Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Taking The Pulse For Uri As An Age-Friendly University, Louisa Melchionno

Senior Honors Projects

The Age-Friendly University (AFU) Initiative was launched in 2012 at Dublin University, and became an international group of institutions of higher education who have committed themselves to becoming more age-inclusive in their program and policies. The University of Rhode Island became part of the AFU Initiative in 2018. As a Communicative Disorders major seeking to help older adults, I became inspired to help the AFU initiative through the following project.This project had four main tasks. First, I tracked campus wide AFU and related activities since the university got its designation, and collaborated with Dr. Leedahl to create a detailed report …

Using Virtual Exchange To Advance Media Literacy Competencies Through Analysis Of Contemporary Propaganda, Renee Hobbs, Christian Seyferth-Zapf, Silke Grafe

Journal of Media Literacy Education

With the rise of so-called fake news as a global phenomenon, interest in propaganda analysis has advanced along with the recognition of the fundamentally social process of interpretation. In this essay, we explore the use of cross-national dialogue among German and American undergraduate students who are seeking to better understand how media messages are interpreted and how they inform and guide the civic actions of citizens. We describe and analyze five lessons that used a virtual exchange using a variety of digital media platforms, texts and technologies to support the cross-national study of contemporary propaganda. We observed that cross-national dialogue …

Evaluating Online Media Literacy In Higher Education: Validity And Reliability Of The Digital Online Media Literacy Assessment (Domla), Tom Hallaq

Journal of Media Literacy Education

While new technology continues to develop and become increasingly affordable, and students have increased access to digital media, one might wonder if requiring such technology in the classroom is akin to throwing the car keys to a teen-ager who has not completed a driver’s education course. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable quantitative survey providing accurate data about the digital online media literacy of university-level students in order to better understand how digital online media can and should be used within a teaching/learning environment at a university. This study identifies core constructs of media …

Helping Students Understand Media: Examining The Efficacy Of Interdisciplinary Media Training At The University Level, Hans C. Schmidt

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Crowded curriculums and restrictive program requirements often mean that comprehensive media literacy education is impractical at the university level, and that media literacy competencies can be addressed only in the form of narrowly focused lessons integrated into existing classes. This study considers the extent to which such limited lessons can lead to the development of broader, well-rounded media literacy competencies. Data gathered from a quasi-experiment involving 118 participants suggests that narrowly focused media lessons can be used to encourage the development of broader media literacy competencies, but that focused instruction remains necessary as well.

An Environmental And Economic Analysis Of The Printing Practices Of Periodicals And Publications By The University Of Rhode Island And Similar Universities Nationwide, Matthew B. Cotton

Senior Honors Projects

An Environmental and Economic Analysis of the Printing Practices of Periodicals and Publications by the University of Rhode Island and Similar Universities Nationwide

Matthew Cotton

Faculty Sponsor: Thomas Husband, Natural Resources Science

Being environmentally-friendly, or “Going Green”, is a relatively new way of thinking that provides both immediate and long term benefits for the environment and the planet while also creating new and exciting business and marketing opportunities. To tap into this movement requires a great deal of commitment, acceptance to change, and selflessness. It means altering one’s perception of the world and their place in it, along with the …

System Analysis Of The Uri Hurricane Preparedness Plan, Rebecca Harlow

Senior Honors Projects

If a hurricane were to hit URI in the upcoming fall semester what would happen? This project is a thorough evaluation of the current URI plan, how it works, how it doesn’t and who has the answers. The project is framed from an information systems perspective. The analysis of the system is based on where vital information is stored, how it is communicated when needed and who is involved. To find the answers to these questions, in depth interviews were conducted with key emergency personnel. Among them are URI’s Director of Safety and Risk, J Kevin Culley, Major Baker of …