Student Perceptions of Civic Media Literacy and Participation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Schools in Promoting Youth Voice and Civic Learning (Table 9)

Abstract

In this study, we explored 4th—8th-grade students’ learning experiences with civic media literacy, how they envision it as part of their participation as adults, and how participation in an action civics institute impacts these perceptions. We considered several factors, including social and political ideology, social class, perceptions of government, other demographic information, and previous schooling experiences and how these factors intersected with online engagement. Findings include that students’ online personas often mimicked Republican and Democratic actions in physical spaces. We also found that as students and parents align politically with certain ideas, parties, and people, they seek to distance themselves from information that contradicts those beliefs, often through the language of “fake news” or media literacy and fact-checking.

Authors

• Kelsey Leigh Stokes, Baylor University

• Kevin R. Magill, Baylor University