If your news-academic partnership functions as a course, independent study, module, practicum or other part of a curriculum, this section will provide examples and ideas for how pedagogy and instruction can power news for communities.

Learning Outcomes

Create 4-7 essential outcomes for your news-academic partnership course. There will be many opportunities to learn through a class such as this, but you want to narrow your course down to what each student should master and be able to demonstrate through the curriculum.

  • Examples: Professional acculturation, public service, civic understanding, innovative visual storytelling, collaborative writing, enterprising and beat reporting, etc.
  • Form examples: The key to good learning outcomes is that they can be specifically measured by an assessment.
    • By the end of this course, students will be able to:
      • Conduct interviews, compile and analyze data, use primary and secondary source material, and effectively use them in reporting on issues related to the General Assembly.
      • Demonstrate through reporting the ethical principles that guide journalists, such as accuracy, fairness, courtesy and diversity, and articulate how those principles are particularly critical at the community level.
      • Receive, respond to, and incorporate rigorous editing and feedback through revision for publication.

Assessment

The assessments of the course, then, must align with the learning outcomes. The trick is what type of product or project and its associated grade will best provide evidence of the attainment of each learning outcome. Here are a few types of assessment that work well for news-academic partnership courses:

  • Self-Assessment and Conferences: We often have to self-evaluate in the professional world, so self-assessments can provide early practice for this challenging task.
  • Rubrics (summative): Although each journalistic product differs, there are key elements that make it “good.” Using the same, flexible rubric throughout the course can help students gauge their personal progress. Rubrics can be used as either formative (progress and practice-based feedback) or summative (at the end as a demonstration of learning). The key is to write them in a way that clearly provides feedback about whether a learning outcome has been met.
  • Feedback (formative): Formative feedback is the “in-process” part of teaching that allows for low-stakes repetition and encourages risk-taking and allows for mistakes.
    • Group or staff feedback can come in the form of regular post-mortem meetings
    • Individual feedback can be delivered through your learning management system or private conversations, as well as shared newsroom spaces (like Google Docs) with a professional tone

Professional Development and Class Meetings

Yes, your news-academic partnership is a college course, but it’s also a newsroom. Helping your students develop professionally in addition to creating reporting or products is crucial. There are a number of ways, through regular class sessions and outside of them, to bolster the professionalism of your staff.

  • Staff-led training in areas of expertise: Find out student areas of expertise and give them small sections of time to present best practices to the rest of the staff
  • Faculty mini-lessons on areas of need: Through an inventory or conversation (or observed staff needs for growth), faculty can fill knowledge or technique gaps throughout a semester. Popular ideas for mini-lessons have included:
    • Solutions Journalism
    • Project Management
    • Interviewing
    • Navigating civic information (public records, ORR, FOIA)
    • Covering meetings and events (observation, ledes, structure)
    • Photo and Video
    • Audio/podcasting
    • Quick-turns versus in-depth pieces
    • Features/profiles
    • Multiplatform storytelling best practices
    • Data journalism and visualizations
    • Headlines, captions and SEO
    • Digital journalism and the role of analytics
    • Preparing for the journalism job market
  • Community journalism research/trends: Using Reuters Digital News Report, Pew Center Research or other sources, help students learn about the trends, challenges and benefits of community news and how your newsroom fits into (or overcomes) those trends
  • Types of journalism or emerging trends: There are a number of strong, emerging models for journalism right now, including: solutions journalism, public service journalism, engaged journalism, etc. Also, critical analysis and brainstorming about information disorder, the use of AI in local news, cybersecurity for journalists or data manipulation can be great preparation for a professional role.
  • Certifications: Through online programs/institutes, students can drive their own professional development by selecting certifications or online classes to fulfill a professional development requirement. Some common options:
  • Newsroom simulation activities: creating or implementing scenario-based situations during your class meetings on everything from breaking news to ethical gray areas, particularly if students work through them collaboratively, can add much to a sense of professionalism
  • News meetings: depending on how often your course meets, it’s useful to create the  context of a traditional news or editors’ meeting, including pitching, analytics readouts, visual brainstorming, copy editor feedback, crowdsourcing for sources, lede workshops, etc.

Syllabi Examples

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