In the last class, we brainstormed ideas for how to use social bookmarking tools in class. Among those ideas, one of them was about how students can use the Group Boards on Pinterest to share sources about a specific topic. I think this thought can be applied to my class and help students achieve class objectives. Here is a brief description of the Research class that I teach:
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to introduce you to sound and effective social science research methods that are commonly used in advertising industry. By the end of the semester, you will:
(1) understand the role and importance of research in advertising; the ethics and politics of advertising research.
(2) learn a general research process, different research designs and research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, commonly used by advertising researchers and practitioners.
(3) learn basic statistical procedures to analyze data.
(4) gain "hands-on" experience by conducting a research project which will allow you to apply the principles learned in class.
Obviously, the first two courrse objectives have high potential to be a discussional topic. I strongly think that, by using Pinterest, I can promote lots of disccussion around these two objectives. For example, at the very beginning of the class, I can ask students to think about the reason why they have to learn doing research before going into the industry. Later, I can ask them to search online and find articles or webpages that can support their ideas, and then share it with other classmates on Pinterest. Through implementing this sort of activity, it is expected that students might be able to relate the Research class to their future career actively.
Yet the challenge I might face is probably the normal one: students may treat this activity as a homework with a deadline rather than an opportunity for active discussion. If so, it might miss the point behind the implementation of social bookmarking tools in class....
You have some great ideas here! I agree completely with the fact that topic boards would be a great way to engage students and to allow them to brainstorm and build on ideas. I do see how this method could lead to difficulties in treating the boards as an active discussion. Very few courses actually require students to actively participate in an ongoing method, so trying to get your students to adapt this methodology might be difficult.
ReplyDeleteI'm a very visual person and part of the Pinterest appeal for me is how it's centered around visuals. Rather than having your students look up articles, I wonder if you could save Pinterest assignments for things like "Find 1 good and one bad example of how you can graph or otherwise visually convey research results". To facilitate discussion, if you have the class time, maybe then you could have them talk about some of these examples in class: why is this one good, what makes this one bad, what elements could be changed to make it better, etc. If part of the course is designed to teach them methods, this might be a neat way to get them to talk about that aspect of research.
ReplyDeleteHi Virginia, I really like your idea and suggestion. You are right, the Pinterest is all about visuals. The better way to use it is to save it for assignments involving graphs or visual demonstration. Thanks for such valuable comment!
DeleteDenise, what do you think of Virginia's ideas?
ReplyDeleteI very value her ideas! That's so helpful~~ :-)
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