Popular+Media

Popular Media


 * Overview**

Using popular media in education, especially the social studies, can serve strongly to help students to create meaningful connections to the materials with the real world they experience every day. This strategy I use constantly, especially in Psychology and Sociology. I really can see a variety of ways this tactic can be used in every Social Studies discipline.


 * Strategies**


 * Playing Clips to Introduce /Analyze or Assess a Concept -** Briefly discuss an idea, historical event, theory, etc... After discussing the idea, play a clip that demonstrate that concepts and have the students discuss it. For example, in my Sociology class I will talk about norm violations, then I will play a clip of a comedy in which someone violates norms (e.g. Happy Gilmore, Office Space, Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar, etc...). The students are instructed to write examples as they watch, then we share as a class.

This is the main strategy I utilize with popular media, and it can be adjusted a variety of different ways. For example...
 * If you had access to student response systems (e.g. Voters, Clickers), you could have the students watch a clip and vote which concept they believed it demonstrated the best.
 * You could also use the clickers to check for understanding at the end of class by setting up a quiz, playing a clip and then asking questions via the clickers to see if the students understand the concepts.
 * This strategy could be blended with other strategies (e.g. Magnetic Corners, Fist to Five, Write Around, etc...) as needed. You could play a clip from Office Space, and ask the students if it was wrong to avoid Bill Lundberg using Fist to Five in a philosophy class, play a clip from Band of Brothers and ask the students to write about what they think will happen next in a write around, or play a music video and have the students identify the statuses and roles of the people in the clip through using a graphic organizer.


 * Creating an assignment built around popular media**
 * I do this in my Psychology and Sociology classes, and I have seen this in a few other classes. For example, one of my coworkers who teaches Economics has a end of the semester project built on retirement planning set around the movie "Up." The students in my class watch and analyze "Mean Girls" as an assignment. Also, I have heard of people watching a movie and then comparing what was depicted in the movie to what really happened. You could do this in history.

In general, I really think that the uses of this strategy are limited by your imagination, time and to some degree the subject you teach. Obviously, this tactic is easier in some disciplines (e.g. Sociology, Psychology) than others (e.g. U.S. Government), but it is still possible in every discipline.
 * Using Popular Media as your Bell Ringer or Closer**
 * I do this in Sociology every day. I start with a music video which the students have to analyze. The students enjoy this, it sets the starting routine for the class, and is effective in helping the students learn. You could use commericials, clips from TV shows or movies, or advertisements in magazines to do the same thing.

media type="youtube" key="52u6AD19wGk" height="315" width="420" Mean Girls: The Politics of Girl World

I show this in class to demonstrate group dynamics.

media type="youtube" key="gZ_qXmxdgGM" height="315" width="560" Mean Girls: Cafeteria and Group

I show this in class to demonstrate in-group, out-group, status, role and many other Social Psychology concepts.


 * Links**
 * The Schoolhouse Rocks: Using Music to Engage Learning**
 * Education Through Music Organization**
 * Pros and Cons of Using Movies - Good summary of positives and negatives. Worth your time to read.**