Student Productions and Social Constructions: Critical Podcasting as a Pedagogical Tool for Undergraduate Sociology/Criminology

• In Event: 20461 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 11: Exploring Assignments

Abstract

This presentation explores student-produced media (podcasting) as an alternative assessment and critical pedagogical tool. Media production has been used as an alternative assessment in various fields to assess content-related competencies as well as secondary skills, like media literacy and science communication. (e.g., Snelson, 2018). In exploring the successes and challenges of this podcasting project across four semesters/ “seasons,” I demonstrate how student media production, when properly scaffolded and foregrounding analytical rigor, presents unique opportunities for critical engagement with sociological concepts/skills like social constructionism, discourse, framing, and the sociological imagination.
In this podcasting project for an online undergraduate sociology/criminology course on Crime, Justice, and Media (approx. 35 students), students collaboratively produce 30-40 minute podcast episodes for the class podcast/season. In their group’s episode, students work together (groups of 2-3 students) to interrogate how two different popular true crime narratives construct, in variable ways, social understandings of crime, justice, and victimization. Students are required to step into the role of media producers, developing critical sociological analyses using course concepts and materials while demonstrating higher orders of learning by creating a product similar to those being critiqued. This alternative assessment thus allows students to showcase their competencies in a variety of forms (e.g., in the content of their analysis, form of podcast production, illustration of framing strategies, etc.).
This presentation will explore the structure, development, and successes of this assignment, demonstrating the applicability of media production assignments in different undergraduate sociology course contexts. This presentation will also include qualitative student feedback demonstrating the opportunities and challenges associated with such media production assignments in online courses, in group work contexts, and for non-majors. Ultimately, student reflections and evaluations indicate that media production, when appropriately contextualized and supported, can provide a unique and creative opportunity to enhance learner’s ability to critically analyze the social world.

Author

• Sarah Johnson-Palomaki, Montana State University