Title
The JMC introductory classroom with and without Miley Cyrus: An experiment in undergraduate media research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-6-2017
Abstract
In the crowded syllabus of the introductory undergraduate course in journalism and mass communication, media research often receives little attention, although it is one of the 12 ACEJMC core values. To investigate one method for injecting into the curriculum a greater understanding and appreciation of research, a comparative study was made between students (N = 48) in two sections of an introductory course in the JMC department of a small Southwestern university. Students in the section that learned about media research primarily in relation to a class topic of their choosing exhibited slightly more positive attitudes than students in the section whose study of media research was not related to a self-selected topic, but rather received standard lectures and textbook readings. Although these differences failed to meet the level of significance (p < .05), students in the section that selected actress Miley Cyrus as its research topic were found to be more intellectually stimulated by the class, more interested in the field of media-related research, more confident to conduct research, and more likely to enter a research festival. However, students in this section also received slightly lower grades on multiple-choice exam questions about research than students in the other section.
Recommended Citation
Mendenhall, Doug, "The JMC introductory classroom with and without Miley Cyrus: An experiment in undergraduate media research" (2017). Journalism and Mass Communication. 5.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/jmc/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.