A Media Literacy Curriculum for the Adolescent Learner

The purpose of this project was to develop a media literacy curriculum for teachers of young adolescents. Media literacy is a new, evolving field of study that teaches students to become critical consumers of today\u27s media. Media have often been blamed for the ills of student learning, critical thinking, performance and/or behavior skills. In the review ofliterature, the author investigated media\u27s impact on the adolescent learner, the need to teach media literacy, and recommended curriculum that would benefit the adolescent learner. The curriculum unit is designed to be a useful teaching tool for teachers of adolescent and preadolescent learners who have an interest in aiding these learners to understand the impact of media. It is equipped with definitions and research-based facts in how media shapes the lives of these learners. The curriculum will provide the teacher a media source for middle and intermediate school learners

Valuing diversity and establishing an approach to supporting excluded groups

Minority students and minority employees in Higher Engineering Education experience inequality. For academic staff these inequalities impact their personal development and career progression. To continue to grow and for engineering education to thrive as a professional discipline we must encourage diversity within both the student and staff populations. This paper cautions against a simple notion of diversity, rather a truly diverse culture within engineering is needed, one in which there is diversity of opportunity, diversity of thought and diversity of experience. To enable a more inclusive environment to flourish we must understand the scale of the inequalities which exist. However, this paper demonstrates that there are significant limitations to the current diversity data within the UK which leaves room for under-reporting and over-generalising. In addition, there are cultural challenges which give further likelihood to non-disclosure and lack of self-reporting. This paper proposes that further research is needed into the true lack of diversity within engineering and describes one example of a ‘thought experiment’ conducted by the researchers to start unpacking the data and highlighting the scale of the issue

New Opportunities for Interest-Driven Arts Learning in a Digital Age

Traditionally in the United States, schools and after-school programs have played a promi-nent part in teaching young people about the arts. Arts education has been waning in K-12 public schools in recent times, however. This is especially true in low-income communities, where public schools have often cut back on arts instruction so they can devote limited public education dollars to subjects such as writing and math that are the focus of high-stakes standardized tests.When we look outside of school, however, we see a strikingly different landscape, one full of promise for engaging young people in artistic activity. What makes this landscape possible is an eagerness to explore that springs from youths' own creative passions -- what we call "interest-driven arts learning" -- combined with the power of digital technology.This report is a step in trying to understand the new territory. It gives a rundown of scholarship in the areas of arts and out-of-school-hours learning; offers a framework for thinking about interest-driven arts learning in a digital age; examines young people's media consumption; provides a survey of youths' creative endeavors online and elsewhere, along with a look at the proliferation of technologies that young people are using in the arts; and concludes with thoughts about challenges and possibilities for the futur

Exploring the capabilities approach in a sport for development and peace setting.

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) has become a popular approach to development. However, critical scholars remain skeptical of SDP’s effectiveness. Utilizing a holistic approach that includes local voices may help a program’s effectiveness. Scholars are searching for a framework flexible enough to accommodate the varied nature of programs. One theoretical approach is the Capabilities Approach, which evaluates well-being based on what people can do and be. This case study explored the Capabilities Approach in an SDP setting. Youth Odyssey, a non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth through adventure programming, was the case. This case study explored what role does an SDP program play in participants achieving their capabilities, focusing on identifying functionings, barriers, and capabilities. Twenty-one interviews, 43 field observations and over 100 document/artifacts provided a holistic analysis of the case through triangulation. RQ1 asked what functionings are being supported by Youth Odyssey? RQ2 explored how does Youth Odyssey help remove barriers for participants? RQ3 asked what capabilities are Youth Odyssey creating for its participants? The findings add to the limited literature exploring SDP using the Capabilities Approach. It highlighted the Capabilities Approach’s potential to use local context and address concerns of critical scholars regarding SDP from a planning/execution/evaluation standpoint. It was one of the first studies to understand the role an SDP organization played in increasing an individual’s functionings, freedoms, and capabilities using qualitative data

The Complexity of Engineering Education in a Mission Driven PBL University

In this extended abstract, we will argue that education in a mission driven university holds particularities that call for the transformation of not only the research base of education but also the way in which education is conceptualised and practiced. Following a PBL approach, we put the students in the centre of educational activity and propose a conceptual framework for engineering education in a mission driven PBL university.<br/