Analyzing the Distinction between Protectionism and Empowerment As Perspectives on Media Literacy Education

It has become a common practice to categorize the different perspectives on media education as following either a protectionist approach or an empowerment approach. However, the way scholars write about these two categories can be confusing and sometimes misleading. A critical analysis is presented where these writings are examined along 10 analytical dimensions that include how authors conceptualize the power differential between the media and audiences, purpose of media education, nature of instruction (scope, stance, extent, and content), role of the instructor, and outcome assessment (type of measures, timing, and indicators of success). The findings from this critical analysis indicate that the labels used for the two categories tend to highlight the similarities more so than differences across the two approaches to media education

Analyzing the distinction between protectionism and empowerment as perspectives on media literacy education

It has become a common practice to categorize the different perspectives on media education as following either a protectionist approach or an empowerment approach. However, the way scholars write about these two categories can be confusing and sometimes misleading. A critical analysis is presented where these writings are examined along 10 analytical dimensions that include how authors conceptualize the power differential between the media and audiences, purpose of media education, nature of instruction (scope, stance, extent, and content), role of the instructor, and outcome assessment (type of measures, timing, and indicators of success). The findings from this critical analysis indicate that the labels used for the two categories tend to highlight the similarities more so than differences across the two approaches to media education

A Review and Analysis of Patterns of Design Decisions in Recent Media Effects Research

This essay presents a critical analysis of patterns of research design decisions exhibited by authors of recently published empirical tests of media effects. The content of 211 articles published from 2010 to 2015 in six core communication journals were analyzed to document the design decisions made by the authors concerning their use of theory, sampling, measurement, and experiments. We also recorded the amount of variance explained by their tests and use this indicator of strength of findings to explain the patterns of methodological design decisions. The findings indicate that authors of these studies commonly select weaker design options over stronger ones. The reasons for these patterns are explored then critiqued leading to a series of recommendations calling for an evolution in thinking in the areas of method, theory, and paradigm. The methods recommendations attempt to increase (a) awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of options available for each design decision, (b) an understanding that often assumptions made to justify the selection of an option are faulty, and (c) a commitment to meeting a higher degree of challenges. The theory recommendations focus on increasing an understanding about why designers of most tests of media effects ignore the many theories available when designing their studies. And the paradigm recommendations focus on examining more critically the assumptions we make about the nature of human beings, the purpose of our research as challenges evolve, and the defaults in practices we have established in an exploratory phase

Critically analyzing the meanings of “critical” media literacy

This study provides a critical analysis into how authors of publications about critical media literacy express what they mean by the term. The use of multiple strategies to examine the degree to which these authors exhibit a sharing of meaning led to the conclusion that there are far more differences than commonalities across definitions of critical media literacy. The implications of this conclusion raise important questions about the value of a literature where authors seem to express so many different meanings for the concept that they use to label their common concern

Reviewing media literacy intervention studies for validity

This study is an examination of validity in published articles that have provided tests of the effectiveness of media literacy interventions. We identified 88 published tests of media literacy interventions then analyzed their content using five coding variables that indicated the degree to which authors of those studies established basic validity. We first conducted a meaning analysis to identify the definitions that authors of those studies presented for media literacy. Then we used those definitions to determine the extent to which those authors provided a complete (content validity) and accurate (face validity) operationalization in the design of their measures

Guidelines for Media Literacy Interventions in the Digital Age

The purpose of this essay is to present a systematic procedure to help educators, researchers, and others design successful media literacy interventions. The essay begins with a review of three literatures (naturalistic interventions, educational evaluations, and social scientific studies of media effects) as a foundation for a seven-step procedure: (1) Begin with a clear conceptualization of media literacy, (2) determine your learning objectives, (3) analyze targets’ histories, (4) design the treatment to focus on real needs, (5) administer the intervention, (6) measure individuals’ outcomes and processes, and (7) analyzed what worked and why

Polarized QPOs from the INTEGRAL polar IGRJ14536-5522 (=Swift J1453.4-5524)

We report optical spectroscopy and high speed photometry and polarimetry of the INTEGRAL source IGRJ14536-5522 (=Swift J1453.4-5524). The photometry, polarimetry and spectroscopy are modulated on an orbital period of 3.1564(1) hours. Orbital circularly polarized modulations are seen from 0 to -18 per cent, unambiguously identifying IGRJ14536-5522 as a polar. Some of the high speed photometric data show modulations that are consistent with quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) on the order of 5-6 minutes. Furthermore, for the first time, we detect the (5-6) minute QPOs in the circular polarimetry. We discuss the possible origins of these QPOs. We also include details of HIPPO, a new high-speed photo-polarimeter used for some of our observations.Comment: Accepted for publication by MNRAS. The paper contains 7 figures and 1 tabl

“I kind of had an avatar switch” : the role of the self in engagement with an interactive TV drama

This paper reports results from a study which examined viewers’ cognitive and affective responses to an interactive TV drama. Ten participants were videoed interacting with ‘Our World War’ [1], and then interviewed about their experience using the video playback as a retrospective prompt. An interpretative framework was designed to guide analysis by probing themes of narrative engagement identified in previous literature. We report findings relating to five themes of engagement: cognitive, affective, perspective taking, competence and autonomy, and transportation. Our data adds to the existing literature on interactive stories by highlighting the pivotal role of the self in engaging with interactive drama, with self-reflection emerging within each theme. We conclude that two experiential states drive engagement: a transported experience; and one in which self-reflection limits transportation