Social Media and the Construction of Crime: Evaluating the Effectiveness a Student Social Media Assignment

• In Event: Social Media and the Social Construction of Crime

Abstract

Social media has become a common source for obtaining information on news and politics; memes, videos and infographics abound conveying information about crime and crime control in the US. Many young adults consume news, political and historical information through social media sites and yet students do not always think critically about what they consume. In addition, while students learn academic writing and presentation skills, they may not feel equipped to present the knowledge that they have learned to non-academic audiences. I detail a class assignment from a class on Race and Crime in which students produce some form of media that can be shared on social media that presents academic knowledge on crime in an accessible manner. These have taken the form of short videos, websites, a 30-minute documentary and even poems and songs. I then evaluate the effectiveness of this assignment compared to a traditional paper and presentation assignment by a student survey, along with evaluation of final products. I evaluate the effectiveness of the social media assignment on such dimensions as critical thinking skills, academic knowledge gained and maintained, as well as new skills.

Author

• Tracy Sohoni, Old Dominion University