Course Materials

MSP 4497/8441
Media & Children
Spring 2018

Meeting time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30 - 4:50
Meeting place: Wachman Hall Room 414

Professor: Matthew Lombard
Office: Annenberg Hall/Tomlinson Theater 220
Phone: 215.204.7182
Email: lombard@temple.edu
Office hours: Mondays 4:30-5:30 (TUCC), Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 - 3:30 (main campus), or by appointment

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THIS SYLLABUS LAST UPDATED ON Friday May 4, 2018 

PREREQUISITES

To take MSP 4497 you must be a Junior or Senior and have taken and passed MSP 1011 (Communication Theory) and MSP 1021 (Media and Society) or the equivalent courses; if you have not completed these prerequisites and still wish to take this course, see the instructor.

READINGS

• Singer, D. G. & Singer, J. L. (Eds.) (2012). Handbook of Children and the Media [2nd edition].
  Sage Publications. [Amazon entry is here]
  
  
  
  
• Supplementary readings provided by instructor and other students.
  

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this course is to introduce and consider the issues, theories, and research findings related to children and the media. Classic and emerging issues and theories will be covered. There will be an emphasis on television given its dominance among media competing for children's attention, but we will also consider other media, including radio, newspapers, books, video games, computers, smartphones, the internet and social media, interactive toys, and more. The course should be of interest and value to anyone who plans to produce media content, has or plans to have children, or is concerned about issues relating to children.

We'll begin by considering the nature of children and their cognitive and emotional development, and then the media choices available to them today and in the past. Then we'll discuss several sets of issues regarding how children use and are affected by media, and evaluate relevant research and theories. And we'll consider, and in some cases test, a set of recommendations ("intervention strategies") that parents and others can use to maximize the positive and minimize the negative effects of media experiences for children.

The main assignment in the course is a topic project in which each student will work alone or with one other person in the class to examine a topic relating to children and media, guide a discussion of that topic in class, and write a paper about it. The rest of the class will provide verbal and written feedback on the presentations, and the paper will be revised during the semester, with the instructor and other students providing comments on drafts; all of the papers will be combined as a class product at the end of the semester. There are also two short take-home activities and a take-home exam.

The class meetings will include lecture material, video presentations, discussion, and student guided discussions. We'll also communicate between class meetings via electronic mail using a course listserv (BTMM343-ML@listserv.temple.edu; more details on this during the first class).

This course has been designated as a "writing intensive" course for Temple undergraduate students; the course assignments are designed to offer students the opportunity to write in a variety of contexts, with particular emphasis on the process of revising and refining written work.

NOTE: This class does not utilize Canvas or Blackboard; all materials are accessible from this website.

NOTE: This is a 'paperless' class - all assignments are to be emailed as attachments (in MS Word or pdf format) to the instructor by midnight of the date they're due.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To introduce students to a variety of issues, theories, and research findings regarding children and media.
2. To assist students in the detailed consideration of one issue regarding children and media.
3. To give students the knowledge and tools to help children in their lives use the media effectively and avoid harmful media influences.
4. To help students become critical consumers of social science and other research.
5. To help students become more effective and professional writers.
6. To allow and encourage students to enjoy learning.

INSTRUCTORS' PHILOSOPHY

I believe students are more likely to benefit from a course when the subject matter is interesting and the class meetings are pleasant and diverting and allow the instructor and students to learn together rather than having the instructor spout information for students to repeat on tests. I think the topics of this course are very interesting, and I'll try to convey my enthusiasm about them. While there will be some lecturing, we'll spend more time discussing the material together. So making this class enjoyable requires work from all of us. Your enthusiasm, constructive participation in discussions, suggestions, and feedback are all essential to the success of this class!!

GRADING

The course grades will be based on the following:

1. Topic Project (40%)

Each student will work either alone or with one other person in the class and, using the textbook and other sources, examine a topic related to children and media; they'll then 1) guide a class discussion of the topic, including presenting information and providing materials in whatever creative formats you choose, 2) write and refine a paper on the topic, with the feedback of the instructor and other students, and 3) write three potential exam questions on the topic for inclusion in the end-of-semester take home exam.

The examination of the topic may be based entirely on traditional library research or based on a combination of some library research and a small research study (a survey, an experiment, a content analysis, interviews, etc.). Students will submit an outline of the project, use feedback on this outline to write a complete draft of the paper, then use additional feedback to revise the draft. Each version will receive credit, but the majority of the grade will be based on the final version and the class presentation/discussion. More details on this assignment will be provided early in the semester.

2. Two short take-home activities (each worth 15%)

The first of these activities (at the beginning of the semester) will involve assessing one part of the media environment available to children. The second activity (at the end of the semester) will involve the use of intervention strategies developed in class with one or more children. For both of these, students will report back to the class and submit a 3 page write-up concerning the activity. More details about the assignments will be provided in class.

3. Take-home exam (15%)

This will be based on the contributions to the class product made up of topic project papers, with each author or pair of authors providing draft questions that address key, 'big picture' information.

4. Participation (15%)

This includes attendance and participation in class discussions, postings to the class listserv and Children and Media Facebook page, visits to the instructor during office hours, etc.

GRADING STANDARDS

This course is open to both upper division undergraduate students and graduate students (see prerequisites above). Grading assignments, standards and expectations for undergraduate and graduate students are different. Graduate students are expected to produce written work of greater depth and substance than undergraduate students, which must be reflected in the number and breadth of reference materials cited, the length of assignments, and the degree of creative synthesis of materials. Graduate students will also be expected to work with and assist one or more undergraduate classmates, complete additional and more advanced reading assignments, and meet separately with the instructor on some occasions.

"Incompletes" are strongly discouraged and will only be given if the student makes specific arrangements with the instructor, including completing the necesary Temple University paperwork, before the end of the semester.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM - IMPORTANT!

Penalties for violation of the Temple University policies below (from "Statement on Academic Honesty for Students in Undergraduate Courses" which is apparently no longer available on Temple's web site) can result in a failing grade for an assignment or the entire course, and even expulsion from Temple.

Plagiarism can be tricky to avoid - if you have questions about how to follow the rules, 1) Purdue University's Online Writing Lab has a useful guide here, 2) you can always ask me and/or other professors, and 3) err on the side of citing and referencing others' work.

Penalties for violation of the Temple University policies below (from the "Statement on Academic Honesty for Students in Undergraduate Courses") can result in a failing grade for an assignment or the entire course, and even expulsion from Temple.

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person's labor: another person's ideas, words, or assistance.

There are many forms of plagiarism: repeating another person's sentence as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else's argument as your own, or even presenting someone else's line of thinking in the development of a thesis as though it were your own. . . . It is perfectly acceptable to [use the ideas and words of other people], but we must never submit someone else's work as if it were our own, without giving appropriate credit to the originator.

[Here are some specific guidelines to follow:]

(a) Quotations. Whenever you use a phrase, sentence, or longer passage written (or spoken) by someone else, you must enclose the words in quotation marks and indicate the exact source of the material. This applies also to quotations you have altered.

(b) Paraphrasing another's language. Avoid closely paraphrasing another's words: substituting an occasional synonym, leaving out or adding an occasional modifier, rearranging the grammar slightly, just changing the tenses of verbs, and so on. Either quote the material directly, using quotation marks, or put the ideas completely in your own words. In either case, acknowledgment is necessary. Remember: expressing someone else's ideas in your own way does not make them yours.

(c) Facts. In a paper, you will often use facts that you have gotten from a lecture, a written work, or some other source. If the facts are well known, it is usually not necessary to provide a source. (In a paper on American history, for example, it would not ordinarily be necessary to give a source for the statement that the Civil War began in 1861 after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln.) But if the facts are not widely known or if the facts were developed or presented by a specific source, then you should identify the source for the facts.

(d) Ideas. If you use an idea or ideas that you learned from a lecture, written work, or some other source, then you should identify the source. You should identify the source for an idea whether or not you agree with the idea. It does not become your original idea just because you agree with it.

In general, all sources must be identified as clearly, accurately, and thoroughly as possible. When in doubt about whether to identify a source, either cite the source or consult your instructor.  

DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL SITUATIONS

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability or any special situation should contact me privately as soon as possible. Information on accommodations is available from the Disability Resources and Services office (100 Ritter Annex; 215-204-1280) and its web site. 

CALENDAR (subject to change)

Copyright © 2004 Matthew Lombard