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This paper presents a classroom activity designed to challenge undergraduate students to apply media literacy concepts directly. While today's students are highly technologically fluent, many still struggle to recognize how media shapes the world around them. This end of semester workshop splits students into groups to develop media literacy solutions, with one group acting as a panel of judges. A twist adds another layer: each group receives a confidential concept to subtly integrate into their presentation(i.e. factual evidence, emotional language, or misinformation). This activity therefore allows instructors to test students' understanding of course concepts and their ability to recognize manipulation tactics in real time. The activity flips a traditional lecture format by requiring students to think critically, collaborate, and apply what they ve learned during the semester. Designed to challenge students, this lecture reinforces that media literacy is an active, ongoing process that requires regular upkeep.
Media Literacy, Disinformation, Teaching, College Students
Today's college students are innately technologically fluent (Buzzetto-Hollywood & Quinn, 2024), having come of age alongside major digital advancements. Yet despite this inherent knowledge, many are illequipped to recognize how media shapes the world outside of the classroom (McGrew et al., 2017). Identifying common manipulations in media such as political disinformation, health and wellness pseudoscience, and undisclosed financial incentives (Traberg, Roozenbeek & van der Linden, 2022) is a skill that students need in order to achieve Media Literacy.
Media Literacy coursework often aims to address this modern requirement. Students can be challenging to connect with outside of a classroom environment where active learning strategies are employed. Because of this, instructors must find new and engaging ways to show students that constant media conKeywords: sumption does not automatically equate to literacy. This classroom activity presents such an undertaking, by engaging students in a dynamic workshop to test their applied media literacy levels.
The following proposed interactive classroom activity pedagogically challenges undergraduate students to develop media literacy solutions by utilizing course...