Media Literacy and Civic Engagement: Report from the Field

1. Media Literacy and Adolescent Civic Engagement: Report from the Field
Hans Martens
Renee Hobbs
Shay Taylor
Montgomery Blair High School
Presentation at the
National Association for Media Literacy Education, July 24, 2011

2. Goals for this Session
Learn about how media literacy is integrated into a high-functioning American high school
Share research results examining the relationship between news analysis and civic engagement
Explore the opportunities and challenges of empirical research in media literacy education
3. 4. 5. 6. Blair Network Communications (BNC)
7. Selective Admission Programs
Communication Arts Program (CAP)
Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Magnet Program
Open Admission Programs
Media Literacy
Entrepreneurship
International Studies and Law
Human Service Professions
Science, Math and Technology
8. Communication Arts Program (CAP)
GRADE 9
INTERDISCIPLINARY
INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS
The projects synthesize information from various disciplines into comprehensive presentations that highlight the events of the era assigned.
MOVIE REVIEWS
Each quarter the
students will watch a movie in the auditorium that relates to the historical period focused on in History class. They write a movie review and for homework, watch movies from a list compiled by the faculty.
CRITICAL THINKING PAPER
The project entails an in depth argument and analysis for a major social issue facing humanity.
A comprehensive program that connects the humanities to the media, now in its 24th year
Crystal Ball
Students research demographic and voter characteristics and then predict the Presidential, US Senate, US House of Representatives, and gubernatorial races throughout the United States.

Critical Thinking Essay
The Critical Thinking Essay requires students to select an issue of national importance and write a persuasive essay arguing one side of that issue, supported by documented and cited sources.In 10th grade, each student will support the issue from the side opposite to the one advocated in the 9th grade essay
CAP Congress Foreign Policy
Students research foreign policy issues concerning seven hotspots from around the world, draft resolutions, debate the issues, and prioritize the foreign policy needs of the US.

CAP Court
Students hold mock trials on court cases drawn from each of the four 10th grade subjects:English, Government, Journalism and Media.Students will act as lawyers trying the case and also role-play the defendants and witnesses.
GRADE 9
INTERDISCIPLINARY
11. 12. Open Admission Programs
13. MEDIA LITERACY ACADEMY
Students in the Media Literacy Academy develop the ability to read, analyze, evaluate, and produce communications in written text, moving images, still images, and sound. Students will learn to read critically, interpret analytically, communicate effectively, and produce messages for both meaning and persuasion. Any field involving art, music, film, radio, video, television, theater, literature, journalism, or photography requires an understanding of effective communication.
14. 15. 16. Research Design
Quasi-experimental study
2 x 2 factorial
Treatment
Media Literacy
No ML
CAP
ML ACADEMY
CONTROL
CONTROL
Academy Level
OpenSelective
AdmissionAdmission
17. MEASURES
To distinguish between students actual use of the Internet and their motives for using the Internet to seek information, we first asked respondents to identify how much they use the Internet on an 8-point scale ranging from never to every day.
Internet use
Information Motives (U&G)
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
18. MEASURES
To assess students motives to seek out information as a part of daily life, we used an instrument developed to assess Internet uses and gratifications by Papacharissi & Rubin (2000). Using a five-point scale, students were asked to respond to four statements:

I use the internet to search for information

19. to see what is out there 20. to keep up with current events and issues 21. because it provides me with a new and interesting way to do research Internet use
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
22. MEASURES
Students were asked to report if they expect to engage in the following activities when they become an adult:

vote in national elections

23. get information about candidates before voting in an election 24. join a political party 25. writeletters to a newspaper about social or political concerns 26. be a candidate for a local or city office 27. volunteertime to help poor or elderly people in the community 28. collect money for a cause 29. collect signatures for a petition, and participate in a peaceful rally or protest. A 4-point scale was used, scaled as certainly will not do, probably will not do, probably will do, and certainly will do.
Internet use
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
30. MEASURES
In the news analysis task, students were given a short Time magazine piece (Van Biema, 2007) and asked to read it, responding to open-ended questions including:

summarize the main point of the article

31. identify the target audience & explain what specific information from the reading supports your answer 32. identify the message purpose 33. identify what techniques were used to attract and hold attention 34. list some different points of view presented 35. Identify omitted informationScores were summed to form an additive index which ranged from 14 to 0.
Internet use
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
36. MEASURES
In the ad analysis task, students were given a print ad and asked to respond to open-ended questions including:

identify the target audience & explain what specific information from the reading supports your answer

37. identify the message purpose 38. Identify the ads implied message or subtext 39. identify what techniques were used to attract and hold attention 40. list some different points of view presented 41. Identify omitted informationScores were summed to form an additive index which ranged from 14 to 0.
Internet use
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
42. MEASURES
We asked students to complete short tests relating to different facets of the media industry, including information about history, economics, institutions, audiences and effects.
MULTIPLE CHOICE (6 items):

identify the main purpose of photos in a newspaper

43. recognize the most common kind of economic control over mass media 44. name the system of financing used to pay for commercial radio. TRUE FALSE (11 items)

The number of companies that own mass media outlets is growing

45. Newspapers make most of their money through the price paid by the consumers who buy themInternet use
Civic Engagement
News Analysis
Ad Analysis
Media Knowledge
46. TheoreticalFramework
Media literacyeducation
->activelyconsuming and producing media messages
->seek out information on relevant issues, evaluate the quality of information available, engage in online publishing, debate and more
RQ1: Are differences media knowledge and media analysis skills associated with participation in a media literacy program?
Media literacycompetencies
->notequallydistributedamong adolescents
->variety of both informal and formal learning experiences as well as through family, peer, social class and other influences
RQ2: Are differences in media knowledge and media analysis skills associated with students academic level?
Motivationsfor digital media use
->Putnam: Decline in civic engagement
->Uses and gratifications research: Differential media effects. Informational media use patterns are positively related to civic engagement.
RQ3: What is the relationship between participation in a ML program, Internet use, information motivation, media literacy and civic engagement?
49. Data Analysis
Comparison of means
50. Data Analysis
Comparison of means
->Students in the Selective Admission Program score better on measures of media knowledge and media literacy than students in the Open Admission Program
51. Data Analysis
Comparison of means
->In both the Open Admission Program and the Selective Admission Program, the ML group scores better than the other group on media knowledge and media literacy measurements
52. Data Analysis
->Both educational level and participation in a media literacy program influence media knowledge and media literacy measurements
53. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
54. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
->Academy level is positivelyrelatedwithinformationmotive, media knowledge, newsanalysis and ad analysis. Note the negativerelationwithfrequency of Internet use
55. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
->Participation in a ML program is positivelyrelatedwith media knowledge, newsanalysis and ad analysis
56. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
->Frequency of Internet use is negativelyrelatedwithinformationmotive, media knowledge, newsanalysis, and ad analysis
57. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
-> Informationmotive is positivelyrelatedwithnewsanalysis
58. Data Analysis
Correlation matrix
->Media knowledge, newsanalysis, and ad analysis are positivelyrelatedbutdistinctconstructs
59. Data Analysis
Multiple regression
60. Data Analysis
Multiple regression
->Participation in a ML programindependentlycontributes to civic engagement
61. Data Analysis
Multiple regression
-> Aftercontrollingforgender, academy level, and ML program, informationmotive, media knowledge and newsanalysiscontribute to civic engagement
62. Summary

RQ1: Are differences media knowledge and media analysis skills associated with participation in a media literacy program?

63. RQ2: Are differences in media knowledge and media analysis skills associated with students academic level? 64. RQ3: What is the relationship between participation in a ML program, Internet use, information motivation, media literacy and civic engagement?