BACKGROUND AND DEFINITIONS

In this section we discuss the need for college-level instruction in news media literacy. To position our work within the literature, we briefly examine how other political science instructors have used small group discussion and current events in the classroom. In this section we also define “news media literacy” and “guided peer discussion.”

Familiarity with political news remains an important tool of citizenship and a foundational skill for political science majors. However, newspaper reading has been in decline among most age groups for several decades, and today most young Americans obtain news via social media (Pew Research Center 2016, 2018). There is increasing evidence that low-quality information can spread quickly via social media (Vosoughi, Roy, and Aral Reference Vosoughi, Roy and Aral2018), and research indicates that many users lack the skills necessary for evaluating source bias in digital media (Wineburg and McGrew Reference Wineburg and McGrew2016). Although faculty may expect that students will start college with some media literacy training, state legislatures are just beginning to require “digital literacy” within state standards for secondary schools (Deye Reference Deye2017), and the term was only recently emphasized in revised technology integration standards for educators (Trust Reference Trust2018). This makes incorporating news media literacy an important goal of political science instruction.

Even before the explosion of fake news, many political science faculty members encouraged or even required students to follow news headlines (Ruget and Rosero Reference Ruget and Rosero2014). Some instructors selected news articles for discussion in class (Huerta and Jozwiak Reference Huerta and Jozwiak2008); however, this does not help students develop a habit of skimming headlines regularly, an essential skill of informed citizenship. Although a clipping file or writing a blog develops this habit (Ruget and Rosero Reference Ruget and Rosero2014), these approaches require time-intensive grading that may create a barrier for instructors with large-enrollment courses.

Drawing on research demonstrating the strong connection between peer influences and behavior (Chung, Ersig, and McCarthy Reference Chung, Ersig and McCarthy2017), we implemented guided peer discussion as a means of enhancing news media literacy. For the purposes of this article, we define news media literacy as the ability to access and evaluate the quality and potential bias of news “in a variety of forms,” whether digital, video, or print (Center for Media Literacy 2022). We define guided peer discussion as formal cooperative learning groups in which consistent groups of students are assigned specific questions to discuss and jointly respond to (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith Reference Johnson, Johnson and Smith2014). Although several researchers in political science have found that small group discussions are beneficial (Bromley Reference Bromley2013; Feeley Reference Feeley2013; Hamann, Pollock, and Wilson Reference Hamann, Pollock and Wilson2012), this approach has not been widely addressed in the scholarship of teaching and learning in political science. We argue that short, guided peer discussion assignments can enhance student interest in current events without negatively affecting other important course outcomes or requiring extensive preparation and grading.

METHODOLOGY AND PEDAGOGICAL TECHNIQUES

Within an introductory political science course at a large public Midwestern university, we conducted a longitudinal study over three semesters to assess both how students acquired political news and their attitudes toward news headlines. Students completed a repeated survey measure at the beginning and end of each semester. Approximately 200 students completed the survey each semester, yielding a total of 606 participants. The total enrollment for the sections studied and response rate for the surveys are shown in table 1. Demographic data for students enrolled in all sections of the course are provided in table 2.

Table 1

Total Enrollment and Response Rates

Table 2

Demographic Data for All Sections of the Course

* Black, Hispanic, Native American.

The learning outcomes for the course described were not limited to news media literacy but included understanding the policy process and policy outcomes in several national contexts. To achieve these broader outcomes and to promote news media literacy, the instructor provided readings and lectures on course content punctuated by small group discussion assignments completed at the beginning, middle, and end of the class period. Students were assigned to permanent teams of three to six people and worked with these teams for at least four weeks.

Some of the guided small group discussion assignments were related to general course learning outcomes, but students engaged in guided small group discussions of news content approximately once a week. In each class, teams reported out to the larger class after spending seven to ten minutes in small groups and submitted a written summary of their discussion afterward. A graduate teaching assistant (GTA) assisted with grading these written team assignments. Individual students only received points if they were present and contributed actively to the discussion. Attendance was verified using name tents and a visual check by GTAs, and the instructor circulated throughout the classroom to encourage participation. In-class assignments accounted for 10% of the course grade.

Enrolled students were required to read a New York Times (NYT) email newsletter called the “Morning Briefing.” The instructor selected the NYT “Morning Briefing” because all university students received a complimentary subscription to this news source. The email newsletter format enabled students to save a consistent source as a reference.

To incentivize the regular review of news headlines, weekly at-home quizzes included one or two questions on current events. Additionally, two tests and the final exam included multiple-choice sections focused on current events. These assignments required students to regularly interact with a quality news source, which supported the goal of developing reading news headlines as a habit beyond the course.

The instructor deliberately designed guided peer discussion assignments to help students read selectively and to foster awareness of the different viewpoints represented by different news outlets. As an initial assignment, students worked in self-selected pairs to choose the most important story of the day. Students received the following criteria to help them sort the important news from content in other articles:

• • Something did happen: the story is not just speculation about something that may occur in the future.

• • The headline relates to policy, indicating that government has acted or might be expected to act in this area.

• • The news can be expected to have a significant effect on the United States or the world.

Using these criteria, students practiced recognizing and taking note of major policy new stories while screening out material unrelated to the course. Learning to read selectively can help students develop a sustainable daily habit of skimming relevant news headlines.

After the first assignment, current events discussions varied in content. One early team assignment asked students to work as their team to list a variety of sources of news. The goal of this assignment was to make students aware of how different people access information about current events. In a later team assignment, students were asked to compare coverage of headlines in the NYT with coverage in several other national news outlets. On another occasion, students conducted a Google search for more information about a current events story and then were required to evaluate the quality of the source by searching for more information about the publisher, author, and evidence provided. At times, students simply identified the most important policy news of the week or sought a deeper understanding of a complex ongoing story, such as the Rohingya refugee crisis.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The results demonstrated that this intervention decreased reliance on social media for news and increased interest in news headlines. The initial fall entrance survey indicated that 47% of students (N = 93) reported either low or very low interest in news headlines, despite many indicating plans to major in a field related to political science. Similarly low levels of interest were reported in subsequent semesters: 38% in the spring and 47% in the following fall as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1

Level of Interest in News Headlines on Most Days

Furthermore, across the three semesters, more than 40% of the enrolled students—43% in the fall, 46% in the spring, and 49% in the following fall—reported that social media was their primary source of news, with the main source of material in their social media feeds being “whatever friends or family post,” as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2

Source of Social Media Posts

In analyzing the data, we identified an increased level of interest in news headlines by the end of each semester. The largest shift in interest across semesters occurred among students who had started the course with low or very low levels of interest but subsequently reported a medium level of interest. At the beginning of the first semester, 47% of respondents reported a low or very low level of interest in news headlines, which decreased to 30% by the end of the semester. A smaller shift was observed in the second semester: low or very low level of interest decreased from 38% in January to 33% in May. In the final semester studied, the shift was substantial, with 47% reporting low or very low interest in August and only 32% reporting the same levels in December, as seen in figure 1. An independent sample t-test was conducted to examine significance (see table 3). For two of the three semesters studied, there was a statistically significant shift in the level of interest in news headlines, (t304 = 2.09, p < .05, Fall Semester 1; and t290 = 2.09, p < .05, Fall Semester 2).

Table 3

Independent Samples t-test Results

* p < 0.05.

In addition to increased interest in news headlines, data analysis indicates an aggregate decrease in social media use to access news headlines across all semesters. In the first semester, the percentage of respondents indicating social media as their primary source of news headlines declined from 43% to 32%; similar decreases were observed in the second and third semesters as shown in figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3

Social Media as #1 News Source

Figure 4

Percentage of Students Getting News from Social Media

Students were asked at the end of each semester, “To what extent have your news habits changed?” As shown in table 4, 70% of respondents indicated that the primary change was that they followed the news more frequently, and many reported that they valued the quality of the news coverage in the NYT:

Table 4

Extent that News Habits Changed as a Result of the Class

At the end of the semester, students who indicated increased interest in the news were asked to explain how their news habits had changed (table 5). Even though they were required to read only one news source, the NYT, some students reported an increased interest in diversifying their sources of news:

Table 5

How News Habits Have Changed

Students also reported that they enjoyed the opportunity for social interaction in peer discussion groups and benefited from hearing different points of view from their team members. Overall, students found the peer discussion groups enjoyable and productive: