Media Critical Analysis
Media Critical Analysis
Making use of information in an appropriate and effective manner is the skill that can decide about success not only at school but also in professional life and many typical everyday situations. This skill consist in: retrieving information from the sources of a different type (the Internet, books, textbooks, newspapers, movies, radio broadcasts, and illustrations) in a fast manner; distinguishing reliable from unreliable, false or misleading information; efficient collection and storage of acquired material in order to be able easy access it at any time; finally using the obtained information in currently realized tasks.
Tasks
1 |
What can you learn from an article “Christopher Kolumbski, the story of King Władysław on the distant island” on historical research? According to the author, who can be considered a competent historian?
a. To which group of historians does Rafał Jaworski (author of the article) belong to? How can this be determined? |
2 |
Why, according to the author of the article, should not the book by Manuel Rosa ("Columbus. Unknown history") be regarded as a reliable source of historical information? |
3 |
Based on the article that you have read, point out elements that allow considering the material of a different nature (books, articles, WebPages) as a reliable source of historical information. |
4 |
Take a look at portraits of Christopher Columbus and Wladyslaw of Varna attached to the article. Can they constitute the material that allows confirming kinship between the great explorer and the Polish king? Why? a. What elements can be used to assess the usefulness of illustrations (painting, portrait, and drawing) as a reliable source of historical information? b. Which of the illustrations included in the article may provide a reliable source of information about Christopher Columbus or Wladyslaw of Varna? c. Try to search out the images that can provide a reliable source of information about Christopher Columbus and Władysław of Varna (the images should meet the criteria presented in the previous parts of this module) in the German, British, Swedish, Spanish articles proposed by the teacher or on the Internet. d. Take part in the discussion and justify your opinion: Is it possible to determine any similarities or kinship between Christopher Columbus and Wladyslaw of Varna based on the illustrative material gathered in this task? |
5 |
Present your position in the discussion: After reading the article by Rafał Jaworski, are you interested in reading the book M. Rosa? Why should or should not this book be reached for? |
Media Critical Analysis
Making use of information in an appropriate and effective manner is the skill that can decide about success not only at school but also in professional life and many typical everyday situations. This skill consist in: retrieving information from the sources of a different type (the Internet, books, textbooks, newspapers, movies, radio broadcasts, and illustrations) in a fast manner; distinguishing reliable from unreliable, false or misleading information; efficient collection and storage of acquired material in order to be able easy access it at any time; finally using the obtained information in currently realized tasks.
The following activities support the development of media and information competences in students. The material from popular historical magazine, in this case, is a pretext for educating students on the competences of critical evaluating sources of information not only of historical nature. Analogously to the case of the historical article, students will be able to subject any multi-media material (also available on the Internet) to evaluation and criticism. Nevertheless, in the course of the following exercises, students will be familiarized with the most important basics of the work of a historian and methodology of historical research.
Tasks
1 |
What can you learn from an article “Christopher Kolumbski, the story of King Władysław on the distant island” on historical research? According to the author, who can be considered a competent historian?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually or in groups of two.
Solution to the task: Rafał Jaworski is a professional historian, an employee of the Jan Kochanowski University. This can be determined based on the author biographical note shown at the end of the article. |
2 |
Why, according to the author of the article, should not the book by Manuel Rosa ("Columbus. Unknown history") be regarded as a reliable source of historical information?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized in small groups of two or more.
|
3 |
Based on the article that you have read, point out elements that allow considering the material of a different nature (books, articles, WebPages) as a reliable source of historical information.
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually or in groups of two. - including the information related to the competence and qualifications of the author such as vocational education and training, conducted research, previous positions; |
4 |
Take a look at portraits of Christopher Columbus and Wladyslaw of Varna attached to the article. Can they constitute the material that allows confirming kinship between the great explorer and the Polish king? Why?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually or in groups of two. a. What elements can be used to assess the usefulness of illustrations (painting, portrait, and drawing) as a reliable source of historical information?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually, in groups of two, or as a discussion between the teacher and students during which the teacher directs the students at the correct answer using appropriate questions.
b. Which of the illustrations included in the article may provide a reliable source of information about Christopher Columbus or Wladyslaw of Varna?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually or in groups of two. c. Try to search out the images that can provide a reliable source of information about Christopher Columbus and Władysław of Varna (the images should meet the criteria presented in the previous parts of this module) in the German, British, Swedish, Spanish articles proposed by the teacher or on the Internet.
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized individually or in groups of two. d. Take part in the discussion and justify your opinion: Is it possible to determine any similarities or kinship between Christopher Columbus and Wladyslaw of Varna based on the illustrative material gathered in this task?
Methodological remarks: the task can be realized as a discussion moderated by the teacher at the group/class forum. |
5 |
Present your position in the discussion: After reading the article by Rafał Jaworski, are you interested in reading the book M. Rosa? Why should or should not this book be reached for? Methodological remarks: this task may take the form of a discussion moderated by the teacher in the group/class forum. Students should have the opportunity to present their points of view. The discussion should aim to the conclusion that it is worthwhile to use credible and reliable sources of information. But it is worth also to independently familiarize oneself with a given material in order to assess its usefulness and to form independent opinions. The teacher should encourage students to reach for various historical sources and to perform critical evaluation on their own. |
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