Guidelines for media critique assignments
The goal of these assignments is for you to apply your critical thinking skills and the specific knowledge you gain in this class to evaluate information from the popular media. You will select one of the links to media articles provided and write a brief (1-2 page) critical assessment of it. I will grade these assignments based on the following criteria: 1) sufficient description of the media article so that a reader understands the basic elements of the piece, emphasizing those that pertain to child development, educational policy, or parenting (depending upon the particulars of the article), without getting bogged down into unnecessary details that are not important to your critique; 2) critical assessment of the article, which includes (a) describing the scientific status of the information (does the article refer to scientific data or is it based on conjecture, myth, ‘expert recommendation’, or theory?; (b) is the information presented in a way that is consistent with the evidence, or does the author go beyond the evidence, overly dramatize, or minimize evidence in a way that does not fairly represent evidence to the reader?; (c) are there any obvious flaws in the way the study/studies described in the article were conducted or the results interpreted; and 3) comment upon the effectiveness of the author in communicating the information.

You do not need to include citations to other studies or to your textbook. You should make reference to information gained in class when it is pertinent to the topic.

Avoid using the word ‘prove’, as it implies a level of scientific evidence we seldom have for most claims.

Do not use contractions (e.g., isn’t, doesn’t, can’t) – these words should be spelled out completely in formal writing.
It is fine to offer your own opinion, as long as you make clear when you are expressing your opinion, versus when you are critiquing based on evidence you learned about in class or from your textbook.

Choose one of the following SETS of articles to critique. Read each article in a set and provide an integrated critique based on your reading of all the articles in the set.
Set # 1:
http://www.newsweek.com/apa-video-games-violence-364394
http://www.christopherjferguson.com/APA%20Task%20Force%20Comment1.pdf
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/study-finds-that-violent-video-games-may-be-linked-to-aggressive-behaviour-10458614.html
Set #2:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2007/03/the_kids_are_alright.html
http://www.salon.com/2001/04/26/belsky/
http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/43/the-effects-of-day-care-on-the-social-emotional-development-of-children
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/us/3-new-studies-assess-effects-of-child-care.html?_r=0

Set #3:
http://prospect.org/article/adolescents-maturity-and-law
http://issues.org/28-3/steinberg/
http://www.families.com/criticism-from-mom-shuts-down-teens-brains