Progress 07/15/19 to 10/14/20

Outputs
Target Audience:We reached a combination of English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies teachers (n = 9) and 9th and 11th grade students (n = 655) in two rural high schools in Michigan. Teachers implemented and students participated in an online learning module to foster reading comprehension, critical thinking, news media literacy, and civic engagement in rural high school students. See "Other Products" for a detailed description of the online module. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We conducted training and professional development with English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies teachers (n = 9) who implemented the online module with their rural high school students (n = 665). The training sequence encompassed a curriculum development workshop, several focus group discussions, a teaching journal, and mentoring during the implementation of the online module in their courses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Within the 10 months of the SBIR Phase I Project, we have started to successfully disseminate our results at professional associations for school teachers and administrators targeting a total of nine (9) reginal, national, and international conferences as public knowledge sharing and training platforms. Reginal professional associations and their conferences the Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS) Annual Conference the Indiana Council for Teachers of English (ICTE) State Conference National professional associations and their conferences the annual convention of the National Social Studies Supervisor Association (NSSSA) the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference International professional association and its conferences the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6: Instructional Design SIG 7: Technology-Enhanced Learning and Instruction Please see "Products" for a detailed list of conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Impact Statement Reading comprehension and critical thinking skills have been identified as persistent national education problems (Nippold, 2017; OECD, 2009), and their effects have been particularly costly on the college and career readiness of students in rural communities where only 29.3% of 18-to-24-year-olds enroll in undergraduate or vocational programs (NCES, 2018). We developed an online module that targets these skills by engaging high school students in rural communities with their local news media to improve their knowledge, skills, and dispositions about the news and help them make informed decisions to lead successful lives. Our use of this curriculum in high school classrooms shows promising results for changes in knowledge, action, and condition among both students and teachers. Changes in knowledge occurred among students in learning about reading comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and news media literacy. Over 80% of students demonstrated proficiency when using a series of interactive videos to learn new reading and critical thinking skills targeted by the module, and 70% of students showed improvement in their knowledge and skills from pretest to posttest. Teachers gained knowledge by receiving teaching materials and content on these topics to pass on to their students. Changes in action occurred among students as they learned to apply their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills by practicing reading and analyzing local newspaper articles as assignments within the module. The ability to understand and think critically about the news helps young people make informed decisions about their lives. Teachers received the tools and training on how to deliver this curriculum to their students, and their experience in teaching the unit prompted teachers to think about how to continue to incorporate the teaching of these skills in their future lessons. Changes in condition occurred among students as they learned more about their local communities and how to become more active citizens who contribute to the wellbeing and economic development of their rural communities. Additionally, our module's impact on improving the skills necessary for college and career readiness shows promise for improving student enrollment in undergraduate and vocational programs and contributing to success in their future educational and career endeavors. Teachers demonstrated interest in the use of our curriculum in their future lessons and across multiple disciplines and school years, which would contribute to reinforcing and further developing these skills so that students can leave high school better prepared for the challenges of the real world. R&D Accomplishments Research and development of our module focused on Objective 1: Technical feasibility of the interactive videos and Objective 2: Technical feasibility of the module for teachers. Lab testing and classroom research were used to determine feasibility and usability based on two factors: student performance outcomes and teacher experience and feedback. Objective 1 of the project focused on the technical feasibility of the interactive videos andexamined the ways in which the online module's interactive videos (that emulate the interactive modeling process of teaching) could be created to improve students' acquisition and application of reading comprehension and critical thinking strategies. A sequence of 14 interactive, instructional videos (seven reading strategy videos and seven critical thinking strategy videos) were created and tested with a small sample of students within a learning lab setting, optimized based on student feedback, and then embedded into the module and implemented within authentic classroom settings. These interactive videos served as a formative assessment by calculating the proficiency level of the individual student and displaying it at the end of the video. Students could re-watch the videos to improve their proficiency scores. Student performance on the use of reading strategies and critical thinking strategies modeled in the videos was also assessed on the pretest and posttest that students completed at the start and end of the module. Our results for Objective 1 showed that 88.2% and 84.2% of students attained a level of "proficient" or higher on the reading and critical thinking videos respectively. Furthermore, 70% of students showed improvement in these skills from pretest to posttest. These results establish the proof of concept that our interactive videos are an effective means of emulating the dialogue between teacher and student. These videos offer a flexible yet individualized learning tool that models for students vital reading and critical thinking skills, offers them opportunities for practice, and provides immediate feedback. By mirroring student-teacher interactions, the videos provide pedagogical and instructional support to high school teachers by leveraging technology to teach complex and transferable skills without adding to their workloads. Objective 2 of the project focused on the technical feasibility of the module for teachers and examined the ways in which teachers used the module, including its technical and curricular features, to achieve the teaching goals in their English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies courses, respectively. Teachers implemented the module in their classrooms over a two-week period (10 school days). A combination of focus group interviews, daily teaching journals, and direct classroom observations were used to evaluate the feasibility of the module for teachers. All of our teachers used an estimated 80-100% of the module's core curricular components (group discussions, content slides, interactive videos, assignments, local news websites, and additional resources) and found them useful in supporting their teaching goals. Teachers used an estimated 90-100% of our module's core technical components (LMS interface, single user authentication, video player features, gradebook, grading rubrics) and were able to navigate the module's content and features without difficulty. Teachers had a wide range of positive feedback on the usability and value of many of the module's components and had several ideas for how they could envision the module being used in the future in their own classrooms, in their discipline with their peers, and across 9-12th grade as a cross-disciplinary skill. These results of Objective 2 establish the proof of concept that our online module can be used by ELA and Social Studies teachers to achieve their teaching goals and to add value to their discipline-specific curricula. The successful use of this module by ELA and Social Studies teachers demonstrates its practicality as a scalable tool for teaching the reading and critical thinking strategies that educators and policymakers value across disciplines--strategies that are necessary for preparing students to rigorously engage with the information they are exposed to on a daily basis. The alignment of the module's content with existing state, federal, and international standards demonstrates not only that it can fit into high school curricula, but that it promotes skills that students must learn to be successful in subjects such as ELA and Social Studies--and beyond that, in their lives outside of school as they make decisions in their communities, further their educations, and embark on their careers. References National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (2018). Nations Report Card. Retrieved: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/ Nippold, M. A. (2017). Reading Comprehension Deficits in Adolescents: Addressing Underlying Language Abilities. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, 48(2), 125-131. doi: 10.1044/2016_LSHSS-16-0048. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). PISA 2009 Assessment framework: Key competencies in reading, mathematics and science. Paris, France.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2021, November). The Front Porch Experience: Local News. Local Issues. Local People. Professional development training to be delivered at National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2020, December). Creating Collaborative Civic Spaces through Media Literacy. Paper to be presented at the annual convention of the National Social Studies Supervisor Association (NSSSA), Washington, D.C.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, November). Critical Media Literacy: News Media Literacy: Students use W-Questions to evaluate the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Paper to be presented at the 2020 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, October). News Media Literacy: Students use W-Questions to unpack the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Professional development training accepted for presentation at the Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS) Annual Conference, Traverse City, MI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, August). Pilot implementation of an Online Module to Improve Studentsâ¿¿ Critical Thinking and Reading Skills through News Media Literacy. Paper to be presented at the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6 Instructional Design & 7 Technology-Enhanced Learning And Instruction, Tÿ¼bingen, Germany.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Michaelson, M.K., & Rotshtein, R. (2020, August). The Front Porch Experience: Bringing Students and Their Communities Together Online through the News. Workshop to be presented at the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6 Instructional Design & 7 Technology-Enhanced Learning And Instruction, Tÿ¼bingen, Germany.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Michaelson, M.K., Rotshtein, R. & Feucht, F.C. (2020, March). News Media Literacy: Students Use W-Questions to Evaluate the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Professional development training accepted for presentation at the Indiana Council for Teachers of English (ICTE) State Conference, South Bend, IN.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C. (2019, October). New Ways to engage High School Students in Local News and Civic Responsibility. Flash session presented and moderated at the annual National Newspaper Association (NNA) Convention, Milwaukee, WI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2019, November). Theres an App for That! Digital Tools for Deliberative Democracy. Professional development training delivered at National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Austin, TX.

Progress 07/15/19 to 08/11/20

Outputs
Target Audience:We reached a combination of English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies teachers (n = 9) and 9th and 11th grade students (n = 655) in two rural high schools in Michigan. Teachers implemented and students participated in an online learning module to foster reading comprehension, critical thinking, news media literacy, and civic engagement in rural high school students. See "Other Products" for a detailed description of the online module. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We conducted training and professional development with English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies teachers (n = 9) who implemented the online module with their rural high school students (n = 665). The training sequence encompassed a curriculum development workshop, several focus group discussions, a teaching journal, and mentoring during the implementation of the online module in their courses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Within the 10 months of the SBIR Phase I Project, we have started to successfully disseminate our results at professional associations for school teachers and administrators targeting a total of nine (9) reginal, national, and international conferences as public knowledge sharing and training platforms. Reginal professional associations and their conferences the Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS) Annual Conference the Indiana Council for Teachers of English (ICTE) State Conference National professional associations and their conferences the annual convention of the National Social Studies Supervisor Association (NSSSA) the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference International professional association and its conferences the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6: Instructional Design SIG 7: Technology-Enhanced Learning and Instruction Please see "Products" for a detailed list of conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Impact Statement Reading comprehension and critical thinking skills have been identified as persistent national education problems (Nippold, 2017; OECD, 2009), and their effects have been particularly costly on the college and career readiness of students in rural communities where only 29.3% of 18-to-24-year-olds enroll in undergraduate or vocational programs (NCES, 2018). We developed an online module that targets these skills by engaging high school students in rural communities with their local news media to improve their knowledge, skills, and dispositions about the news and help them make informed decisions to lead successful lives. Our use of this curriculum in high school classrooms shows promising results for changes in knowledge, action, and condition among both students and teachers. Changes in knowledge occurred among students in learning about reading comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and news media literacy. Over 80% of students demonstrated proficiency when using a series of interactive videos to learn new reading and critical thinking skills targeted by the module, and 70% of students showed improvement in their knowledge and skills from pretest to posttest. Teachers gained knowledge by receiving teaching materials and content on these topics to pass on to their students. Changes in action occurred among students as they learned to apply their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills by practicing reading and analyzing local newspaper articles as assignments within the module. The ability to understand and think critically about the news helps young people make informed decisions about their lives. Teachers received the tools and training on how to deliver this curriculum to their students, and their experience in teaching the unit prompted teachers to think about how to continue to incorporate the teaching of these skills in their future lessons. Changes in condition occurred among students as they learned more about their local communities and how to become more active citizens who contribute to the wellbeing and economic development of their rural communities. Additionally, our module's impact on improving the skills necessary for college and career readiness shows promise for improving student enrollment in undergraduate and vocational programs and contributing to success in their future educational and career endeavors. Teachers demonstrated interest in the use of our curriculum in their future lessons and across multiple disciplines and school years, which would contribute to reinforcing and further developing these skills so that students can leave high school better prepared for the challenges of the real world. R&D Accomplishments Research and development of our module focused on Objective 1: Technical feasibility of the interactive videos and Objective 2: Technical feasibility of the module for teachers. Lab testing and classroom research were used to determine feasibility and usability based on two factors: student performance outcomes and teacher experience and feedback. Objective 1 of the project focused on the technical feasibility of the interactive videos andexamined the ways in which the online module's interactive videos (that emulate the interactive modeling process of teaching) could be created to improve students' acquisition and application of reading comprehension and critical thinking strategies. A sequence of 14 interactive, instructional videos (seven reading strategy videos and seven critical thinking strategy videos) were created and tested with a small sample of students within a learning lab setting, optimized based on student feedback, and then embedded into the module and implemented within authentic classroom settings. These interactive videos served as a formative assessment by calculating the proficiency level of the individual student and displaying it at the end of the video. Students could re-watch the videos to improve their proficiency scores. Student performance on the use of reading strategies and critical thinking strategies modeled in the videos was also assessed on the pretest and posttest that students completed at the start and end of the module. Our results for Objective 1 showed that 88.2% and 84.2% of students attained a level of "proficient" or higher on the reading and critical thinking videos respectively. Furthermore, 70% of students showed improvement in these skills from pretest to posttest. These results establish the proof of concept that our interactive videos are an effective means of emulating the dialogue between teacher and student. These videos offer a flexible yet individualized learning tool that models for students vital reading and critical thinking skills, offers them opportunities for practice, and provides immediate feedback. By mirroring student-teacher interactions, the videos provide pedagogical and instructional support to high school teachers by leveraging technology to teach complex and transferable skills without adding to their workloads. Objective 2 of the project focused on the technical feasibility of the module for teachers and examined the ways in which teachers used the module, including its technical and curricular features, to achieve the teaching goals in their English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies courses, respectively. Teachers implemented the module in their classrooms over a two-week period (10 school days). A combination of focus group interviews, daily teaching journals, and direct classroom observations were used to evaluate the feasibility of the module for teachers. All of our teachers used an estimated 80-100% of the module's core curricular components (group discussions, content slides, interactive videos, assignments, local news websites, and additional resources) and found them useful in supporting their teaching goals. Teachers used an estimated 90-100% of our module's core technical components (LMS interface, single user authentication, video player features, gradebook, grading rubrics) and were able to navigate the module's content and features without difficulty. Teachers had a wide range of positive feedback on the usability and value of many of the module's components and had several ideas for how they could envision the module being used in the future in their own classrooms, in their discipline with their peers, and across 9-12th grade as a cross-disciplinary skill. These results of Objective 2 establish the proof of concept that our online module can be used by ELA and Social Studies teachers to achieve their teaching goals and to add value to their discipline-specific curricula. The successful use of this module by ELA and Social Studies teachers demonstrates its practicality as a scalable tool for teaching the reading and critical thinking strategies that educators and policymakers value across disciplines--strategies that are necessary for preparing students to rigorously engage with the information they are exposed to on a daily basis. The alignment of the module's content with existing state, federal, and international standards demonstrates not only that it can fit into high school curricula, but that it promotes skills that students must learn to be successful in subjects such as ELA and Social Studies--and beyond that, in their lives outside of school as they make decisions in their communities, further their educations, and embark on their careers. References National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (2018). Nations Report Card. Retrieved: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/ Nippold, M. A. (2017). Reading Comprehension Deficits in Adolescents: Addressing Underlying Language Abilities. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch, 48(2), 125-131. doi: 10.1044/2016_LSHSS-16-0048. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). PISA 2009 Assessment framework: Key competencies in reading, mathematics and science. Paris, France.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2021, November). The Front Porch Experience: Local News. Local Issues. Local People. Professional development training to be delivered at National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2020, December). Creating Collaborative Civic Spaces through Media Literacy. Paper to be presented at the annual convention of the National Social Studies Supervisor Association (NSSSA), Washington, D.C.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, November). Critical Media Literacy: News Media Literacy: Students use W-Questions to evaluate the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Paper to be presented at the 2020 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, October). News Media Literacy: Students use W-Questions to unpack the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Professional development training accepted for presentation at the Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS) Annual Conference, Traverse City, MI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Rotshtein, R. & Michaelson, M.K. (2020, August). Pilot implementation of an Online Module to Improve Studentsâ¿¿ Critical Thinking and Reading Skills through News Media Literacy. Paper to be presented at the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6 Instructional Design & 7 Technology-Enhanced Learning And Instruction, Tÿ¼bingen, Germany.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C., Michaelson, M.K., & Rotshtein, R. (2020, August). The Front Porch Experience: Bringing Students and Their Communities Together Online through the News. Workshop to be presented at the bi-annual conference of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 6 Instructional Design & 7 Technology-Enhanced Learning And Instruction, Tÿ¼bingen, Germany.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Michaelson, M.K., Rotshtein, R. & Feucht, F.C. (2020, March). News Media Literacy: Students Use W-Questions to Evaluate the content and trustworthiness of news reports. Professional development training accepted for presentation at the Indiana Council for Teachers of English (ICTE) State Conference, South Bend, IN.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Feucht, F.C. (2019, October). New Ways to engage High School Students in Local News and Civic Responsibility. Flash session presented and moderated at the annual National Newspaper Association (NNA) Convention, Milwaukee, WI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Feucht, F.C. & Bush, R. (2019, November). Theres an App for That! Digital Tools for Deliberative Democracy. Professional development training delivered at National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Austin, TX.