The Guide to Teaching
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Using Newspapers in the Classroom
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 13:54:46 -1000
From: Vincent K Pollard <pollard@hawaii.edu>
While not requiring newspaper subscriptions in the introductory
political science courses I have taught (or another one I will begin
teaching within two weeks), I have integrated student evaluation of
newspaper reporting into these courses in several ways.
Let me briefly indicate two of these:
1. Assigning "media watch" assignments.
In this assignment students are asked to pick a topic or an issue
about which they are very concerned and to "follow" it for a specified
number of weeks in local or international newspapers. Students then
summarize the general theme of the articles while answering a series of
questions designed to foreground the underlying journalistic norms and
values, as well as the reporters' use of evidence.
2. Using newspaper articles, combined with focused questions, to
elicit discussion from students organized into small groups.
A representative (whose position rotated from the previous time
the small group met) reports to the entire class on what answers the group
came up with, as well as if there was any dissent. These exercises are
integrated more tightly into the other assigned readings for the day and,
in turn, into subsequent writing assignments.
I hope this information is of some assistance.
Cordially,
Vincent K Pollard
Ph.D. Cand., Dept. of Political Science * University of Hawai'i-Manoa
Phone: (808) 956-4240 (Futures Studies) FAX: 956-6877 (Political Science)
Adjunct Professor * Kansai Gaidai Hawai'i College, Honolulu * 808 377-5402
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