A Collaborative Approach to Experiential Learning in University Newswriting and Editing Classes

Abstract

This case study examines a creative approach by two journalism professors to enhance experiential learning in separate skills-based newswriting and editing courses by collaborating to produce a live online news report from campus each week on a four-hour deadline. The study builds on previous research into how innovative classroom structures that engage students in practical, published journalistic work affect learning and students’ response to their experiences.

Journalists and Communicators' Perceptions of Their Graduate Training in Environmental Reporting: An Application of Knowledge-Based Journalism Principles

“…Finally, some scholars suggest that journalism education should opt for a teaching hospital or experiential learning model (Mensing and Ryfe, 2013;Parks, 2015). This allows students to learn journalistic skills, while at the same time serving a community and developing a professional portfolio.…”

“…In the realm of environmental journalism, this experiential model has also been developed (Freedman and Poulson, 2015), but no formal evaluation of the outcomes post-graduation has been conducted. The challenge for experiential journalism education models is to balance "real world" learning with the theoretical and academic background that scholars such as Donsbach (2014) and Patterson (2013) insist is essential (Parks, 2015).…”

“…Those changes usually cannot match the fast-paced changes in professions such as journalism (Parks, 2015). The job prospects in news organizations for journalism students have shrunk, but at the same time have expanded in other areas such as strategic communication, political communication, fundraising, and technical writing.…”

“…Future professional journalists can choose from careers in public affairs reporting, sports journalism, environmental journalism, international reporting, and health journalism, among many others. This increasing pressure to simultaneously generalize in skills and specialize in knowledge represents a challenge to journalism schools that have to try to adapt their curricula to follow industry trends (Parks, 2015).…”

Exploring Journalism and Computer Science Student Collaboration

“…In light of the increased calls for experiential learning opportunities in journalism and for academic research into such opportunities (Parks, 2015), this article presents a small-scale study that investigates cooperation between journalism and computer science students in a joint development project offered at Oslo Metropolitan University. 1 Drawing on the work of Galison (1997), Collins and colleagues (2007) and Lewis and Usher (2016), we apply the concept of the trading zone to analyse the complex dynamics and interconnections that may occur in an interdisciplinary, educational project.…”