Media Smart Research Awards
The Media Smart Research Awards program is one component of Cable in the Classroom’s efforts to encourage the teaching and learning of media literacy in American schools and homes. By publicizing and supporting the research of emerging media literacy scholars, Cable in the Classroom aims to expand the knowledge base on the status and effectiveness of media literacy instruction.
The 2008 winner will be announced at a gathering of education leaders in Washington, DC, in late November where the winner will present a summary of the study.
Learn more about the 2007 award winner, Kelly Mendoza, and her paper, Mapping Parental Mediation and Making Connections with Media Literacy.
Learn about the 2006 award winner, Mary Carney, and her paper, Using Media Literacy Education for Health Promotion.
Up to three Media Smart Research Awards of $2,000 each will be given for research papers in media literacy written by graduate students attending accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Undergraduate students at such institutions may, with the recommendation of their faculty advisor, also submit papers for consideration. This year’s deadline is May 31, 2008.
What is Media Literacy? Media literacy is the ability to access, understand, analyze, evaluate and create media messages on television, the Internet and other outlets and is based on five key concepts:
- All media messages are constructions
- Each person interprets messages differently
- Media have commercial interests
- Media have values
- Each medium has its own language and style
Understanding these concepts can help adults and children become active and critical thinkers about media, develop criteria for making decisions about media use, find and identify quality media resources, and talk about the media they are consuming or creating.
Topics of special interest While a paper’s topic may address any aspect of media literacy we are especially hoping to encourage work that
- focuses on the effectiveness of media literacy instruction—in schools, homes, community centers Boys & Girls Clubs, after school programs or other locations—and attempts to measure or describe the results of such instruction in academic achievement, student attitudes and/or other behaviors
- makes international comparisons, including what is taught, at what ages, why, and whether there is any evidence of effectiveness
- makes state by state comparisons, including state curricular frameworks and what is actually taught, at what ages, why, and whether there is any evidence of effectiveness
The Awards Winners will be notified during the summer. Each winner will receive $2,000. In addition, winners and their primary faculty advisors will be brought to Washington, DC, in late November, 2008, to present their findings to an audience of education leaders.
Submission details Studies should have been conducted during 2007 or 2008. Papers should be 5,000 to 7,000 words in length and must be submitted electronically (Microsoft Word preferred) no later than May 31st, 2008. Each paper should have a title page, with complete contact information on the writer and his/her faculty advisor. An abstract of 150 words or less is also required. Text should be double spaced.
All papers will be evaluated by a panel of experts and the authors may be asked to make revisions, based on the panel’s feedback.
