Objective(s): Students will utilize critical-thinking skills and creativity to learn about research databases that are useful for finding information, particularly for journalism and telecommunications needs. Each pair will ultimately produce a screencast, that is, a video screen capture with audio narration, as a semester activity for this five-week course that (1) offers succinct background information about its assigned database, (2) explains database utility for students and scholars, (3) demonstrates focused searches with Boolean operators and special characters, and (4) evaluates sources from the search results for accuracy.

Journalism education may be at a tipping point. It is unclear, however, what new form curricula might take. Through an analysis of individual course titles and descriptions that appeared in the 2013-2014 undergraduate catalogs of 68 selected universities, this exploratory study finds that most departments/schools are not offering classes that reflect pedagogical approaches recently promoted in professional literature (e.g., hospital model, entrepreneurship, apprenticeship) nor are they responding to calls for greater integration between the classroom and industry via quasi-professional experiences. Journalism programs are, instead, relying on historically recognized and accepted models—such as practicum and capstone.

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Arsenic is a known toxin — and it is in our water. But should it be cause for concern? "Crystal Clear? Arsenic in Indiana's Drinking Water" explores this question, and the answer may surprise you. This short documentary explains the origins of arsenic in our drinking-water supply and consults experts to identify its impact. Students enrolled in Water Quality Indiana at Ball State University began this production in January 2019. All of the students involved in this production have science backgrounds, but none had prior media-production experience. Expert interviews include: Mark Elliot from the Hoosier Microbiological Lab; Dr. Jessi Haeft, an NREM assistant professor at Ball State University; and Dr. Bradley Hayes, a MD affiliated with Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital. Key takeaways from students’ aggregate reflections include (1) their general underestimation of the time and effort that goes into documentary production; (2) their acknowledgment of arsenic as a naturally occurring toxin but one that is not currently a paramount concern in regards to Indiana’s drinking-water supply; and (3) their noticeable increase in their own media literacy as a result of this documentary-production experience, which may have longer-term implications for these aspiring science professionals.

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