ATH 458: World Media
This course was conceived by the department as a methods course—that is, students would be taught methods of analysis and required to apply those methods to data, then articulate their findings in the form of a paper (and later, a video).

Critical thinking was defined and measured in three distinct but related ways:
1. Analysis: The ability to use analytical techniques to discover a pattern
2. Interpretation: The ability to turn the pattern into a position on the text, stated as a thesis.
3. Critical Thinking: The ability to identify and consider multiple perspectives that could generate counterarguments.

The assessment results indicated that students benefited from a detailed discussion of the nature of critical thinking, its role(s) in analysis, and its place in the writing process. The next time that Dr. Peterson teaches this course he plans to introduce the writing lecture early in the course. He is also planning to reconstruct the course as more of a “hybrid course” with many of the lectures available as podcasts or videos and more hands on attention to analysis and writing in the classroom.

Two assignments were constructed. Both offered a detailed step-by-step description of the analytical process as well as a detailed rubric for how the papers would be graded. Both assignments also included a peer evaluation and revision process. The rubrics consisted of a ten element matrix, three of which assessed the defined critical thinking skills.

After the first paper was completed, students were given a powerpoint presentation on writing an analytical paper that included attention to the three critical thinking components.

Assignments

Audience Analysis Assignment

Text Analysis Assignment

Rubrics

Audience Analysis Rubric

Text Analysis Rubric

Critical Thinking Rubric