Rethinking “general audience”: A comparison of students’ understanding of popular film in high school honors and general-level classes

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Wayne Journell, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Research suggests that secondary teachers across the United States are regularly turning to popular film as a way to engage students and deliver content. However, research on the use of film in secondary education has yet to focus on how students of varying abilities are able to understand and synthesize academic content when it is presented within the context of a popular film that is generally marketed for a broad audience. This study compares the ways in which students in two high school civics classes, one honors-level and one general-level, responded to the same film used in similar ways throughout the course of a semester. Our findings suggest that using film is not just a way of differentiating instruction, but also an instructional activity that needs differentiation itself.

Additional Information

Publication
Language: English
Date: 2012
Keywords
Teachers, Popular films, Motion pictures, Students, Secondary education

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