CurrentsACADEMIC In Teaching and Learning JOURNAL VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 CURRENTS | SEPTEMBER 2020 About Us Currents in Teaching and Learning is a peer-reviewed electronic journal that fosters exchanges among reflective teacher-scholars across the disciplines. Published twice a year, Currents seeks to improve teaching and learning in higher education with short reports on classroom practices as well as longer research, theoretical, or conceptual articles and explorations of issues and challenges facing teachers today. Non-specialist and jargon-free, Currents is addressed to both faculty and graduate students in higher education, teaching in all academic disciplines. Subscriptions If you wish to be notified when each new issue of Currents becomes available online and to receive our Calls for Submissions and other announcements, please join our Currents Subscribers’ Listserv. Subscribe Here Table of Contents EDITORIAL PROGRAM REPORTS “Moving Forward, Staying Current” 4 “ Lofty Goals” vs. “I just want my degree, 65 —Benjamin D. Jee dude”: Tailoring Compressed-Length Courses to Generation Z” —Julie M. Holston ESSAYS “In the Age of Fake News: Engendering 6 Dialogue and Critical Media Literacy through BOOK REVIEWS Culturally Responsive Teaching” Peter C. Brown, Henry H. Roediger III, and 79 —Jason Leggett, and Reabeka King-Reilly Mark A. McDaniel’s Make it stick —Kathryn E. Frazier “Aiming for Inclusivity: Teaching 19 Reading Comprehension in First-Year Composition and Across the Curriculum” THE BACK PAGE —Kelsey McNiff About Us, Subscriptions, Submissions, Inquiries TEACHING REPORTS “ The Remix Pairing: Writing Assignments 34 that Support Instructional Alignment and Student Satisfaction” —Sarah Seeley “Embedded Tutoring: One Initiative to Help 47 Struggling Students” —Amber N. Racchini “Critical Thinking and Discussion Boards in 56 Undergraduate Research Methods” —Jessica L. Hartnett, and John E. Edlund CURRENTS | SEPTEMBER 2020 EDITORIAL MOVING FORWARD, STAYING CURRENT —Benjamin D. Jee I am excited to introduce myself, Benjamin Jee, as the that this is a product of the journal’s commitment to new editor of Currents in Teaching and Learning. I am original, accessible, and quality scholarship. Each paper an associate professor of psychology at Worcester State in this issue has been shaped by a process of peer review, University. My teaching and research interests center through which ideas are critiqued and refined. While this around human cognition. I am especially interested in process limits our ability to respond to rapidly unfolding how our scientific understanding of the mind can be events, it helps to ensure the rigor and durability of the leveraged to help people learn. Like many of you, I am ideas that we publish. I hope that my fellow educators passionate about higher education, and am constantly find something in this issue that applies not only to their seeking ways to improve my skills and effectiveness as current challenges, but beyond. an instructor. When it comes to teaching, there is always something new to learn. So it has been fulfilling to work The present issue covers a range of interesting topics. on a journal whose core mission is to improve teaching In their article, “In the Age of Fake News: Engendering and learning in higher education. Dialogue and Critical Media Literacy through Culturally Responsive Teaching,” Jason Leggett and Reabeka King- Though I am only now making my introduction, it Reilly discuss how instructors can go beyond merely has been almost a year since I took over editorial duties screening out fake news from the classroom and support at Currents. My predecessor and colleague, Martin students’ acquisition of crucial information literacy Fromm, has been incredibly generous and supportive skills. In “Aiming for Inclusivity: Teaching Reading as I learned the ropes. I aim to uphold the fine quality Comprehension in First-Year Composition and Across of the journal that Dr. Fromm maintained throughout the Curriculum,” Kelsey McNiff discusses how instructors his tenure as editor. I am also excited to introduce some can engage students’ cognitive processes and discipline- changes to the journal that I hope will provide inspiring specific knowledge to enhance their reading. These two and practical ideas for instructors. One such change is papers are complementary, focusing on teaching students the addition of a new Brief Report format for articles, how to think, rather than what to think. In the same which appears in the Call for Papers for volume 13. We vein, Sarah Seeley’s paper, “The Remix Pairing: Writing will continue to publish longer research reports and Assignments that Support Instructional Alignment and theoretical essays, but the brief format offers a venue for Student Satisfaction,” presents an interesting, iterative communicating teaching-related findings and ideas in a approach to writing skill development. By holding succinct, ready-to-use format. constant some elements of a writing assignment, Seeley shows how new skills can be targeted and improved. The past year, as we all know, has been an eventful one, marked by incredible disruption to our lives and Other papers in this issue examine how various our work. Higher education looks very different from structural aspects of a course can influence students’ a year ago, when we began preparing this issue. Many learning and engagement. In “Embedded Tutoring: faculty members and instructors will not be returning One Initiative to Help Struggling Students,” Amber N. to their classrooms for a while. Those who do will be Racchini presents findings that suggest a link between stepping into a very different setting from the one they students’ use of embedded tutoring opportunities are used to. Though the articles in this issue were not (tutoring offered within or alongside a class) and their written in response to our current situation, I hope you course grades. Jessica L. Hartnett and John E. Edlund agree that they remain relevant and useful. I believe explored the effects of incorporating critical thinking 4 EDITORIAL | MOVING FORWARD CURRENTS | SEPTEMBER 2020 Moving Forward, Staying Current continued exercises through online discussion boards. Their their time and expertise to this cause. Their names paper, “Critical Thinking and Discussion Boards in appear in the Contributors section. I am also thankful Undergraduate Research Methods,” reports that these to my colleagues on the Currents advisory board, who activities could help students’ feel more comfortable have provided valuable advice and feedback on our plans when engaging in critical thinking. In ““Lofty Goals” vs. and progress. I am especially grateful to Linda Larrivee, “I just want my degree, dude”: Tailoring Compressed- with whom I have worked most closely to put together Length Courses to Generation Z,” Julie M. Holston the current issue. Dr. Larrivee has been a tireless advocate considers the expectations that students and faculty bring for the journal throughout its existence, and especially to compressed-length courses. This work sheds light on during this time of upheaval. I sincerely appreciate her areas of convergence and divergence, and raises important dedication to the journal, and to the field of teaching issues about the suitability of the compressed format for and learning more broadly. different subject matters and for different generations of students. Finally, Kathryn E. Frazier reviews Peter C. As I write this, the team at Currents is working on Brown, Henry H. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel’s assembling our next issue, which focuses on “digital Make it Stick. The book summarizes decades of research pedagogies,” a theme with particular relevance to the on learning and memory in a clear and accessible format, present moment in higher education. We are also using examples of real-world teaching and learning to handling new submissions and working to revamp and flesh out the findings. The review consolidates the main improve our website and online archives. I look forward themes of the book, and explores how the ideas could be to these future developments, and to sharing new and applied in higher education, specifically. exciting work on teaching and learning with this growing community of teacher-scholars. Altogether, the articles in the current issue cover a range of fascinating issues related to teaching and Until next time, learning. I thank the authors for their contributions. I am extremely grateful to the reviewers who have dedicated Benjamin D. Jee 5 EDITORIAL | MOVING FORWARD CURRENTS | SEPTEMBER 2020 ESSAYS In the Age of Fake News: Engendering Dialogue and Critical Media Literacy through Culturally Responsive Teaching —Jason Leggett Department of History, Philosophy and Political Science, Kingsborough Community College/ City University of New York —Reabeka (Becky) King-Reilly Bard High School Early College, Kingsborough Community College/ City University of New York Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jason Michael Leggett, Email: [email protected] Abstract In the Age of Fake News: Engendering Dialogue In the age of fake news, how can educators manage the and Critical Media Literacy through Culturally influx of misinformation while being responsive to the Responsive Teaching individual needs of a diverse classroom with access to a vast array of information? This article aligns theories It is generally agreed that an informed citizenry is of participatory democracy and pedagogy to describe necessary