SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT - REFLECTIVE PAPER
Students will communicate with a group of peers, initially, only to discuss and share mass media events. The instructor will get groups together after the second week of class.
This group online discussion/chat/get together only has to occur one to three times to cover group discussion (as it's needed for this core course). Thereafter, the reflective paper written, is done individually.
Students will examine and analyze ONE recent current event concerning mass media, including speaking to a ‘news' professional. Students will present in-depth information from relevant sources representing different points of view or approaches with regard to the selected mass media issue. (examples: November 2016 Presidential Outcomes or The Refugee Crisis or Gun Violence).
A Signature Assignment, a "Reflective Paper", will be written by each student to reflect work and critical thinking through community engagement of the recent current event concerning mass media.
In general, this assignment requires students to identify, examine, and analyze a current mass media event that can be associated with community engagement and with use of critical thinking, write a 750 word paper to assist others to reflect on this mass media event. 5 For the first section of the paper, each student should:
Select a current issue or event that is related to mass media. This event has to have occurred (or been in the media) within the last year.
The current mass media event may stand on its own or branch from social, political, religious, environmental or other concerns.
You may use the perspective of the branch it stems from or if stands on its own, discuss the pros and cons of the mass media event, using research and critical thinking. In other words, students must analyze and pros and cons of each perspective as they apply to the issues.
This portion of the paper should:
o Discuss how these perspectives explain what is occurring with regard to this particular mass media event you have chosen
(How can the concepts/theories selected be used to explain the current event/issue How well do they explain the event)
o Organize arguments to reveal differences and similarities in the views; include insights and information from relevant sources.
o Use sources to support ideas and back up factual claims.
o Be mainly analytical. Although a portion of the paper will be devoted to describing the current event/issue, more emphasis on the paper should consist of the student's analysis.
For the second section of the paper, each student should:
Describe a way to increase the public's knowledge of this mass media event with your added knowledge:
o Refer to relevant research that supports this proposed approach.
o Discuss possible limitations of the proposed tactics.
Paper must be: At least 750 words (approximately 3 double-spaced pages) Typed Double-spaced
Use ‘Times New Roman' 11-point font and 1-inch margins all around Grades based on: A clear topic outlined at the start of the paper.
Clarity must be shown when describing how to increase awareness through research of the mass media event chosen.
A clear conclusion must be part of the writing.
Papers should be well-written, organized, and coherent.
Analyses should be in-depth and thorough.
The textbook or other resources should be properly cited when discussing the theory/concept, and all sources should be included on the references page.