Assignment

Science in the Media

Submitted by Laura Massa on January 5th, 2017
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Short Description: 

In small groups students give a presentation examining how the popular media reports scientific findings.

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Learning Outcomes: 

• Discriminate between scholarly and popular modes of knowledge through an understanding of the peer review process. • Engage critically and reflectively in scholarly discourse. • Exercise critical thinking in oral discussion and writing.

Individual or Group:

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Before I introduce the assignment I ask students to rate how accurately they believe that the popular media reports scientific findings. After all of the presentations have been given, I ask them to rate this again, and engage in a bit of reflective writing. I ask them explain why their rating has stayed the same or changed, how they will approach science in the media moving forward, and what they think the main take-aways from this assignment have been. We then discuss those take-away messages-- which usually results in a much broader and deeper understanding of information sources.

Suggested Citation: 
Massa, Laura. "Science in the Media." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/science-media.