrough research and inquiry in the libraryhalls on campus, in the community orusing on-line library resources.

Implementation

• List the types of treasures available inthe library on the syllabus.

• Use the language of archaeology.Describe “digs, artifacts, curators, valu-able minerals and deposits, preservationand tools for digging.”

• Provide opportunities for sharing thediamonds and gold with the class.

• Give class prizes for the most rare arti-facts—particularly things the instructorwas not aware of and things the class con-siders to be the most significant to ongo-ing dialogue about history, women andpeople of color in the PR field.

• Use the list of literature treasures to cre-ate an extended bibliography for studentsto take with them.

• Make a list of the most innovative pio-neers to include in subsequent syllabi.


60

ImpactThe students are amazed at their

ability to find the PR section in thelibrary. Many students are unaware of thepublished professional and academicwork in the field and when they get to thefloor in the library on PR history andother important topics they are veryimpressed and many for the first time areable to move beyond the text and find abook that speaks to their individual pas-sion in the field of PR; for example, thoseinterested in nonprofit, business andmusic are drawn to pioneers and historicalaccounts in that area.

Examples

• The work of Ivy Lee as it related toWWII: The text we use in class briefly

describes this period. As a result of themining assignment, students found textswritten about and authored by Ivy Lee.

• African American illustrator CharlesAlston is not documented in PR history,however his work was integral to theOffice of War Information. Studentsfound information on him and presented itto class.

• The groundbreaking work of women inlarge PR agencies and firms has been dis-cussed by students who were interested inthe glass ceiling.


60

ImpactThe students are amazed at their

ability to find the PR section in thelibrary. Many students are unaware of thepublished professional and academicwork in the field and when they get to thefloor in the library on PR history andother important topics they are veryimpressed and many for the first time areable to move beyond the text and find abook that speaks to their individual pas-sion in the field of PR; for example, thoseinterested in nonprofit, business andmusic are drawn to pioneers and historicalaccounts in that area.

Examples

• The work of Ivy Lee as it related toWWII: The text we use in class briefly

describes this period. As a result of themining assignment, students found textswritten about and authored by Ivy Lee.

• African American illustrator CharlesAlston is not documented in PR history,however his work was integral to theOffice of War Information. Studentsfound information on him and presented itto class.

• The groundbreaking work of women inlarge PR agencies and firms has been dis-cussed by students who were interested inthe glass ceiling.


61

Current Events Quiz Bowl

How to turn ordinary, apathetic students into“news junkies”

Jackie S. NirenbergUniversity of Texas—Pan American

IntroductionI began implementing the “current

events quiz bowl” a few semesters ago,when I realized that current events popquizzes just weren’t motivating studentsin my Survey of the Media course to takean interest in news. This new approachwas more interactive and definitely morefun. The idea was to involve students inlocal, regional, national and world eventsby introducing a healthy dose of friendlycompetition into the classroom. Theincentive? Bonus points added to anupcoming exam grade for the winners.

RationaleThere are several good reasons why

this idea works so well. For one thing, itprovides a welcome departure from thetraditional lecture format. Secondly, itallows students to get to know one anoth-er, which leads to more lively subsequentclassroom discussions. In terms ofinstructor-student relations, it empowersstudents to have greater control over theirgrades, thus instilling a greater respect forboth the instructor and the course. Thequiz bowl also manages to improve bothclass attendance and participation because

of its high entertainment value. Finally,and more importantly, it hooks studentsinto becoming regular, if not voracious,consumers of news. This consumptionwill facilitate student success not only insuch obvious fields as print and broadcastjournalism, but in any other mass commu-nication field, as well. Even if studentsdecide not to pursue a career in mass com-munication, their knowledge of currentevents will certainly command them morerespect in both their professional andsocial arenas.

Implementation

• Inform students on your course syllabusthat they are required to read a dailynewspaper and keep current on local,regional and world events.

• Encourage that responsibility by open-ing every class period with a discussionon a breaking news story. The news itemmay be of any nature, including sportsand entertainment. After all, even popculture has important applications.

•You may schedule dates for current


61

Current Events Quiz Bowl

How to turn ordinary, apathetic students into“news junkies”

Jackie S. NirenbergUniversity of Texas—Pan American

IntroductionI began implementing the “current

events quiz bowl” a few semesters ago,when I realized that current events popquizzes just weren’t motivating studentsin my Survey of the Media course to takean interest in news. This new approachwas more interactive and definitely morefun. The idea was to involve students inlocal, regional, national and world eventsby introducing a healthy dose of friendlycompetition into the classroom. Theincentive? Bonus points added to anupcoming exam grade for the winners.

RationaleThere are several good reasons why

this idea works so well. For one thing, itprovides a welcome departure from thetraditional lecture format. Secondly, itallows students to get to know one anoth-er, which leads to more lively subsequentclassroom discussions. In terms ofinstructor-student relations, it empowersstudents to have greater control over theirgrades, thus instilling a greater respect forboth the instructor and the course. Thequiz bowl also manages to improve bothclass attendance and participation because

of its high entertainment value. Finally,and more importantly, it hooks studentsinto becoming regular, if not voracious,consumers of news. This consumptionwill facilitate student success not only insuch obvious fields as print and broadcastjournalism, but in any other mass commu-nication field, as well. Even if studentsdecide not to pursue a career in mass com-munication, their knowledge of currentevents will certainly command them morerespect in both their professional andsocial arenas.

Implementation

• Inform students on your course syllabusthat they are required to read a dailynewspaper and keep current on local,regional and world events.

• Encourage that responsibility by open-ing every class period with a discussionon a breaking news story. The news itemmay be of any nature, including sportsand entertainment. After all, even popculture has important applications.

•You may schedule dates for current


62

events quiz bowls into your course syl-labus, or surprise students in class. Theformer makes students feel more empow-ered. The latter, of course, encouragesbetter class attendance. I usually holdthree quiz bowls per semester.

• On the day before the quiz bowl, make alist of 25+ (depending on the duration ofthe class period) questions, including awide variety of news topics (for example,science, business, foreign affairs, localpolitics, sports and entertainment).

• On the day of the quiz bowl, assign stu-dents to teams. Each time there is a quizbowl, make sure that students areassigned a different team. In other words,give students a chance to meet and partic-ipate with new students each time.

• Ask each team to assign a spokespersonto answer, after team discussion, the ques-tions on behalf of his/her team.

• Beginning with team number 1, ask thefirst question. If the team answers incor-rectly, the same question is posed to team2, and so on. If a question is answeredcorrectly, a hash mark should be made ona chalkboard or whiteboard for that team.

The team with the most points when allquestions have been asked (or when theclass period ends), receives bonus pointsadded to their next exam grade. Thisincentive can and should be modified tofit the particular needs of your course.

• By holding several current events quizbowls throughout the semester, you givestudents more than one chance to winbonus points.

• Be sure to keep good records of teamassignments, names of students who werepresent each time to participate andnames of students on the winning teams.

ImpactEach semester students take the

time to extol the virtues of the currentevents quiz bowl on their course evalua-tions. But even without their writtencomments, the benefits of this classroomactivity are apparent. In addition to better-ing class attendance, encouraging morelively participation and creating a life-long news addiction for some, if not manyof my students, this activity has alsoallowed me to get to know my studentsbetter and, yes, even have some fun!


62

events quiz bowls into your course syl-labus, or surprise students in class. Theformer makes students feel more empow-ered. The latter, of course, encouragesbetter class attendance. I usually holdthree quiz bowls per semester.

• On the day before the quiz bowl, make alist of 25+ (depending on the duration ofthe class period) questions, including awide variety of news topics (for example,science, business, foreign affairs, localpolitics, sports and entertainment).

• On the day of the quiz bowl, assign stu-dents to teams. Each time there is a quizbowl, make sure that students areassigned a different team. In other words,give students a chance to meet and partic-ipate with new students each time.

• Ask each team to assign a spokespersonto answer, after team discussion, the ques-tions on behalf of his/her team.

• Beginning with team number 1, ask thefirst question. If the team answers incor-rectly, the same question is posed to team2, and so on. If a question is answeredcorrectly, a hash mark should be made ona chalkboard or whiteboard for that team.

The team with the most points when allquestions have been asked (or when theclass period ends), receives bonus pointsadded to their next exam grade. Thisincentive can and should be modified tofit the particular needs of your course.

• By holding several current events quizbowls throughout the semester, you givestudents more than one chance to winbonus points.

• Be sure to keep good records of teamassignments, names of students who werepresent each time to participate andnames of students on the winning teams.

ImpactEach semester students take the

time to extol the virtues of the currentevents quiz bowl on their course evalua-tions. But even without their writtencomments, the benefits of this classroomactivity are apparent. In addition to better-ing class attendance, encouraging morelively participation and creating a life-long news addiction for some, if not manyof my students, this activity has alsoallowed me to get to know my studentsbetter and, yes, even have some fun!


63

Bringing “Real” Deadline Pressureto the Classroom

How to give students a taste of a real newsroom

Paula I. OttoVirginia Commonwealth University

IntroductionLimited equipment, packed student

schedules and the reality of weekly orbiweekly class meetings have forcedmany of us to give students as long as sev-eral weeks to research, write, shoot andedit television news packages. Does thisreally prepare them for the daily pressuresand deadlines they’ll face in the news-room? Probably not.

After spending four weeks in anewsroom this summer through theRTNDF Excellence in JournalismEducation Project, I was reminded of theneed for reporters to be organized, effi-cient and tenacious in order to meet thedaily deadline pressures of producing tel-evision news stories.

I have taught our AdvancedTelevision Reporting course for fouryears. (Students come to the class withthe general news writing course and oneelectronic media writing course thatincludes hands-on radio and televisionlabs as prerequisites.) The format for thetelevision reporting course hasn’tchanged much in those four years–stu-dents spend the first part of the semesterpracticing interviewing, sound bite selec-tion and story writing. In groups of three,

they produce three news packages, gener-ally in a two-week time frame. In fall2001 I added a fourth package that mustbe researched, produced and edited in oneday.

RationaleFew classroom experiences truly

give students a feel for the daily deadlinepressures and challenges in newsrooms.Although doing writing exercises ondeadline in class can help simulate this,the facts of the story and quotes fromnews sources are often already done inorder to facilitate that type of lesson.This lesson plan forces students to literal-ly start with nothing in the morning and–no matter what–to have a story to turn inby the end of the day.

Implementation

• Students are informed at the beginningof the semester that in addition to thethree “regular” packages, they will alsoproduce a one-day package with a partner.

• Students choose the day that they areable to devote their full attention to thepackage.


63

Bringing “Real” Deadline Pressureto the Classroom

How to give students a taste of a real newsroom

Paula I. OttoVirginia Commonwealth University

IntroductionLimited equipment, packed student

schedules and the reality of weekly orbiweekly class meetings have forcedmany of us to give students as long as sev-eral weeks to research, write, shoot andedit television news packages. Does thisreally prepare them for the daily pressuresand deadlines they’ll face in the news-room? Probably not.

After spending four weeks in anewsroom this summer through theRTNDF Excellence in JournalismEducation Project, I was reminded of theneed for reporters to be organized, effi-cient and tenacious in order to meet thedaily deadline pressures of producing tel-evision news stories.

I have taught our AdvancedTelevision Reporting course for fouryears. (Students come to the class withthe general news writing course and oneelectronic media writing course thatincludes hands-on radio and televisionlabs as prerequisites.) The format for thetelevision reporting course hasn’tchanged much in those four years–stu-dents spend the first part of the semesterpracticing interviewing, sound bite selec-tion and story writing. In groups of three,

they produce three news packages, gener-ally in a two-week time frame. In fall2001 I added a fourth package that mustbe researched, produced and edited in oneday.

RationaleFew classroom experiences truly

give students a feel for the daily deadlinepressures and challenges in newsrooms.Although doing writing exercises ondeadline in class can help simulate this,the facts of the story and quotes fromnews sources are often already done inorder to facilitate that type of lesson.This lesson plan forces students to literal-ly start with nothing in the morning and–no matter what–to have a story to turn inby the end of the day.

Implementation

• Students are informed at the beginningof the semester that in addition to thethree “regular” packages, they will alsoproduce a one-day package with a partner.

• Students choose the day that they areable to devote their full attention to thepackage.


64

• Students check in with me no later than9 a.m. I have a story idea for them, orthey can pitch an idea for me. Most pre-fer to do their own stories, especially ifthey have done some research in advancein order to make a solid pitch. If a storydoes not work out, students may ask foranother idea from me, or may developanother story with my approval.

• All interviews are set up and shot thatday; all video must be shot on that day.

• I am available in the afternoon to reviewscripts before they are voiced and edited.

• Scripts and the finished edited piece aredue by 5:30 p.m. Even if the story is notcomplete, everything must be in by 5:30p.m.

ImpactStudents were generally apprehen-

sive about the feasibility of turningaround a story so quickly. By making thisthe last assignment of the semester, theyhad greater confidence in their reporting,writing and editing skills.

As is often the case, students appre-ciated the learning experience once it wasover.

Some of the subjects from the fall2001 semester included:

• Opening Day of Harry Potter:The students ran up against a reluc-

tant theater manager and were forced totravel to another movie theater. At 1 p.m.they had nothing, but by the 5:30 deadlinethey had put together a respectable pack-age. In their evaluation they wrote “NowI understand what it means to come backto the station with a story and not anexcuse.”

• Governor’s Debate:Students got a chance to cover a

debate between the two candidates forVirginia’s governor seat and turn thepackage around very quickly in oneevening. One wrote, “This gave me achance to work alongside journalists fromacross Virginia and see them in action. Icouldn’t believe how quickly they write!”

It also gave them insight into the PRmachines on each side of the campaign asmore than 10 statements/news releaseswere issued by both sides during the actu-al debate. It was a good lesson in newsjudgment.


64

• Students check in with me no later than9 a.m. I have a story idea for them, orthey can pitch an idea for me. Most pre-fer to do their own stories, especially ifthey have done some research in advancein order to make a solid pitch. If a storydoes not work out, students may ask foranother idea from me, or may developanother story with my approval.

• All interviews are set up and shot thatday; all video must be shot on that day.

• I am available in the afternoon to reviewscripts before they are voiced and edited.

• Scripts and the finished edited piece aredue by 5:30 p.m. Even if the story is notcomplete, everything must be in by 5:30p.m.

ImpactStudents were generally apprehen-

sive about the feasibility of turningaround a story so quickly. By making thisthe last assignment of the semester, theyhad greater confidence in their reporting,writing and editing skills.

As is often the case, students appre-ciated the learning experience once it wasover.

Some of the subjects from the fall2001 semester included:

• Opening Day of Harry Potter:The students ran up against a reluc-

tant theater manager and were forced totravel to another movie theater. At 1 p.m.they had nothing, but by the 5:30 deadlinethey had put together a respectable pack-age. In their evaluation they wrote “NowI understand what it means to come backto the station with a story and not anexcuse.”

• Governor’s Debate:Students got a chance to cover a

debate between the two candidates forVirginia’s governor seat and turn thepackage around very quickly in oneevening. One wrote, “This gave me achance to work alongside journalists fromacross Virginia and see them in action. Icouldn’t believe how quickly they write!”

It also gave them insight into the PRmachines on each side of the campaign asmore than 10 statements/news releaseswere issued by both sides during the actu-al debate. It was a good lesson in newsjudgment.


65

Let’s Get Creative: Representing Myself!

How to establish a framework for learning creative advertising strategy

Donnalyn PompperFlorida State University

IntroductionThis in-class activity sets the tone

for an interactive learning environment. Icreated it for my ADV 3001 CreativeAdvertising Strategies I—the secondclass meeting during Week 1 to preparestudents for working with clients, dealingwith different personalities, buildingteamwork skills, accepting and offeringconstructive criticism and “selling” one’screative concepts before small groups andclients. However, the activity shouldprove beneficial in any mass mediacourse. Timeframe: One class period.

RationaleLearning outcomes for this innova-

tive teaching tool (. . . in addition to help-ing the instructor to learn students’names!): 1) To represent a subject students alreadyknow well—themselves—creatively,through an art project. This is a precursorto later projects requiring in/formalresearch.2) To get to know classmates early in thesemester—the activity concludes withstudents presenting their project to therest of the class at the end of the period.

Thus, students easily identify whom theywant to work with and can begin the finalteam campaign early in the semester. 3) To practice speaking before a group.Even junior and senior students can feeluncomfortable with public speaking—andmost are unaccustomed to selling theirideas.

Implementation

• Distribute an “Art Supplies” list on thefirst class meeting so students will be pre-pared for the second class (see list below).Encourage students to wear comfortableclothing since many may want to sit onthe floor. Ask students to bring in three ormore of the following—many items areavailable around the house (nothingtoxic). Avoid alerting students to the pur-pose of the project—yet. It will be morefun and challenging that way.

Colored construction paperCardboardTasselsGlue, scissors, tapeRibbonWrapping paper


65

Let’s Get Creative: Representing Myself!

How to establish a framework for learning creative advertising strategy

Donnalyn PompperFlorida State University

IntroductionThis in-class activity sets the tone

for an interactive learning environment. Icreated it for my ADV 3001 CreativeAdvertising Strategies I—the secondclass meeting during Week 1 to preparestudents for working with clients, dealingwith different personalities, buildingteamwork skills, accepting and offeringconstructive criticism and “selling” one’screative concepts before small groups andclients. However, the activity shouldprove beneficial in any mass mediacourse. Timeframe: One class period.

RationaleLearning outcomes for this innova-

tive teaching tool (. . . in addition to help-ing the instructor to learn students’names!): 1) To represent a subject students alreadyknow well—themselves—creatively,through an art project. This is a precursorto later projects requiring in/formalresearch.2) To get to know classmates early in thesemester—the activity concludes withstudents presenting their project to therest of the class at the end of the period.

Thus, students easily identify whom theywant to work with and can begin the finalteam campaign early in the semester. 3) To practice speaking before a group.Even junior and senior students can feeluncomfortable with public speaking—andmost are unaccustomed to selling theirideas.

Implementation

• Distribute an “Art Supplies” list on thefirst class meeting so students will be pre-pared for the second class (see list below).Encourage students to wear comfortableclothing since many may want to sit onthe floor. Ask students to bring in three ormore of the following—many items areavailable around the house (nothingtoxic). Avoid alerting students to the pur-pose of the project—yet. It will be morefun and challenging that way.

Colored construction paperCardboardTasselsGlue, scissors, tapeRibbonWrapping paper


66

GlitterConfettiLace doiliesCalendar picturesShoe lacesPon-ponsWater-based paint and brushEnvelopesCrayonsCover stock paperStickersSmall wood piecesColor markersTissue paperStretch wrapButtons, lace, trimAluminum foilPaper platesMagazine or NewspaperPipe cleanersSequinsPhotographsStrawsCupcake papersFlowers/leaves FabricClay

• On the day of the activity, ask studentsto deposit all art materials on a large table,so all can share. Then spread out desks tomake room for floor workspace—or inthe hallway if permissible.

• Ask students to jot down a short list oftheir personality characteristics/attributes.

• Invite students to take three (or more)items from the art materials table. Basedon their list, ask each student to createsomething with the art supplies that repre-sents her/himself—something s/he feelscomfortable sharing with the class. Allotat least 30 minutes for creating projects.

• Ask students to present their work to theclass, using the remainder of the classperiod—explaining in three minutes orless what their representation meansand/or why they selected this aspect oftheir personality to discuss.

ImpactConsistently, students report that

this activity established the framework forlearning creative advertising strategy. Ilove it because students laugh whilelearning! Here is what students have tosay about “Let’s Get Creative:Representing Myself!”

“I could creatively express something Ifelt inside me and communicate that to agroup of people...I still have the projectand it is a constant reminder that I cancommunicate my feelings to others andthat a creative spark exists in me.”

“From the get-go, forced us to feel morecomfortable presenting in front of anaudience.”

“By not having the second class be a lec-ture, doing a creative project emphasizedthat this class is based on creativity andthat the atmosphere was going to berelaxed and open to ideas. Following thisassignment, the class remained open—expressive. Students do not feel they haveto hold back their ideas.”

“It made the class friendly...relaxing...different than ordinary class-es.”

“I thought the creative assignment wasvery helpful because I am terrified of giv-ing presentations and it was like an intro-duction to the class. It made the first pres-entation less intimidating. I also found


66

GlitterConfettiLace doiliesCalendar picturesShoe lacesPon-ponsWater-based paint and brushEnvelopesCrayonsCover stock paperStickersSmall wood piecesColor markersTissue paperStretch wrapButtons, lace, trimAluminum foilPaper platesMagazine or NewspaperPipe cleanersSequinsPhotographsStrawsCupcake papersFlowers/leaves FabricClay

• On the day of the activity, ask studentsto deposit all art materials on a large table,so all can share. Then spread out desks tomake room for floor workspace—or inthe hallway if permissible.

• Ask students to jot down a short list oftheir personality characteristics/attributes.

• Invite students to take three (or more)items from the art materials table. Basedon their list, ask each student to createsomething with the art supplies that repre-sents her/himself—something s/he feelscomfortable sharing with the class. Allotat least 30 minutes for creating projects.

• Ask students to present their work to theclass, using the remainder of the classperiod—explaining in three minutes orless what their representation meansand/or why they selected this aspect oftheir personality to discuss.

ImpactConsistently, students report that

this activity established the framework forlearning creative advertising strategy. Ilove it because students laugh whilelearning! Here is what students have tosay about “Let’s Get Creative:Representing Myself!”

“I could creatively express something Ifelt inside me and communicate that to agroup of people...I still have the projectand it is a constant reminder that I cancommunicate my feelings to others andthat a creative spark exists in me.”

“From the get-go, forced us to feel morecomfortable presenting in front of anaudience.”

“By not having the second class be a lec-ture, doing a creative project emphasizedthat this class is based on creativity andthat the atmosphere was going to berelaxed and open to ideas. Following thisassignment, the class remained open—expressive. Students do not feel they haveto hold back their ideas.”

“It made the class friendly...relaxing...different than ordinary class-es.”

“I thought the creative assignment wasvery helpful because I am terrified of giv-ing presentations and it was like an intro-duction to the class. It made the first pres-entation less intimidating. I also found


67

that it was a nice ice-breaker. Instead ofjust talking about yourself you were ableto represent yourself which was nice.”

“The best part of the activity was that itwas effective in personalizing the classmembers and making them into real peo-ple—not just warm bodies occupying theseats around you. Everyone had a greatchance to get acquainted.”

“I enjoyed the project because it gave me

a chance to express stuff about myself. Itwas fun to do and it let me tap into my cre-ative side.”

“innovative, fun, chance to express your-self —not just your ideas.”

“It was a good way to get the class com-fortable talking in front of each other. Iwas able to get a basic feel for the peoplein the class which came in handy when welater had to choose people to work with.”


67

that it was a nice ice-breaker. Instead ofjust talking about yourself you were ableto represent yourself which was nice.”

“The best part of the activity was that itwas effective in personalizing the classmembers and making them into real peo-ple—not just warm bodies occupying theseats around you. Everyone had a greatchance to get acquainted.”

“I enjoyed the project because it gave me

a chance to express stuff about myself. Itwas fun to do and it let me tap into my cre-ative side.”

“innovative, fun, chance to express your-self —not just your ideas.”

“It was a good way to get the class com-fortable talking in front of each other. Iwas able to get a basic feel for the peoplein the class which came in handy when welater had to choose people to work with.”


68

Community Journalism: Expanding the Classroom

How to utilize local resources in photojournalism education

Regene RadnieckiMinnesota State University—Moorhead

IntroductionIntroducing photojournalism stu-

dents to community journalism throughan intense (for credit) week-long work-shop on a small daily or weekly newspa-per is a creative and effective approach tofurthering students' knowledge and under-standing of the field of photojournalismand preparing them for internships.

RationaleStudents in photojournalism

sequences or concentrations in small masscommunication programs have fewopportunities to have their work pub-lished. As a result, the images in theirportfolios tend to be classroom assign-ments. The student newspaper, a sourcefor generating portfolio "clips" at largerschools, is often a small weekly with fewphotographs. The reality is that graduateswill not be considered for staff photogra-pher positions at newspapers without astrong portfolio and at least one intern-ship. The internships available oftenreceive upwards of 50 applications fromstudents in photojournalism programsthroughout the country. In the past 10

years, the competition for internships hasbecome so rigorous that more and morenewspapers are requiring at least one pre-vious internship to be considered.

The fact is that students at smallprograms are often at a disadvantage.However, providing students with news-paper experience is possible. A workshopdesigned in collaboration with a smalldaily or weekly newspaper (one withoutan internship program) can provide "on-the-job" experience. Eighty two percentof the 1,257 small dailies in the U.S. havecirculations under 25,000, and there areover 7,600 weekly newspapers published.Few offer internships. To identify thesmall papers that are most likely to partic-ipate, instructors can work through theirstate newspaper associations.

This intense community newspaperexperience can help prepare students for aformal internship. During the workshop,students are staff photographers shootingdaily assignments, and generating andexecuting picture story ideas. They workclosely with reporters and editors andreceive immediate feedback. In theprocess, they further develop their report-


68

Community Journalism: Expanding the Classroom

How to utilize local resources in photojournalism education

Regene RadnieckiMinnesota State University—Moorhead

IntroductionIntroducing photojournalism stu-

dents to community journalism throughan intense (for credit) week-long work-shop on a small daily or weekly newspa-per is a creative and effective approach tofurthering students' knowledge and under-standing of the field of photojournalismand preparing them for internships.

RationaleStudents in photojournalism

sequences or concentrations in small masscommunication programs have fewopportunities to have their work pub-lished. As a result, the images in theirportfolios tend to be classroom assign-ments. The student newspaper, a sourcefor generating portfolio "clips" at largerschools, is often a small weekly with fewphotographs. The reality is that graduateswill not be considered for staff photogra-pher positions at newspapers without astrong portfolio and at least one intern-ship. The internships available oftenreceive upwards of 50 applications fromstudents in photojournalism programsthroughout the country. In the past 10

years, the competition for internships hasbecome so rigorous that more and morenewspapers are requiring at least one pre-vious internship to be considered.

The fact is that students at smallprograms are often at a disadvantage.However, providing students with news-paper experience is possible. A workshopdesigned in collaboration with a smalldaily or weekly newspaper (one withoutan internship program) can provide "on-the-job" experience. Eighty two percentof the 1,257 small dailies in the U.S. havecirculations under 25,000, and there areover 7,600 weekly newspapers published.Few offer internships. To identify thesmall papers that are most likely to partic-ipate, instructors can work through theirstate newspaper associations.

This intense community newspaperexperience can help prepare students for aformal internship. During the workshop,students are staff photographers shootingdaily assignments, and generating andexecuting picture story ideas. They workclosely with reporters and editors andreceive immediate feedback. In theprocess, they further develop their report-


69

ing and people skills. In addition, theworkshop coordinator (instructor) is onsite to help students focus picture storiesideas, problem solve difficult assign-ments, provide feedback, conduct dailycritiques and help students becomestronger picture editors.

Implementation

• The workshop is conducted duringspring break. Five to seven students areselected (the group must be kept small).The participating students subscribe to thenewspaper, conduct research on the townand surrounding community, create a listof potential story ideas and meet with thenewspaper’s publisher/editor on campus(once or twice) to plan coverage and tomake arrangements for the groups' stay inthe community. (They meet three timesprior to workshop).

• Students travel to the town the daybefore the workshop to tour the area andmeet the staff. The following day theyreceive their first assignments and beginphotographic coverage for the next edi-tion. Each day, students complete bothself-assigned stories and those from writ-ers and editors. Each evening, the facultymember conducts a debriefing sessionwhere students talk about their experi-ences and discuss the day's work. The ses-sions are followed by a critique, a pictureediting session and scanning.

• Towards the end of the week, eveningsessions will also involve designing pic-ture page layouts.

• Students scan their work onto CD-

ROMS to bring back to campus to preparea formal presentation of their workshopphotographs. They also create a slideshow or multi-media presentation to sharewith the community later in the semes-ter/quarter. (They meet twice followingthe workshop).

ImpactStudents work alongside the news-

room staff. They spend part of each dayphotographing pictures stories and therest searching for feature pictures or cov-ering editor-assigned stories. They gatherinformation and write captions for theirpictures; are responsible for meetingdeadlines; are involved in the editing andlayout process; and learn to digitally pre-pare images for the press. In this week-long immersion, students learn time man-agement as they complete multipleassignments each day. They becomestronger photojournalists and picture edi-tors, and learn how small newspapershandle ethical issues. Their work getspublished, providing "clips" for portfo-lios. The experience and enhanced portfo-lio should increase the chances of secur-ing an internship. In the process, they pro-vide a service to the community.

Faculty members, in effect, are edi-tors during the workshop. They have theopportunity to work in a newsroom,increase their understanding of communi-ty journalism, learn more about digitalpre-press work, build relationships withnewspapers and, most importantly, pre-pare students for internships. For instruc-tors who have had newspaper experience,it is a chance to be back in a newsroom,one that may be quite different (in termsof size) than the paper they worked on.


69

ing and people skills. In addition, theworkshop coordinator (instructor) is onsite to help students focus picture storiesideas, problem solve difficult assign-ments, provide feedback, conduct dailycritiques and help students becomestronger picture editors.

Implementation

• The workshop is conducted duringspring break. Five to seven students areselected (the group must be kept small).The participating students subscribe to thenewspaper, conduct research on the townand surrounding community, create a listof potential story ideas and meet with thenewspaper’s publisher/editor on campus(once or twice) to plan coverage and tomake arrangements for the groups' stay inthe community. (They meet three timesprior to workshop).

• Students travel to the town the daybefore the workshop to tour the area andmeet the staff. The following day theyreceive their first assignments and beginphotographic coverage for the next edi-tion. Each day, students complete bothself-assigned stories and those from writ-ers and editors. Each evening, the facultymember conducts a debriefing sessionwhere students talk about their experi-ences and discuss the day's work. The ses-sions are followed by a critique, a pictureediting session and scanning.

• Towards the end of the week, eveningsessions will also involve designing pic-ture page layouts.

• Students scan their work onto CD-

ROMS to bring back to campus to preparea formal presentation of their workshopphotographs. They also create a slideshow or multi-media presentation to sharewith the community later in the semes-ter/quarter. (They meet twice followingthe workshop).

ImpactStudents work alongside the news-

room staff. They spend part of each dayphotographing pictures stories and therest searching for feature pictures or cov-ering editor-assigned stories. They gatherinformation and write captions for theirpictures; are responsible for meetingdeadlines; are involved in the editing andlayout process; and learn to digitally pre-pare images for the press. In this week-long immersion, students learn time man-agement as they complete multipleassignments each day. They becomestronger photojournalists and picture edi-tors, and learn how small newspapershandle ethical issues. Their work getspublished, providing "clips" for portfo-lios. The experience and enhanced portfo-lio should increase the chances of secur-ing an internship. In the process, they pro-vide a service to the community.

Faculty members, in effect, are edi-tors during the workshop. They have theopportunity to work in a newsroom,increase their understanding of communi-ty journalism, learn more about digitalpre-press work, build relationships withnewspapers and, most importantly, pre-pare students for internships. For instruc-tors who have had newspaper experience,it is a chance to be back in a newsroom,one that may be quite different (in termsof size) than the paper they worked on.


70

Using PDAs to Check Your Knowledge ofAP Style

How to use and write quizzes for PDAs(Portable Digital Assistants)

Judy L. RobinsonUniversity of Florida

IntroductionOne of the more recent fields to be

explored in technology applications inteaching and learning is m-learning(mobile learning). Several universitiesare encouraging the use of PDAs for aca-demic work—in the classroom and out-side the classroom—by giving their stu-dents PDAs when they enter programs.

For many college students, a PDA isan affordable alternative to buying a lap-top or desktop computer. Increasinglymobile learning and wireless learning willbecome a part of education at institutionsof higher learning.

One of the ways to encourage stu-dents and faculty to become familiar withthe new technologies is to provide usefuland affordable materials to try.

While there is a wide array of soft-ware programs available for PDAs in2002, there are a but a few that may beconsidered “educational.” The softwareprogram Quizzler is available at no costand can be used for drill and repetition onmaterials that need to become second-nature for students. Quizzler provides an

easy-to-use approach to developing, tak-ing, scoring and recording quizzes – andan easy way to create and then encodequizzes for sharing with others.

Rationale

• In the age of e-learning and m-learningthere is a need for students to know moreand become comfortable with variousforms of digital communication. UsingQuizzler encourages students to accessthe Web for learning activities.

• Because students may design their ownquizzes with the program when it isinstalled on their PDA, this leads them tothink about what information they need toreview in order to become more proficientjournalists.

• Students may easily share the quizzesthey have created through beaming.Students receive immediate feedback ontheir quiz performance.

• There is no limit to how often the AP


70

Using PDAs to Check Your Knowledge ofAP Style

How to use and write quizzes for PDAs(Portable Digital Assistants)

Judy L. RobinsonUniversity of Florida

IntroductionOne of the more recent fields to be

explored in technology applications inteaching and learning is m-learning(mobile learning). Several universitiesare encouraging the use of PDAs for aca-demic work—in the classroom and out-side the classroom—by giving their stu-dents PDAs when they enter programs.

For many college students, a PDA isan affordable alternative to buying a lap-top or desktop computer. Increasinglymobile learning and wireless learning willbecome a part of education at institutionsof higher learning.

One of the ways to encourage stu-dents and faculty to become familiar withthe new technologies is to provide usefuland affordable materials to try.

While there is a wide array of soft-ware programs available for PDAs in2002, there are a but a few that may beconsidered “educational.” The softwareprogram Quizzler is available at no costand can be used for drill and repetition onmaterials that need to become second-nature for students. Quizzler provides an

easy-to-use approach to developing, tak-ing, scoring and recording quizzes – andan easy way to create and then encodequizzes for sharing with others.

Rationale

• In the age of e-learning and m-learningthere is a need for students to know moreand become comfortable with variousforms of digital communication. UsingQuizzler encourages students to accessthe Web for learning activities.

• Because students may design their ownquizzes with the program when it isinstalled on their PDA, this leads them tothink about what information they need toreview in order to become more proficientjournalists.

• Students may easily share the quizzesthey have created through beaming.Students receive immediate feedback ontheir quiz performance.

• There is no limit to how often the AP


71

Style Quiz may be repeated. Studentswho want to practice more will be able towithout others necessarily knowing.

Implementation

• Download the free Quizzler softwarefrom http://plaza.ufl.edu/kayaker/pda orfrom http://www.quizzler.com.

• Download the free AP Style Quiz fromhttp://plaza.ufl.edu/kayaker/pda.

•Hot sync your PDA to your computer(Macintosh or Windows) and uploadQuizzler and AP Style Quiz to your PDA.

• If someone else already has Quizzlerand the AP Style Quiz on a PDA, bothprograms may be “beamed” via theinfrared port to your PDA.

• Several options allow you to adjust howyou may take the quiz: for example, byrepeating questions you answered incor-rectly or by trying to beat the clock.

• When you download the Quizzler pro-gram, instructions on how to develop yourown quiz material are included.

ImpactUsing Quizzler on the PDA increas-

es the mobility of learning. BecausePDAs are so portable, users can tune theirskills by completing a quick quiz whilewaiting for the bus or for class to start.

The ease with which a quiz can becreated either on the PDA or on a wordprocessor allows an instructor or studentto create content that is readily shareablethrough beaming or making it availableon through the Internet.

Teachers and students who becomecomfortable using the Quizzler on thePDA increase their resourcefulness andunderstanding about using the Web as aconduit for learning and in using PDAtechnology for improving AP style skills.

The inevitable result becomes a bet-ter understanding through participation ofm-learning as part of e-learning andmedia literacy.


71

Style Quiz may be repeated. Studentswho want to practice more will be able towithout others necessarily knowing.

Implementation

• Download the free Quizzler softwarefrom http://plaza.ufl.edu/kayaker/pda orfrom http://www.quizzler.com.

• Download the free AP Style Quiz fromhttp://plaza.ufl.edu/kayaker/pda.

•Hot sync your PDA to your computer(Macintosh or Windows) and uploadQuizzler and AP Style Quiz to your PDA.

• If someone else already has Quizzlerand the AP Style Quiz on a PDA, bothprograms may be “beamed” via theinfrared port to your PDA.

• Several options allow you to adjust howyou may take the quiz: for example, byrepeating questions you answered incor-rectly or by trying to beat the clock.

• When you download the Quizzler pro-gram, instructions on how to develop yourown quiz material are included.

ImpactUsing Quizzler on the PDA increas-

es the mobility of learning. BecausePDAs are so portable, users can tune theirskills by completing a quick quiz whilewaiting for the bus or for class to start.

The ease with which a quiz can becreated either on the PDA or on a wordprocessor allows an instructor or studentto create content that is readily shareablethrough beaming or making it availableon through the Internet.

Teachers and students who becomecomfortable using the Quizzler on thePDA increase their resourcefulness andunderstanding about using the Web as aconduit for learning and in using PDAtechnology for improving AP style skills.

The inevitable result becomes a bet-ter understanding through participation ofm-learning as part of e-learning andmedia literacy.


72

“Now I Get It...”

How to use reflective memos in news writing

James SimonFairfield University

IntroductionMany journalism professors stress

real-life experiences in the classroom.Attention to accuracy, deadlines and jour-nalistic style are all important elements ofthe news writing process, whether on thejob and in the classroom. But professorsmay want to think twice about introduc-ing one real-life consideration into theclassroom: the tendency of reporters toknock out a story, then move on to thenext one without much introspection,without much thought on how the storywas done. A classroom alternative is theuse of a reflective memo which studentsattach to their final version of a story to begraded.

RationaleInstead of allowing students to

immediately move on to their next assign-ment, the memo forces them to pause,take a step backwards and reflect on theirwork. Many students rarely write aboutthe process of writing and/or reporting,and this GIFT forces them to do so. Byusing reflective memos, teachers gain aninside look into a student’s thoughtprocesses. Rarely will you think, “Whatthe heck was the student trying to do

here?” Instead, you are more likely tothink, “Now I get it” because you will bet-ter understand a student’s intent.

ImplementationIn the 250 word memos, students

select several of the following questionsto address:

• What went right with the assignment?What sources were especially valuable?Why did they pick a certain lead?

• What went wrong? What sources didthey miss? Did they start the assignmenttoo late? How could they have usedInternet research better? What mistakesdid they make this time that might beimproved upon in the next story? If theywere to do this story over again, whatwould they do differently?

• How does this story compare to otherwork done for this class and to modelsdiscussed in class? What lessons fromclass did they use in the assignment? Didthe experience contradict anything cov-ered in the readings or in classroom dis-cussion?


72

“Now I Get It...”

How to use reflective memos in news writing

James SimonFairfield University

IntroductionMany journalism professors stress

real-life experiences in the classroom.Attention to accuracy, deadlines and jour-nalistic style are all important elements ofthe news writing process, whether on thejob and in the classroom. But professorsmay want to think twice about introduc-ing one real-life consideration into theclassroom: the tendency of reporters toknock out a story, then move on to thenext one without much introspection,without much thought on how the storywas done. A classroom alternative is theuse of a reflective memo which studentsattach to their final version of a story to begraded.

RationaleInstead of allowing students to

immediately move on to their next assign-ment, the memo forces them to pause,take a step backwards and reflect on theirwork. Many students rarely write aboutthe process of writing and/or reporting,and this GIFT forces them to do so. Byusing reflective memos, teachers gain aninside look into a student’s thoughtprocesses. Rarely will you think, “Whatthe heck was the student trying to do

here?” Instead, you are more likely tothink, “Now I get it” because you will bet-ter understand a student’s intent.

ImplementationIn the 250 word memos, students

select several of the following questionsto address:

• What went right with the assignment?What sources were especially valuable?Why did they pick a certain lead?

• What went wrong? What sources didthey miss? Did they start the assignmenttoo late? How could they have usedInternet research better? What mistakesdid they make this time that might beimproved upon in the next story? If theywere to do this story over again, whatwould they do differently?

• How does this story compare to otherwork done for this class and to modelsdiscussed in class? What lessons fromclass did they use in the assignment? Didthe experience contradict anything cov-ered in the readings or in classroom dis-cussion?


73

You also can have students collectthe reflective memos and stories in a port-folio and, at the end of the semester, lookacross their work. They can write a finalreflective essay that evaluates theirgrowth during the semester, what prob-lems they successfully addressed andwhat areas continue to need work.

ImpactIn using this system, teachers tend

to write less on the story itself and moreon the memo, commending or challeng-ing a student’s comments. Your comments

are often broader and center more on theconceptualization and implementation ofthe story, rather than narrower concernslike sentence structure. This process aidsstudents who are reluctant to engage inconventional class participation, but rel-ish the opportunity to communicate withthe professor about their work in an alter-native manner. This GIFT forces studentsto think about the process of writing, tobecome introspective and, hopefully, torealize how much they have learned andhow far they have to go.


73

You also can have students collectthe reflective memos and stories in a port-folio and, at the end of the semester, lookacross their work. They can write a finalreflective essay that evaluates theirgrowth during the semester, what prob-lems they successfully addressed andwhat areas continue to need work.

ImpactIn using this system, teachers tend

to write less on the story itself and moreon the memo, commending or challeng-ing a student’s comments. Your comments

are often broader and center more on theconceptualization and implementation ofthe story, rather than narrower concernslike sentence structure. This process aidsstudents who are reluctant to engage inconventional class participation, but rel-ish the opportunity to communicate withthe professor about their work in an alter-native manner. This GIFT forces studentsto think about the process of writing, tobecome introspective and, hopefully, torealize how much they have learned andhow far they have to go.


74

Getting Beyond the News Quiz

Stacy SpauldingColumbia Union College

Introduction and RationaleThe news quiz: Students hate them.

We hate them. But we also hate thatthey’re journalism majors and, despiteadvance warning, still make dismalscores.

Most students, however, want toknow more about what’s going on in theworld. But when told that there will be aweekly quiz over the newspaper, moststudents feel overwhelmed and uncom-fortable. What stories should they read?How should they decide what is importantand what’s not? Instead of reading forenjoyment and awareness, many studentscram minutes before class and withdrawduring class discussion after theyinevitably fail. The rationale behind thisteaching tip is simple: increase studentinteraction and awareness while turningthe news quiz into a rewarding exerciseand springboard for class discussions.

ImplementationHere are several ideas for encourag-

ing students to be more well-informed.Some focus on the teacher’s attitude, oth-ers on giving students manageable assign-ments. All of these are interactive, can beused to spark class discussion and can beadapted to fit individual teaching styles:

• Talk about your own worldview: If wedon’t talk about the reading, students

won’t do it. The same holds for the news.Talk about the issues you’re passionateabout. Talk about what you think isimportant in the news, both the storiesgetting coverage and the stories thataren’t. Make sure students know why youthink it’s important to know what’s goingon in the world.

• Vary the medium: Instead of askingstudents to read/see everything, assign adifferent news outlet every week—a web-site one week, a newspaper the next week,a local or cable newscast the next week.This not only helps students to focus theirefforts, but also generates better discus-sions about differences in news selection,judgment and play.

• Do daily critiques: Don’t get caughtwithout a newspaper in class (or a tape ofa newscast). Refer to it often. Make it adaily habit to talk about what’s on thefront page and what’s not, what is beingdone right and what needs to beimproved.

• Localize: Ask students to pick the threemost important stories of the week, andcome to class with an idea of how tolocalize each one. Ask why they thoughteach story was important. Encourage dis-cussion about how these issues affecteach of us.


74

Getting Beyond the News Quiz

Stacy SpauldingColumbia Union College

Introduction and RationaleThe news quiz: Students hate them.

We hate them. But we also hate thatthey’re journalism majors and, despiteadvance warning, still make dismalscores.

Most students, however, want toknow more about what’s going on in theworld. But when told that there will be aweekly quiz over the newspaper, moststudents feel overwhelmed and uncom-fortable. What stories should they read?How should they decide what is importantand what’s not? Instead of reading forenjoyment and awareness, many studentscram minutes before class and withdrawduring class discussion after theyinevitably fail. The rationale behind thisteaching tip is simple: increase studentinteraction and awareness while turningthe news quiz into a rewarding exerciseand springboard for class discussions.

ImplementationHere are several ideas for encourag-

ing students to be more well-informed.Some focus on the teacher’s attitude, oth-ers on giving students manageable assign-ments. All of these are interactive, can beused to spark class discussion and can beadapted to fit individual teaching styles:

• Talk about your own worldview: If wedon’t talk about the reading, students

won’t do it. The same holds for the news.Talk about the issues you’re passionateabout. Talk about what you think isimportant in the news, both the storiesgetting coverage and the stories thataren’t. Make sure students know why youthink it’s important to know what’s goingon in the world.

• Vary the medium: Instead of askingstudents to read/see everything, assign adifferent news outlet every week—a web-site one week, a newspaper the next week,a local or cable newscast the next week.This not only helps students to focus theirefforts, but also generates better discus-sions about differences in news selection,judgment and play.

• Do daily critiques: Don’t get caughtwithout a newspaper in class (or a tape ofa newscast). Refer to it often. Make it adaily habit to talk about what’s on thefront page and what’s not, what is beingdone right and what needs to beimproved.

• Localize: Ask students to pick the threemost important stories of the week, andcome to class with an idea of how tolocalize each one. Ask why they thoughteach story was important. Encourage dis-cussion about how these issues affecteach of us.


75

• Be the ombudsman: Ask students tocome to class with a list of three things thelocal television station or newspaper cov-ered well this week, and three things thatcould have been covered better. Ask why.

• Hold a scavenger hunt: Ask students toread the newspaper and bring in threeexamples of something you are talkingabout in class this week: great leads, goodsourcing, etc. They should be prepared toexplain to the class what makes theirselections special. (If you like, imposeadditional requirements: The itemsshouldn’t be from the same newspaper orthe same date, for example.)

• Use the bulletin board: Keep push pinsand index cards handy. Pin up the clipsstudents bring in. Have students write anexplanation of why this is a good exam-ple, along with their name, to be pinnedup next to the story. (And, if you like, givea quiz on just these items.)

• Ask who’s who? Instead of gettingupset with students because they don’tknow who the secretary of state is, givethem a chance to find out. Give students alist of important government positionsthat they should know, and using the

newspaper, ask students to find out who isin that position and what news they’vemade over the past week, and be preparedto talk about the official’s views, back-ground and influence. Give them a weekto study after the class discussion andthen quiz them.

• Issue surveys: Give students a newstopic ahead of time to study. For example,ask students to read a particular newspa-per’s (or television broadcast’s) storiesabout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, andcome prepared to talk about three impor-tant developments that happened over theweek. This removes the negative punish-ment of missing items on a quiz, andencourages positive interaction by givingstudents something to discuss in class.

• Monitor media news: Don’t forgetgreat media commentary and news web-sites, such as Romenesko(http://www.poynter.org/medianews/index.cfm). Items on this site are often greatspringboards into discussions aboutethics, management, judgment and newstrends. An example of one assignment:Have students monitor daily posts to thewebsite, gathering three examples of eth-ical issues news outlets faced that week.


75

• Be the ombudsman: Ask students tocome to class with a list of three things thelocal television station or newspaper cov-ered well this week, and three things thatcould have been covered better. Ask why.

• Hold a scavenger hunt: Ask students toread the newspaper and bring in threeexamples of something you are talkingabout in class this week: great leads, goodsourcing, etc. They should be prepared toexplain to the class what makes theirselections special. (If you like, imposeadditional requirements: The itemsshouldn’t be from the same newspaper orthe same date, for example.)

• Use the bulletin board: Keep push pinsand index cards handy. Pin up the clipsstudents bring in. Have students write anexplanation of why this is a good exam-ple, along with their name, to be pinnedup next to the story. (And, if you like, givea quiz on just these items.)

• Ask who’s who? Instead of gettingupset with students because they don’tknow who the secretary of state is, givethem a chance to find out. Give students alist of important government positionsthat they should know, and using the

newspaper, ask students to find out who isin that position and what news they’vemade over the past week, and be preparedto talk about the official’s views, back-ground and influence. Give them a weekto study after the class discussion andthen quiz them.

• Issue surveys: Give students a newstopic ahead of time to study. For example,ask students to read a particular newspa-per’s (or television broadcast’s) storiesabout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, andcome prepared to talk about three impor-tant developments that happened over theweek. This removes the negative punish-ment of missing items on a quiz, andencourages positive interaction by givingstudents something to discuss in class.

• Monitor media news: Don’t forgetgreat media commentary and news web-sites, such as Romenesko(http://www.poynter.org/medianews/index.cfm). Items on this site are often greatspringboards into discussions aboutethics, management, judgment and newstrends. An example of one assignment:Have students monitor daily posts to thewebsite, gathering three examples of eth-ical issues news outlets faced that week.


76

Forging Partnerships Through Promotion

How to make service learning an integral part of thepublic relations writing course

Andi SteinCalifornia State University—Fullerton

IntroductionUsing service learning as part of the

public relations writing course enablesstudents to partner with local nonprofitorganizations as a means of helping thempromote their causes through the use ofstudent-produced written promotionalmaterials.

RationaleBoth students and local nonprofit

organizations benefit from this approachto the public relations writing course.Students have the opportunity to workwith actual organizations to develop andproduce written promotional materialsthat make use of the skills they learn inthe classroom.

They work closely with a contact atthe organization to develop and producethree different public relations pieces—press release, brochure and feature story—and ultimately see their work used bythe organization. As a result, they comeout of the course with clips to add to theirwriting portfolios.

The nonprofit organizations benefitbecause they are able to provide informa-tion to their publics through these written

materials, which might not be possible oraffordable without the assistance of thestudents.

Implementation

• Step 1: Each student is assigned to finda local nonprofit organization in need ofpublic relations assistance. The studentsare instructed to offer to produce threewritten public relations materials for theirselected organizations—a press release,brochure and feature story for the organi-zation's newsletter or magazine. Oncethey have found organizations willing towork with them, the students then meetwith the public relations director to dis-cuss specific projects they can work onduring the four months of the semester.

• Step 2: Once the organization hasagreed to work with the student, both par-ties sign a letter of agreement outliningthe tasks the student has agreed to com-plete and the assistance and resources theorganization has agreed to provide to helpthe student complete the project.

• Step 3: As part of the curriculum for the


76

Forging Partnerships Through Promotion

How to make service learning an integral part of thepublic relations writing course

Andi SteinCalifornia State University—Fullerton

IntroductionUsing service learning as part of the

public relations writing course enablesstudents to partner with local nonprofitorganizations as a means of helping thempromote their causes through the use ofstudent-produced written promotionalmaterials.

RationaleBoth students and local nonprofit

organizations benefit from this approachto the public relations writing course.Students have the opportunity to workwith actual organizations to develop andproduce written promotional materialsthat make use of the skills they learn inthe classroom.

They work closely with a contact atthe organization to develop and producethree different public relations pieces—press release, brochure and feature story—and ultimately see their work used bythe organization. As a result, they comeout of the course with clips to add to theirwriting portfolios.

The nonprofit organizations benefitbecause they are able to provide informa-tion to their publics through these written

materials, which might not be possible oraffordable without the assistance of thestudents.

Implementation

• Step 1: Each student is assigned to finda local nonprofit organization in need ofpublic relations assistance. The studentsare instructed to offer to produce threewritten public relations materials for theirselected organizations—a press release,brochure and feature story for the organi-zation's newsletter or magazine. Oncethey have found organizations willing towork with them, the students then meetwith the public relations director to dis-cuss specific projects they can work onduring the four months of the semester.

• Step 2: Once the organization hasagreed to work with the student, both par-ties sign a letter of agreement outliningthe tasks the student has agreed to com-plete and the assistance and resources theorganization has agreed to provide to helpthe student complete the project.

• Step 3: As part of the curriculum for the


77

course, students learn the fundamentals ofwriting press releases, brochures and fea-ture stories in preparation for their servicelearning projects through an assortment ofin-class and take-home writing assign-ments. The skills they develop in theclassroom can then be directly applied totheir service learning projects.

• Step 4: Students spend the bulk of thesemester working closely with their con-tacts at the organization to produce thethree written public relations pieces. Aspart of their grade for the course, studentsare instructed that to be eligible for an "A"on the project, they need to have two ofthe three pieces published by the end ofthe semester. This can include having thepress release sent out to and used by themedia, the brochure published and dis-tributed to the organization's publics andthe feature story used in an organizationalpublication.

• Step 5: Students turn in a rough draft oftheir project about two-thirds of the waythrough the semester. Their work is cri-tiqued, and they are given suggestions forimprovement to help increase theirchances of publication.

• Step 6: At the end of the semester, stu-dents turn in the final versions of the threewritten public relations pieces. They alsogive brief presentations to their class-mates, explaining what they did for theirorganizations and evaluating the overall

experience of working in a service learn-ing capacity.

ImpactThrough this approach to public

relations writing, students have the oppor-tunity to see a direct connection betweentheir classroom activity and real worldpublic relations work. They are able touse the skills they learn in the classroomand apply them to the actual needs of thenonprofit organizations with which theyare working. They also finish the coursewith three professionally-produced writ-ing samples they can add to their portfo-lios.

In addition, as a result of this proj-ect, the students often develop a sense ofwhat it is like to do public relations workfor a nonprofit organization. By workingwith contacts from the organization, theysee how strapped for funding and person-nel some of these organizations are andget a first-hand glimpse of how importantvolunteers are to the nonprofit world.

In my experience in using thisapproach to public relations writing, Ihave seen the development of partner-ships between the university and the non-profit organizations that participate in thisproject. I have had students decide to con-tinue to volunteer for their selected non-profits once the course was over. I havealso had several students be offeredinternships by the nonprofits they workedwith during the semester.


77

course, students learn the fundamentals ofwriting press releases, brochures and fea-ture stories in preparation for their servicelearning projects through an assortment ofin-class and take-home writing assign-ments. The skills they develop in theclassroom can then be directly applied totheir service learning projects.

• Step 4: Students spend the bulk of thesemester working closely with their con-tacts at the organization to produce thethree written public relations pieces. Aspart of their grade for the course, studentsare instructed that to be eligible for an "A"on the project, they need to have two ofthe three pieces published by the end ofthe semester. This can include having thepress release sent out to and used by themedia, the brochure published and dis-tributed to the organization's publics andthe feature story used in an organizationalpublication.

• Step 5: Students turn in a rough draft oftheir project about two-thirds of the waythrough the semester. Their work is cri-tiqued, and they are given suggestions forimprovement to help increase theirchances of publication.

• Step 6: At the end of the semester, stu-dents turn in the final versions of the threewritten public relations pieces. They alsogive brief presentations to their class-mates, explaining what they did for theirorganizations and evaluating the overall

experience of working in a service learn-ing capacity.

ImpactThrough this approach to public

relations writing, students have the oppor-tunity to see a direct connection betweentheir classroom activity and real worldpublic relations work. They are able touse the skills they learn in the classroomand apply them to the actual needs of thenonprofit organizations with which theyare working. They also finish the coursewith three professionally-produced writ-ing samples they can add to their portfo-lios.

In addition, as a result of this proj-ect, the students often develop a sense ofwhat it is like to do public relations workfor a nonprofit organization. By workingwith contacts from the organization, theysee how strapped for funding and person-nel some of these organizations are andget a first-hand glimpse of how importantvolunteers are to the nonprofit world.

In my experience in using thisapproach to public relations writing, Ihave seen the development of partner-ships between the university and the non-profit organizations that participate in thisproject. I have had students decide to con-tinue to volunteer for their selected non-profits once the course was over. I havealso had several students be offeredinternships by the nonprofits they workedwith during the semester.


78

Democracy in Action

How to connect students with the communication reconnection process

Kristie Alley SwainTexas A&M University

IntroductionThis three-part project is designed

to challenge students to experience andexamine how journalists can interact withthe community and hold policymakersaccountable to citizen concerns. Studentsuse listening skills to explore broad com-munity issues, select one particular prob-lem to examine, then convene a focusgroup of stakeholders to uncover howthey frame the issue, conflicting concernsand problem-solving ideas. The studentstranscribe the focus group session to iden-tify themes in the dialogue that mightserve as a framework for a citizen's agen-da. The students use this framework tointerview community leaders and policy-makers as well as expert sources that illu-minate the larger societal issues at play.

By tapping multiple stakeholders,the students develop informed questionsfor holding community leaders account-able to citizen concerns. The studentsdevelop in-depth story packages from thefocus group and follow-up interviews,then provide critical analysis of their ownand others' projects through a web-basedforum. Finally, each project team bringsthe citizens' agenda and leaders' responseback to the community through a live,

call-in radio talk show. This show, namedCommon Ground, seeks to help the com-munity achieve common ground on hot-button issues and to help students under-stand the strategies that journalists canuse to facilitate these connections.

RationaleThrough planning and carrying out

a hands-on community experiment inconnecting citizens with public life, stu-dents experience democracy in action.They simultaneously and learn to applyand critically examine theories of citizen-based journalism as well as convergenceskills needed in today's interactive mediaenvironment.

The basic idea behind this three-partproject is a theory-based process modelrepresenting how journalists help recon-nect citizens with public life (Figure 1).This process consists of agenda building(identifying issues), analysis (of the citi-zens' agenda), accountability (of leaders)and agenda setting (identifying communi-ty priorities). The innovativeness of theproject is that students are given the toolsand strategies to experience this recon-nection process firsthand.


78

Democracy in Action

How to connect students with the communication reconnection process

Kristie Alley SwainTexas A&M University

IntroductionThis three-part project is designed

to challenge students to experience andexamine how journalists can interact withthe community and hold policymakersaccountable to citizen concerns. Studentsuse listening skills to explore broad com-munity issues, select one particular prob-lem to examine, then convene a focusgroup of stakeholders to uncover howthey frame the issue, conflicting concernsand problem-solving ideas. The studentstranscribe the focus group session to iden-tify themes in the dialogue that mightserve as a framework for a citizen's agen-da. The students use this framework tointerview community leaders and policy-makers as well as expert sources that illu-minate the larger societal issues at play.

By tapping multiple stakeholders,the students develop informed questionsfor holding community leaders account-able to citizen concerns. The studentsdevelop in-depth story packages from thefocus group and follow-up interviews,then provide critical analysis of their ownand others' projects through a web-basedforum. Finally, each project team bringsthe citizens' agenda and leaders' responseback to the community through a live,

call-in radio talk show. This show, namedCommon Ground, seeks to help the com-munity achieve common ground on hot-button issues and to help students under-stand the strategies that journalists canuse to facilitate these connections.

RationaleThrough planning and carrying out

a hands-on community experiment inconnecting citizens with public life, stu-dents experience democracy in action.They simultaneously and learn to applyand critically examine theories of citizen-based journalism as well as convergenceskills needed in today's interactive mediaenvironment.

The basic idea behind this three-partproject is a theory-based process modelrepresenting how journalists help recon-nect citizens with public life (Figure 1).This process consists of agenda building(identifying issues), analysis (of the citi-zens' agenda), accountability (of leaders)and agenda setting (identifying communi-ty priorities). The innovativeness of theproject is that students are given the toolsand strategies to experience this recon-nection process firsthand.


79

Implementation (Figure 2)

• Step 1—Focus group: The class isdivided into 8-10 teams each consisting of4-6 members. Each team identifies criti-cal concerns in the community, thenorganizes, facilitates, records and ana-lyzes a two-hour focus group of citizenstakeholders about their chosen issue.The team develops a comprehensive pro-tocol of open-ended questions thatexplore many topics and perspectivesrelated to the issue. Through facilitating acitizen forum, students learn arts ofdemocracy such as active listening, medi-ation, political imagination and publicdialogue. They witness how ordinary cit-izens work through challenging problemsto find solutions and each team developsan in-depth news feature that reflects themultiple voices and creative ideas forcommunity progress.

• Step 2—Community leader follow-up:Students critically examine focus grouptranscripts using qualitative theme analy-sis and interviews. They triangulate theirinterpretations with those of experts whocan help them make sense of the com-plexities in the citizens' agenda as well aswith community-level statistics and otherbackground information. The studentsuse the citizens' agenda as a frameworkfor in-depth interviews with communityleaders, policymakers and others withaccess to community resources for a fol-low-up news feature package. In doingso, they learn to hold these leadersaccountable to the citizens' ideas and con-cerns.

• Step 3—Radio talk show: Each week,one team presents the views of all stake-holders, leaders and experts to the com-munity through a live, one-hour call-intalk show at a volunteer-run communityradio station. A student from anotherteam serves as a show host, while theteam presents their work in an objective,organized and conversational manner andfields questions and comments from lis-teners. As a follow-up assignment, eachstudent writes a critical evaluation essayabout the learning outcomes of the projectand radio show experiences.

ImpactThe students cover topics that are

real and important to the community andthe students, such as discriminationagainst Muslims, drug and alcohol abuse,domestic violence and city growing pains.Many say that "breaking out of the bub-ble" of traditional coursework challengesthem to cultivate self-confidence, leader-ship, teamwork and citizenship values.Many students who complete this three-part project seem to emerge from thecommunity trenches as more seasoned,compassionate and perceptive journalistswith a sense of mission and a vision fortheir field. Each student takes away aunique toolkit of concepts, moral reason-ing skills and reporting techniques. Theseoutcomes as well as the continuous out-pouring of feedback from the community,are greatly enriching and energizing froma teacher's perspective.


79

Implementation (Figure 2)

• Step 1—Focus group: The class isdivided into 8-10 teams each consisting of4-6 members. Each team identifies criti-cal concerns in the community, thenorganizes, facilitates, records and ana-lyzes a two-hour focus group of citizenstakeholders about their chosen issue.The team develops a comprehensive pro-tocol of open-ended questions thatexplore many topics and perspectivesrelated to the issue. Through facilitating acitizen forum, students learn arts ofdemocracy such as active listening, medi-ation, political imagination and publicdialogue. They witness how ordinary cit-izens work through challenging problemsto find solutions and each team developsan in-depth news feature that reflects themultiple voices and creative ideas forcommunity progress.

• Step 2—Community leader follow-up:Students critically examine focus grouptranscripts using qualitative theme analy-sis and interviews. They triangulate theirinterpretations with those of experts whocan help them make sense of the com-plexities in the citizens' agenda as well aswith community-level statistics and otherbackground information. The studentsuse the citizens' agenda as a frameworkfor in-depth interviews with communityleaders, policymakers and others withaccess to community resources for a fol-low-up news feature package. In doingso, they learn to hold these leadersaccountable to the citizens' ideas and con-cerns.

• Step 3—Radio talk show: Each week,one team presents the views of all stake-holders, leaders and experts to the com-munity through a live, one-hour call-intalk show at a volunteer-run communityradio station. A student from anotherteam serves as a show host, while theteam presents their work in an objective,organized and conversational manner andfields questions and comments from lis-teners. As a follow-up assignment, eachstudent writes a critical evaluation essayabout the learning outcomes of the projectand radio show experiences.

ImpactThe students cover topics that are

real and important to the community andthe students, such as discriminationagainst Muslims, drug and alcohol abuse,domestic violence and city growing pains.Many say that "breaking out of the bub-ble" of traditional coursework challengesthem to cultivate self-confidence, leader-ship, teamwork and citizenship values.Many students who complete this three-part project seem to emerge from thecommunity trenches as more seasoned,compassionate and perceptive journalistswith a sense of mission and a vision fortheir field. Each student takes away aunique toolkit of concepts, moral reason-ing skills and reporting techniques. Theseoutcomes as well as the continuous out-pouring of feedback from the community,are greatly enriching and energizing froma teacher's perspective.


80

AGENDA BUILDING

Journalists convene a citizenforum to identify key issues,concerns and problem-solving ideas

ANALYSIS

Journalists analyze dialogue and issueswith help from experts

ACCOUNTABILITY

Policymakers and otherofficials are heldaccountable to the citizens’agenda

AGENDA SETTING

Journalists present story, and citizensidentify priorities and/or solutions as aresult.

Figure 1: The 4 A’s of a Community Reconnection Project

Figure 2: The Press-Public-Politics Connections

PUBLICCitizen Stakeholders

POLITICS (ELITES)Leaders and Experts

PRESSStudents

MMAAKKIINNGGTTHHEE

CCOONNNNEECCTTIIOONNSS

2. Live radio talk andcall-in show

1. Focus groupproject/story

3. Community leadersproject/story


80

AGENDA BUILDING

Journalists convene a citizenforum to identify key issues,concerns and problem-solving ideas

ANALYSIS

Journalists analyze dialogue and issueswith help from experts

ACCOUNTABILITY

Policymakers and otherofficials are heldaccountable to the citizens’agenda

AGENDA SETTING

Journalists present story, and citizensidentify priorities and/or solutions as aresult.

Figure 1: The 4 A’s of a Community Reconnection Project

Figure 2: The Press-Public-Politics Connections

PUBLICCitizen Stakeholders

POLITICS (ELITES)Leaders and Experts

PRESSStudents

MMAAKKIINNGGTTHHEE

CCOONNNNEECCTTIIOONNSS

2. Live radio talk andcall-in show

1. Focus groupproject/story

3. Community leadersproject/story


81

Using Daily ‘Quick’ Quizzes to Motivate Students

How to increase regular class attendance and participation

Brad ThompsonPennsylvania State University

IntroductionBy using very brief daily quizzes on

assigned readings, students are motivatedto come to class better prepared to discussthe materials. The quizzes are intended tobe so easy that the penalty for missingthem is greater than the cost of doing aminimal level of pre-class study. In addi-tion, the “quick” quiz, when used on adaily basis, correlates very strongly withgrades on major exams, irrespective of thegrades earned on the daily quiz. In otherwords, the quiz is a proxy for taking rolland shows students that class attendanceis strongly related to class grades.

RationaleThis idea reflects the belief that stu-

dents respond better to rewards than topunishment for failure to attend class.

Implementation

• Consistently administer—beginningDay 1—a quiz on material students aresupposed to be studying. (The Day 1 quizis on the syllabus and is the only one thatis open book-open note.) An allowance is

made for class absences by counting only80 percent (for example) of the quizzestoward the final grade. Quizzes beyondthe 80 percent mark count as extra credit.

• Each quiz is one to three items, usuallytrue-false statements and given in the firstfive minutes of class (to reduce studenttardiness). Grading a two-point T/F quizfor a class of 50 takes no more than 15minutes.

• The quizzes are meant to be easy, notdifficult. Usually the quiz is on the mostimportant material or concept. But evenasking a question such as: “The readingfor today contained a diagram. Whatshape was the diagram: circle, square, tri-angle or diamond?” can determine if stu-dents are even cracking the book. As soonas students turn in the quizzes and beforethey have forgotten what they put on thequiz, announce the correct answers toreinforce the key concept.

•Allow students to submit their own ques-tions for the quizzes.


81

Using Daily ‘Quick’ Quizzes to Motivate Students

How to increase regular class attendance and participation

Brad ThompsonPennsylvania State University

IntroductionBy using very brief daily quizzes on

assigned readings, students are motivatedto come to class better prepared to discussthe materials. The quizzes are intended tobe so easy that the penalty for missingthem is greater than the cost of doing aminimal level of pre-class study. In addi-tion, the “quick” quiz, when used on adaily basis, correlates very strongly withgrades on major exams, irrespective of thegrades earned on the daily quiz. In otherwords, the quiz is a proxy for taking rolland shows students that class attendanceis strongly related to class grades.

RationaleThis idea reflects the belief that stu-

dents respond better to rewards than topunishment for failure to attend class.

Implementation

• Consistently administer—beginningDay 1—a quiz on material students aresupposed to be studying. (The Day 1 quizis on the syllabus and is the only one thatis open book-open note.) An allowance is

made for class absences by counting only80 percent (for example) of the quizzestoward the final grade. Quizzes beyondthe 80 percent mark count as extra credit.

• Each quiz is one to three items, usuallytrue-false statements and given in the firstfive minutes of class (to reduce studenttardiness). Grading a two-point T/F quizfor a class of 50 takes no more than 15minutes.

• The quizzes are meant to be easy, notdifficult. Usually the quiz is on the mostimportant material or concept. But evenasking a question such as: “The readingfor today contained a diagram. Whatshape was the diagram: circle, square, tri-angle or diamond?” can determine if stu-dents are even cracking the book. As soonas students turn in the quizzes and beforethey have forgotten what they put on thequiz, announce the correct answers toreinforce the key concept.

•Allow students to submit their own ques-tions for the quizzes.


82

• The total value of the quizzes is relative-ly low, about 20 percent of the final grade.

• Grades are recorded on the instructor’sExcel spreadsheet for the class.

• Students not taking the quiz have nograde recorded.

• The “countblank” function in Excel isused to sum the number of blank cells ineach student’s row. (A quiz grade of zerodoes not register as a blank cell; only stu-dents who are absent or late will have ablank cell.) This “countblank” column isplaced adjacent to a column in which eachstudent’s points earned in major exams(not including quiz totals) in the class aretotaled.

• The spreadsheet is then sorted based onthe total number of points each studenthas. (This is key; do not sort by studentnumber. Make students scan the list tovisually find their relative rank in theclass.) The relationship between examperformance and attendance becomesreadily apparent to students when thecolumns for each are displayed side byside. (Students at the top of the classalmost invariably have few class misses;students at the bottom of the class some-times miss 10 or more of the 30 classes inthe semester.)

• A correlation is run on the relationshipbetween the points earned to date and thetotal exam grade to confirm the linkbetween attendance (not quiz perform-ance, just attendance!) and major examgrades.

• The master spreadsheet copy is updated(names deleted, of course) and distributedto students via e-mail attachment, posted

and displayed on the overhead projectorin class at appropriate times throughoutthe semester, each time pointing out therelationship between class attendance andexam performance.

• By sorting the spreadsheet by grade indescending order and looking at the“countblank” column, it is easy to identi-fy as students deserving of special atten-tion—from among even a very largeclass. Those who have low scores but areotherwise dedicated to the class readilystand out.

ImpactContrary to what might be expected,

students respond very well to the daily“quick” quiz. I have used it in 10 classesover five years involving about 750 stu-dents. The correlation between attendanceand exam grades has ranged from about0.40 to more than 0.70. (It’s actuallyshown as a negative correlation becauseas the number of class misses goes up theexam grade goes down.) Showing thespreadsheet to the students also gives methe opportunity to briefly discuss the useof spreadsheets and some elementary sta-tistical methods, such as correlations. I dothis to try to reduce some of the math-phobia that afflicts many journalism stu-dents. A recent mid-semester course eval-uation generated this selection of studentcomments regarding the “quick” quiz.:

“The fact that the daily quizzes require meto keep up with the readings is goodbecause I understand the lecture better.”

“I like how you keep us updated with ourperformance in class and (as hard as thisis to say) the daily quizzes.”

“As much as I dislike taking daily quizzes,


82

• The total value of the quizzes is relative-ly low, about 20 percent of the final grade.

• Grades are recorded on the instructor’sExcel spreadsheet for the class.

• Students not taking the quiz have nograde recorded.

• The “countblank” function in Excel isused to sum the number of blank cells ineach student’s row. (A quiz grade of zerodoes not register as a blank cell; only stu-dents who are absent or late will have ablank cell.) This “countblank” column isplaced adjacent to a column in which eachstudent’s points earned in major exams(not including quiz totals) in the class aretotaled.

• The spreadsheet is then sorted based onthe total number of points each studenthas. (This is key; do not sort by studentnumber. Make students scan the list tovisually find their relative rank in theclass.) The relationship between examperformance and attendance becomesreadily apparent to students when thecolumns for each are displayed side byside. (Students at the top of the classalmost invariably have few class misses;students at the bottom of the class some-times miss 10 or more of the 30 classes inthe semester.)

• A correlation is run on the relationshipbetween the points earned to date and thetotal exam grade to confirm the linkbetween attendance (not quiz perform-ance, just attendance!) and major examgrades.

• The master spreadsheet copy is updated(names deleted, of course) and distributedto students via e-mail attachment, posted

and displayed on the overhead projectorin class at appropriate times throughoutthe semester, each time pointing out therelationship between class attendance andexam performance.

• By sorting the spreadsheet by grade indescending order and looking at the“countblank” column, it is easy to identi-fy as students deserving of special atten-tion—from among even a very largeclass. Those who have low scores but areotherwise dedicated to the class readilystand out.

ImpactContrary to what might be expected,

students respond very well to the daily“quick” quiz. I have used it in 10 classesover five years involving about 750 stu-dents. The correlation between attendanceand exam grades has ranged from about0.40 to more than 0.70. (It’s actuallyshown as a negative correlation becauseas the number of class misses goes up theexam grade goes down.) Showing thespreadsheet to the students also gives methe opportunity to briefly discuss the useof spreadsheets and some elementary sta-tistical methods, such as correlations. I dothis to try to reduce some of the math-phobia that afflicts many journalism stu-dents. A recent mid-semester course eval-uation generated this selection of studentcomments regarding the “quick” quiz.:

“The fact that the daily quizzes require meto keep up with the readings is goodbecause I understand the lecture better.”

“I like how you keep us updated with ourperformance in class and (as hard as thisis to say) the daily quizzes.”

“As much as I dislike taking daily quizzes,


83

I actually think that they help me stay ontask for the class. Since I know I am goingto be quizzed on the reading I definitelyalways do the reading.”

“The spreadsheet updates are very nice—and the counted absences are encourag-ing to come to class.”

“I really like the quizzes because of thechance to get more points.”

“Contrary to my initial reaction, I doappreciate that we have to read everynight because it helps my understandingand I don’t get behind.”


83

I actually think that they help me stay ontask for the class. Since I know I am goingto be quizzed on the reading I definitelyalways do the reading.”

“The spreadsheet updates are very nice—and the counted absences are encourag-ing to come to class.”

“I really like the quizzes because of thechance to get more points.”

“Contrary to my initial reaction, I doappreciate that we have to read everynight because it helps my understandingand I don’t get behind.”


84

Creating Individual Codes of Ethics

How to integrate theory and practice

Kathleen Woodruff WickhamUniversity of Mississippi

IntroductionStudents enrolled in Media Ethics

were challenged to examine their ownvalues and beliefs within the practice ofjournalism by developing a personal codeof ethics that could be submitted toemployers along with their resumes.

RationaleIn order to develop a personal jour-

nalistic value system, thought and reflec-tion are required. As such, studentsenrolled in Media Ethics were challengedto spend the semester in self-examination,to consider not only the outcomes of thecase studies in their text book but to alsoexamine their thoughts, feelings and emo-tions regarding the cases.

The approach was rooted in a quotefrom Fydor Dostoyevsky, who noted:"Without a firm idea of himself and thepurpose of his life, man cannot live."

It was felt that fledging journalistsneeded the time consider their role asjournalists and the values of journalismbefore they enter the field. And whilethese questions are discussed duringclasses, in the hallways and in late nightstudent discussions, it was felt that a for-malized approach, focused on ethics,would be beneficial.

The goal of the semester-long exer-cise was to assist the students in identify-ing and clarifying their own beliefs andattitudes regarding ethical issues in jour-nalism. Socratic discussions, journal writ-ing and critical writing were part of theprocess.

The intent was for the students todevelop a personal value system and togive the students the tools for identifying,analyzing and resolving ethical issues intheir professional careers.

ImplementationCase study learning is a cooperative

approach based on shared learning,Socratic discussion and respect for theviewpoints of all participants. Case studylearning also calls for focused listening,thinking intelligently and coming to classprepared for discussions.

The approach enabled students tobecome familiar with the philosophicalunderpinnings of ethical issues; and toexamine their own personal values andhow these values are seen in the profes-sion. In addition the students practicedcritical thinking, learned to tolerate dis-agreements in formal discussions, devel-oped respect for ethnic and gender diver-sity and gained a moral guidepost for their


84

Creating Individual Codes of Ethics

How to integrate theory and practice

Kathleen Woodruff WickhamUniversity of Mississippi

IntroductionStudents enrolled in Media Ethics

were challenged to examine their ownvalues and beliefs within the practice ofjournalism by developing a personal codeof ethics that could be submitted toemployers along with their resumes.

RationaleIn order to develop a personal jour-

nalistic value system, thought and reflec-tion are required. As such, studentsenrolled in Media Ethics were challengedto spend the semester in self-examination,to consider not only the outcomes of thecase studies in their text book but to alsoexamine their thoughts, feelings and emo-tions regarding the cases.

The approach was rooted in a quotefrom Fydor Dostoyevsky, who noted:"Without a firm idea of himself and thepurpose of his life, man cannot live."

It was felt that fledging journalistsneeded the time consider their role asjournalists and the values of journalismbefore they enter the field. And whilethese questions are discussed duringclasses, in the hallways and in late nightstudent discussions, it was felt that a for-malized approach, focused on ethics,would be beneficial.

The goal of the semester-long exer-cise was to assist the students in identify-ing and clarifying their own beliefs andattitudes regarding ethical issues in jour-nalism. Socratic discussions, journal writ-ing and critical writing were part of theprocess.

The intent was for the students todevelop a personal value system and togive the students the tools for identifying,analyzing and resolving ethical issues intheir professional careers.

ImplementationCase study learning is a cooperative

approach based on shared learning,Socratic discussion and respect for theviewpoints of all participants. Case studylearning also calls for focused listening,thinking intelligently and coming to classprepared for discussions.

The approach enabled students tobecome familiar with the philosophicalunderpinnings of ethical issues; and toexamine their own personal values andhow these values are seen in the profes-sion. In addition the students practicedcritical thinking, learned to tolerate dis-agreements in formal discussions, devel-oped respect for ethnic and gender diver-sity and gained a moral guidepost for their


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professional careers.Each week students were assigned

to one of five or six ethical case studies toanalyze using specific criteria. In class,small group discussions were held withstudents assigned to the same caseassigned to the same group, again withstructured questions to answer. One per-son from each group then presented theissues and views to the class as a whole.Weekly, the students wrote about theirreactions to the cases and to the discus-sions as well as their personal reflectionson the issues in journals seen only by theinstructor.

The semester was broken down intoweekly topics. The topics included diver-sity, disaster coverage, reporters and theirsources, accuracy, fairness and balance,sensationalism, crisis stories and privacy.

As a final project the students wereasked to write a personal code of ethics nolonger than 250-500 words. The code wasto include:

• A very short introduction on ethics andthe importance of a personal ethical state-ment

• A general but short policy or philosoph-ical statement about the topic

• A list of procedures, possibly including,when important decisions should bemade, who should be involved in the deci-sion-making and what values should beconsidered

Students were given the option ofdealing with topics of particular interestto them, or of writing a statement usingbroader strokes. Other requirementsincluded focusing the code on their careerpath—print or broadcast—as appropriate.

ImpactI wanted to know what the students

believed in, their values, their standards,and to have some sense how they wouldresolves ethical problems in journalism.The result was extraordinary.

The personal codes of ethics handedin were thoughtful, complete and reflect-ed depth, breadth and maturity. This wasmy first time to teach ethics and thus thefirst time to try this approach. I know thatI will be using the technique in futureclasses.


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professional careers.Each week students were assigned

to one of five or six ethical case studies toanalyze using specific criteria. In class,small group discussions were held withstudents assigned to the same caseassigned to the same group, again withstructured questions to answer. One per-son from each group then presented theissues and views to the class as a whole.Weekly, the students wrote about theirreactions to the cases and to the discus-sions as well as their personal reflectionson the issues in journals seen only by theinstructor.

The semester was broken down intoweekly topics. The topics included diver-sity, disaster coverage, reporters and theirsources, accuracy, fairness and balance,sensationalism, crisis stories and privacy.

As a final project the students wereasked to write a personal code of ethics nolonger than 250-500 words. The code wasto include:

• A very short introduction on ethics andthe importance of a personal ethical state-ment

• A general but short policy or philosoph-ical statement about the topic

• A list of procedures, possibly including,when important decisions should bemade, who should be involved in the deci-sion-making and what values should beconsidered

Students were given the option ofdealing with topics of particular interestto them, or of writing a statement usingbroader strokes. Other requirementsincluded focusing the code on their careerpath—print or broadcast—as appropriate.

ImpactI wanted to know what the students

believed in, their values, their standards,and to have some sense how they wouldresolves ethical problems in journalism.The result was extraordinary.

The personal codes of ethics handedin were thoughtful, complete and reflect-ed depth, breadth and maturity. This wasmy first time to teach ethics and thus thefirst time to try this approach. I know thatI will be using the technique in futureclasses.


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Project Access

How to provide students hands-on experience with theFreedom of Information Act

Terry L. WimmerWest Virginia University

IntroductionFreedom of Information Acts, both

state and federal, were created to guaran-tee citizens access to the process of gov-ernment. Journalists, in their roles as citi-zen watchdogs, use the power of the lawto track where tax dollars are spent and tocontextualize the inner workings of gov-ernment on the federal, state and locallevels. Learning how to find informationis an essential skill for young reportersand researchers to develop.

Understanding what documents thatpublic officials are required by law torelease, and what they can withhold legal-ly, will help young reporters andresearchers expand decision-makingskills. In this project, students move outof the classroom and into the practicalarena of conducting face-to-face publicrecords audits, analyzing results and writ-ing narrative summaries of their experi-ences.

This project is designed to be part ofan undergraduate-level research methodsclass, but the project is applicable in gen-eral news reporting and media law class-es.

RationaleOne objective behind the project is

to teach students about responsibilitiesand duties of public officials and citizensunder FOIA. Another objective is to guidestudents in how to make a specific publicrecords request and how to followthrough the FOIA process to obtainrecords. The concept is to adapt a peda-gogic paradigm common in medicalschools: see one, do one, teach one. Oncestudents learn the process of public-records requests, and once they apply thatprocess by making their own requests,they will be more familiar with theprocess and able to share the “how” withothers.

ImplementationThe model presented here is for a

five-week process pursuing requestsunder a state Freedom of Information Act.The federal act is similar and differencescan be addressed in lecture. The state actwas chosen to allow for a better samplingframe for students to make face-to-facerequests. The professor should researchthe state act, exemptions specified under


86

Project Access

How to provide students hands-on experience with theFreedom of Information Act

Terry L. WimmerWest Virginia University

IntroductionFreedom of Information Acts, both

state and federal, were created to guaran-tee citizens access to the process of gov-ernment. Journalists, in their roles as citi-zen watchdogs, use the power of the lawto track where tax dollars are spent and tocontextualize the inner workings of gov-ernment on the federal, state and locallevels. Learning how to find informationis an essential skill for young reportersand researchers to develop.

Understanding what documents thatpublic officials are required by law torelease, and what they can withhold legal-ly, will help young reporters andresearchers expand decision-makingskills. In this project, students move outof the classroom and into the practicalarena of conducting face-to-face publicrecords audits, analyzing results and writ-ing narrative summaries of their experi-ences.

This project is designed to be part ofan undergraduate-level research methodsclass, but the project is applicable in gen-eral news reporting and media law class-es.

RationaleOne objective behind the project is

to teach students about responsibilitiesand duties of public officials and citizensunder FOIA. Another objective is to guidestudents in how to make a specific publicrecords request and how to followthrough the FOIA process to obtainrecords. The concept is to adapt a peda-gogic paradigm common in medicalschools: see one, do one, teach one. Oncestudents learn the process of public-records requests, and once they apply thatprocess by making their own requests,they will be more familiar with theprocess and able to share the “how” withothers.

ImplementationThe model presented here is for a

five-week process pursuing requestsunder a state Freedom of Information Act.The federal act is similar and differencescan be addressed in lecture. The state actwas chosen to allow for a better samplingframe for students to make face-to-facerequests. The professor should researchthe state act, exemptions specified under


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the act, and case law to explain how thoseexemptions have been interpreted by thecourts.

Examples of state FOIA audits canbe found at http://foi.missouri.edu/open-recseries.html.

This model is designed with a two-class a week schedule. Student assess-ment can be measured at four stages: 1) examination on the law and its exemp-tions2) writing a specific FOIA letter3) narrative summaries of audit experi-ence4) executive summaries of audit results.

• Week One, Class One

1) Distribute copies of the state FOIA forstudents to read. 2) Lecture notes should help studentsinterpret the act by exploring what is openand what is not. The lecture should focuson the act’s exemptions and how thecourts have interpreted those exemptions.Examples of the types of documents thatare open (for example, inspection reports,written policies and bids) and the docu-ments that are closed (for example, med-ical information, adoption reports and stu-dent test scores) serve as illustrativepoints. Court cases serve as salient exam-ples for understanding exemptions and forlearning how to construct a FOIA requestwith the required specificity. Breakingdown the types of FOIA requests into twocategories—financial and non-finan-cial—provides a strong frame of refer-ence for students.

• Week One, Class Two

1) Quiz students on FOIA exemptions.2) Brainstorm audit options within theclass. The requests should represent obvi-

ously open public records, e.g. employ-ment contracts of public officials, inspec-tion reports for cafeterias and dormitories,etc. Requests that fall under the gray areaof exemptions – ones that might revealtrade secrets, for example – should beavoided. A university directory is a goodtool for students to use to make auditchoices. 3) Match students with audit assignments.

• Week Two, Class One

1) Provide a sample of a FOIA request let-ter. 2) Discuss key points to writing an effec-tive letter: Is it directed to the correct per-son? Is the request specific enough? Howcan it be made more specific? Is the legalcitation included in the letter? 3) Assign students to write a FOIArequest letter for their audit assignment.

• Week Two, Class Two

1) Write an audit response guide, includ-ing the coding forms students will returnafter completing the audit. Present aprimer to students on how the FOIA auditwill be conducted. A Frequently AskedQuestions list can serve to focus the dis-cussion.2) Explain why the auditors representthemselves as citizens, and not as studentjournalists. FOIA laws are intended toguarantee equal access for all citizens, notjust access for student journalists actingas watchdogs. Ethical concerns aboutmisrepresentation should be assuaged byaccepting the premise that the goal of anaudit is to learn whether citizen requestsare accepted or denied.3) Collect student FOIA letters.4) Hand out audit response guide andcode sheets.


87

the act, and case law to explain how thoseexemptions have been interpreted by thecourts.

Examples of state FOIA audits canbe found at http://foi.missouri.edu/open-recseries.html.

This model is designed with a two-class a week schedule. Student assess-ment can be measured at four stages: 1) examination on the law and its exemp-tions2) writing a specific FOIA letter3) narrative summaries of audit experi-ence4) executive summaries of audit results.

• Week One, Class One

1) Distribute copies of the state FOIA forstudents to read. 2) Lecture notes should help studentsinterpret the act by exploring what is openand what is not. The lecture should focuson the act’s exemptions and how thecourts have interpreted those exemptions.Examples of the types of documents thatare open (for example, inspection reports,written policies and bids) and the docu-ments that are closed (for example, med-ical information, adoption reports and stu-dent test scores) serve as illustrativepoints. Court cases serve as salient exam-ples for understanding exemptions and forlearning how to construct a FOIA requestwith the required specificity. Breakingdown the types of FOIA requests into twocategories—financial and non-finan-cial—provides a strong frame of refer-ence for students.

• Week One, Class Two

1) Quiz students on FOIA exemptions.2) Brainstorm audit options within theclass. The requests should represent obvi-

ously open public records, e.g. employ-ment contracts of public officials, inspec-tion reports for cafeterias and dormitories,etc. Requests that fall under the gray areaof exemptions – ones that might revealtrade secrets, for example – should beavoided. A university directory is a goodtool for students to use to make auditchoices. 3) Match students with audit assignments.

• Week Two, Class One

1) Provide a sample of a FOIA request let-ter. 2) Discuss key points to writing an effec-tive letter: Is it directed to the correct per-son? Is the request specific enough? Howcan it be made more specific? Is the legalcitation included in the letter? 3) Assign students to write a FOIArequest letter for their audit assignment.

• Week Two, Class Two

1) Write an audit response guide, includ-ing the coding forms students will returnafter completing the audit. Present aprimer to students on how the FOIA auditwill be conducted. A Frequently AskedQuestions list can serve to focus the dis-cussion.2) Explain why the auditors representthemselves as citizens, and not as studentjournalists. FOIA laws are intended toguarantee equal access for all citizens, notjust access for student journalists actingas watchdogs. Ethical concerns aboutmisrepresentation should be assuaged byaccepting the premise that the goal of anaudit is to learn whether citizen requestsare accepted or denied.3) Collect student FOIA letters.4) Hand out audit response guide andcode sheets.


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5) Break students into two-person groupsto practice making requests. Students willalternate between role-playing the officialand the requestor.

• Week Three, Class One

1) Return FOIA letters graded for speci-ficity of request, grammar and spelling. 2) Invite to class a guest speaker who usesFOIA—a local investigative reporter —tohelp with training. Break students intotwo groups. Have them approach thetrainer(s) and state their specific request.Give immediate feedback and if neces-sary have them repeat the procedure.3) Students can begin the audit immedi-ately after correcting FOIA letters.4) Assign a 500-word narrative on theiraudit experience.5) Distribute clean coding and responsesheets.

• Week Three, Class Two

1) Students use class time for the auditwork.

• Week Four, Class One

1) Introduce descriptive statistical analy-sis techniques.2) Discuss how to write executive sum-maries of research projects.

• Week Four, Class Two

1) Audit code sheets due.

2) Narrative summaries due.3) Lecture on the federal Freedom ofInformation Act and its provisions.

• Week Five, Class One

1) Distribute summary descriptive statis-tics for the audit.2) Discuss significance of the results.3) Assign executive summaries.

• Week Five, Class Two

1) Student executive summaries due.2) Wrap-up and final lecture on howFOIA requests are used in the businessworld. The majority of most FOIArequests come from businesses seeking acompetitive edge. Explore why and how.

ImpactThis GIFT idea was implemented in

a class of 48 undergraduate students. “The experience was a great way to

learn because we had the chance to usethe law ourselves,” one student wrote.

Another commented: “I would ratethis project as one of the most informativeprojects I have done throughout my col-lege career. I never realized, until thisclass, that FOIA existed, and now I knowexactly what I need to do when I want tobe a ‘fully informed citizen.’”

A university-promoted FOIA dis-cussion panel held after the class endedbuilt greater awareness of public recordsand the obligations of public officials toprovide those records.


88

5) Break students into two-person groupsto practice making requests. Students willalternate between role-playing the officialand the requestor.

• Week Three, Class One

1) Return FOIA letters graded for speci-ficity of request, grammar and spelling. 2) Invite to class a guest speaker who usesFOIA—a local investigative reporter —tohelp with training. Break students intotwo groups. Have them approach thetrainer(s) and state their specific request.Give immediate feedback and if neces-sary have them repeat the procedure.3) Students can begin the audit immedi-ately after correcting FOIA letters.4) Assign a 500-word narrative on theiraudit experience.5) Distribute clean coding and responsesheets.

• Week Three, Class Two

1) Students use class time for the auditwork.

• Week Four, Class One

1) Introduce descriptive statistical analy-sis techniques.2) Discuss how to write executive sum-maries of research projects.

• Week Four, Class Two

1) Audit code sheets due.

2) Narrative summaries due.3) Lecture on the federal Freedom ofInformation Act and its provisions.

• Week Five, Class One

1) Distribute summary descriptive statis-tics for the audit.2) Discuss significance of the results.3) Assign executive summaries.

• Week Five, Class Two

1) Student executive summaries due.2) Wrap-up and final lecture on howFOIA requests are used in the businessworld. The majority of most FOIArequests come from businesses seeking acompetitive edge. Explore why and how.

ImpactThis GIFT idea was implemented in

a class of 48 undergraduate students. “The experience was a great way to

learn because we had the chance to usethe law ourselves,” one student wrote.

Another commented: “I would ratethis project as one of the most informativeprojects I have done throughout my col-lege career. I never realized, until thisclass, that FOIA existed, and now I knowexactly what I need to do when I want tobe a ‘fully informed citizen.’”

A university-promoted FOIA dis-cussion panel held after the class endedbuilt greater awareness of public recordsand the obligations of public officials toprovide those records.


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The Live Remote

How to bring professionals to students

Bradford L. YatesState University of West Georgia

IntroductionThe Live Remote is an opportunity

to overcome the obstacles of distance andscheduling conflicts and expose studentsto professionals in mass communicationusing the Internet. Professionals can“visit” class via web phone technology orvideoconferencing and interact with stu-dents almost as if they were present in theclassroom.

RationaleThis innovative teaching technique

is a superb way to expose students toindustry professionals and their wealth ofknowledge while utilizing the latest tech-nology to illustrate to students the fasci-nating applications of the Internet.Students reap the benefits of hearing whatthe latest trends are from successful pro-fessionals and see how the Internet is fastbecoming the new mass medium.

Implementation

• It is necessary to have web phone soft-ware or videoconferencing capabilities toimplement this GIFT. Contact your cam-pus learning resources department to helpyou identify what technology/software isavailable and how it can be set up in your

classroom or loaded onto your classroomcomputer or laptop.

• Contact an industry professional todetermine if he/she has access to webphone software or videoconferencingequipment. (Your institution might wantto invest in web phone software that canbe sent to industry professionals for aone-time use).

• Schedule an industry professional to bea “guest speaker” in your class.

• Ask the industry professional to prepareopening remarks. It is even possible todevelop PowerPoint slides that can rein-force the points the professional makesand display them as he speaks. Otheraudiovisual aids may be incorporated tohelp students get a better grasp of the con-cepts the professional discusses. Forexample, a videotape of selected resumesfor news reporter jobs could be playedwhile a TV news director describes whathe/she looks for in a tape.

• Students can ask questions of the guestspeaker, just as if he/she was there, andreceive an immediate response.


89

The Live Remote

How to bring professionals to students

Bradford L. YatesState University of West Georgia

IntroductionThe Live Remote is an opportunity

to overcome the obstacles of distance andscheduling conflicts and expose studentsto professionals in mass communicationusing the Internet. Professionals can“visit” class via web phone technology orvideoconferencing and interact with stu-dents almost as if they were present in theclassroom.

RationaleThis innovative teaching technique

is a superb way to expose students toindustry professionals and their wealth ofknowledge while utilizing the latest tech-nology to illustrate to students the fasci-nating applications of the Internet.Students reap the benefits of hearing whatthe latest trends are from successful pro-fessionals and see how the Internet is fastbecoming the new mass medium.

Implementation

• It is necessary to have web phone soft-ware or videoconferencing capabilities toimplement this GIFT. Contact your cam-pus learning resources department to helpyou identify what technology/software isavailable and how it can be set up in your

classroom or loaded onto your classroomcomputer or laptop.

• Contact an industry professional todetermine if he/she has access to webphone software or videoconferencingequipment. (Your institution might wantto invest in web phone software that canbe sent to industry professionals for aone-time use).

• Schedule an industry professional to bea “guest speaker” in your class.

• Ask the industry professional to prepareopening remarks. It is even possible todevelop PowerPoint slides that can rein-force the points the professional makesand display them as he speaks. Otheraudiovisual aids may be incorporated tohelp students get a better grasp of the con-cepts the professional discusses. Forexample, a videotape of selected resumesfor news reporter jobs could be playedwhile a TV news director describes whathe/she looks for in a tape.

• Students can ask questions of the guestspeaker, just as if he/she was there, andreceive an immediate response.


90

• Students will be asked to write a reac-tion paper to the “guest speaker” to pro-vide closure to the experience. Studentsshould focus on the content of theremarks as well as the experience of hav-ing a speaker via web phone technologyor videoconferencing.

ImpactThe Live Remote is an excellent

way for students to interact with industryprofessionals they might not otherwisemeet. The interactive capabilities of webphone technology and/or videoconferenc-ing provide a unique opportunity for stu-

dents to glean valuable information fromindustry professionals and experiencetechnology in use.

This GIFT is also a unique opportu-nity for faculty to realize the classroom isnot limited to the traditional four walls. Ifindustry professionals cannot physicallybe on campus, technology allows for themto virtually be there. Too often facultylimit themselves to the traditionalresources available, but an inquiry to thelearning resources department might openup a wealth of learning opportunitiesnever imagined.


90

• Students will be asked to write a reac-tion paper to the “guest speaker” to pro-vide closure to the experience. Studentsshould focus on the content of theremarks as well as the experience of hav-ing a speaker via web phone technologyor videoconferencing.

ImpactThe Live Remote is an excellent

way for students to interact with industryprofessionals they might not otherwisemeet. The interactive capabilities of webphone technology and/or videoconferenc-ing provide a unique opportunity for stu-

dents to glean valuable information fromindustry professionals and experiencetechnology in use.

This GIFT is also a unique opportu-nity for faculty to realize the classroom isnot limited to the traditional four walls. Ifindustry professionals cannot physicallybe on campus, technology allows for themto virtually be there. Too often facultylimit themselves to the traditionalresources available, but an inquiry to thelearning resources department might openup a wealth of learning opportunitiesnever imagined.