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Written by Ethan Zuckerman on 2024-12-22 at 23:06

An unscientific observation while grading my 200-level class: I got much more original thinking out of my students from an assignment that asked them to make a 2 minute TikTok-style video "explainer" than I did out of the final research paper.

Papers clustered on a single "safe" solution - media literacy - while explainers covered a much wider range of ideas. The video was worth 20% of the grade, paper worth 30% - considering reversing their significance next year.

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Written by Ethan Zuckerman on 2024-12-22 at 23:07

(Particularly odd - I didn't teach or advocate for media literacy, but it's a solution most of the students have converged on. Not surprising on a class on media and democracy, but weird to see, especially since I'm very skeptical about how much media literacy can do... )

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Written by Ted Han ★ 韓聖安 on 2024-12-22 at 23:10

@ethanz 200 level meaning that there's a 100 level requirement, or 200 meaning more advanced? I'm curious if prior university classes prime them towards it, or something earlier

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Written by Amin Girasol on 2024-12-22 at 23:50

@ted @ethanz I think it's American for second year undergraduate.

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Written by Ethan Zuckerman on 2024-12-23 at 14:57

@fluidlogic @ted Yes and no - more that it's not meant as a general intro to the field but a subject specific class. Students range from 1st to 4th year.

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Written by Ethan Zuckerman on 2024-12-23 at 14:56

@ted 100 in Communication is a massive intro class, so 200s don't necessarily have a pre-req, but signify a more advanced class with a smaller session.

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Written by quixote on 2024-12-22 at 23:19

@ethanz The 'explainer' is a teaching assignment. The paper is a do-your-homework assignment.

Teaching is the best way to learn, so that may account for the difference more than the medium or other factors. If you have some way to control for their comfort with and interest in the medium, it would be interesting to see if teaching is indeed the main component in creating the 'range of ideas' effect.

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Written by Bob "Half Shed" Blaskiewicz on 2024-12-23 at 04:10

@ethanz My students brought a lot to their videos (create a youtube-style ad for a fake scam medical product). I had them write a 2-page reflection about how they decided to put it together, referring to things we had seen in the class. chef's kiss

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