Example Video Assignment 4

Retrieved from the Internet 11/29/05: http://sites.unc.edu/composition/materials/assignments/12texts/psa_videos.html

Public Service Announcements

Can a new media video composition unit meet program goals for writing instruction? How is the role of the English educator evolving? Do our future pedagogical successes increasingly depend on our technological acumen-our individual abilities to survive as the digitally fittest? This English 12 Natural Science unit attempts to explore these issues and meet program goals with a series of digital video composition assignments that culminate with student-produced Public Service Announcements (PSAs).

The vision for the unit began with a focus on addictive diseases. The goal was to design a project that demanded research, intense group work, critical thinking skills, and an attention to composition as a process. The popular culture correlative and semi-inspiration for the unit were nationally televised PSAs, specifically those associated with the truth, the anti-drug, and Partnership for a Drug-Free America campaigns. By placing it as the first unit in the semester, the idea was to grab their attention, foster immediate group bonding, and challenge student ideas about writing.

The particular Handbook Writing Program goals that this digital video unit focuses on include:

1. Writing as Process - research, pre-write, write, edit, revise
   The students engage in all of these activities, as they would with a traditional essay, compose and produce their PSAs.
   
2. Group Workshop Environment and Class Participation
   The unit structure demands intense group cooperation and planning, and fosters positive group dynamics for the entire semester.
   
3. Emphasis on Holistic Scoring
   The students score each other's PSAs based on a rubric that they have helped to develop during a in-class brainstorming session. They are consistently proud of their own work and tend to grade other groups quite critically.
   
4. Preparing students to write at college level.
   The unit emphasizes scholarly attention to research, rhetorical strategy, target audience, style, and tone in the Natural Science realm.

Week One involves an introduction to the unit that includes a basic recap of rhetorical strategies and an overview of characteristics of the Natural Sciences. I lead into the semester with a "get-to-know-you" essay by Terry McMillan ("Easing My Heart on the Inside"), and use that as a launching pad for a discussion on audience appeal and use of rhetorical strategy. I then begin class discussions to distinguish the Natural Sciences from the Humanities work they are more familiar with, to define the term addictive disease, and to brainstorm a list of particular addictive diseases. The first short assignment involves summarizing a professional journal article with use of CBE documentation style. The class field-trips to the Undergraduate Library for an introduction to the Health Sciences database and to begin research and data collection.

Week Two involves planning, pre-writing, and serious group work. I reserve a viewing room in the Undergraduate Library to view currently televised PSAs from Internet sites such as thetruth.com, theantidrug.com, and partnershipforadrugfreeamerica.com. I lead the class in a discussion and evaluation of several PSAs in accordance with the same criteria each group will consider in their own digital development process. The students draft workshop their first short assignments, agree as a group which addictive disease they will focus on, and begin outlining their plans of action. The second short assignment asks each group to submit a highly detailed storyboard for the PSA that includes all the whos, whats, whens, wheres, whys and hows. Group participation, coordination and general diligence in this planning and then filming process also factor in to the group grade for this second assignment. The class spends approximately 20 minutes at the end of one class session in the media lab for an equipment tutorial from the staff.

Week Three involves filming, which includes attention to audio and other aesthetic qualities. The students meet in the Beasley Center to check out cameras (plus tripods, minidisk recorders, microphones, etc.) and then take off with their groups to begin production. I give them two days of class to troubleshoot, ask for help, and work on the various filming and recording aspects. They are highly encouraged to check the camera out on their own time to supplement their needs-some groups need to do this, some do not.

Week Four involves the capture and edit of all recorded material in iMovie. The students meet in the media lab in the basement of the Undergraduate Library to use the Mac computer stations. We review the basics of iMovie-the learning curve seems to be in the millisecond range-and they immediately begin downloading their footage and revising into a workable final product. Two class sessions (T/TH) are devoted to this process and groups are again highly encouraged to reserve further lab time to perfect their work. Given their devotion to the projects, they usually look forward to continuing work outside of class.

Week Five involves the final edits and presentation of the finished PSAs. Through in-class discussion, the students formalize the scoring rubric they drafted at the beginning of the unit. I keep them in the dark regarding the fact that they will score each other's projects until the actual viewing day. I reserve a viewing room in the Undergraduate Library for this final viewing. I use several student-produced PSAs from the previous semester as the anchors, and then review the rubric and standards accordingly. Each student, independent of his or her group, scores all the PSAs. The scores are anonymous to the students but not to me, and scores that students award to their own commercials do not factor into the official grade. (I use them in the final tabulation grid I create for each group as a comparison and lesson in critical self-evaluation. The self-scores are rarely inflated and are often quite similar to the rest of the class'. We review and recap the unit and our study of Natural Sciences when I hand back the scoring grids.

UNIT ONE: NATURAL SCIENCES

SHORT ASSIGNMENT 1

As a diligent addictive disease researcher, you begin to uncover details and facts that could help you to educate others about the dangers of a particular condition. Choose one of the professional journal articles you have gathered in your course of study and write an abstract that summarizes that article's content. A successful article abstract will provide a properly formatted citation, explain the thesis or main objective, and detail the evidence given to support that objective. Strive for clarity with concise and direct use of language.

Length: 2 pages

Draft Due:

Final Due:

*do not forget to turn in a copy of your journal article with your draft.

UNIT ONE: NATURAL SCIENCES

SHORT ASSIGNMENT 2

This assignment asks you to develop the plan of action your group will need for recording your addictive disease prevention commercial. This plan of action should be detailed to the extent that, in your absence, someone else could follow the plan. A successful plan of action will address, but is not limited to, the following: purpose, central message, target audience demographic, costume, setting, props, dialogue, and delegation of responsibilities. You will develop the draft for this assignment in your small groups-who does precisely what is up to you.

For the draft, your group will hand in one copy of the detailed outline for your plan of action. Your group's ability to enact this plan of action in class will serve as your final draft, and I will assign you a grade based on your paper-based plan, as well as my observation of your activities and participation during these rehearsals. Attendance is clearly crucial.

Length: No specification.
Enacted commercial should be no less than 30 seconds, no more than 60.

Draft Due:

Final Due: Observation of Group Work for duration of Filming and Editing.

UNIT ONE: NATURAL SCIENCES

UNIT PROJECT

The final project in this unit asks you to film and edit the addictive disease commercial you have designed with your group. A successful commercial will have a running time of between 30 and 60 seconds, will be well rehearsed and smoothly enacted, will make obvious efforts to reach the target audience, and will inform and educate as well as entertain. In addition, you must balance responsibilities among all group members. Attendance and participation during filming and editing are crucial-if you miss class during this process, your individual grade will suffer. The Media Lab will be available outside of class to work with the equipment, but ample class time will be provided.

Final Due:

We will view all the final projects in class on.

Helpful Implementation Tips

Not Mac friendly?
Don't worry about your lack of familiarity with video cameras or even iMovie. Your students will either already be familiar or will pick it up within a nanosecond. You will likely want to look over the iMovie program, but don't waste time studying the manual or memorizing the various functions. The learning curve is practically a molehill, and your students will surpass your basic knowledge within the first 15 minutes or so of downloading their footage. With that said, it can't hurt to have a tech wiz or iMovie handbook available for the occasional tough question (though even these are usually resolved with an extra minute or two of intuition and exploration).

Win Friends and Influence People
The students love this unit, and placing it first in the semester fosters excellent group dynamics that will serve your goals throughout the entire semester.

More good news: if you set up and reserve everything in advance (the week before or after the semester begins) you'll have several weeks of troubleshooting in the classroom, but little to no paper work, lesson plan preparation or traditional in-front-of-the-class teaching.

The potential pitfalls: technology, as we all know, is fallible. My advice is to be patient, ask for help, take things in stride, and make back-up files of everything you and your students create.

Planning Checklist

• Reserve cameras, media lab, viewing room no later than the first week of the semester.
  
• Ask students to conduct research by reading scholarly journal articles on various addictive diseases. Have them share their findings in groups, agree on a topic, and begin conducting more in-depth research.
  
• Review sample commercials from public service ad campaigns (available online). Discuss overall effectiveness and use of rhetorical strategies.
  
• Ask students to plan their approaches (target audience, message, strategy) to filming in immaculate and ready-to-implement detail.
  
• Allow class time for filming.
  
• Use scheduled lab time for students to download footage to iMovie and begin the editing process.
  
• As a class, develop a scoring rubric (but consider keeping the idea that they will score each other's project a secret until the viewing day). Encourage final edits and revisions.
  
• Viewing Day-Calibrate with sample student PSAs (maybe ones form this website). Present current student commercials and oversee holistic scoring process.
  

Tabulate final grade for each group (ensure anonymity of scorers).