Media Literacy Research
I have had some amazing opportunities to look at media literacy among youth in out-of-school programs, and I hope to continue working as an educator and researcher in the growing field of media literacy. As of now, I have two major areas of interest in looking at youth and their work with media:1) youth and identity development and 2) learning and motivation. This portion of my portfolio highlights my work as a young, qualitative researcher in media literacy.
Youth Development
In 2009, I started and ran the Chester Voices for Change
(VFC) Summer Institute, working with 10 teens from Chester, PA for 6
weeks to create a short film about issues in their community. This work
also served as my research site for my senior thesis in Educational
Studies and Sociology/Anthropology at Swarthmore College, which focused
on youth development in this program. Explore this work to find out more about possible self development and social capital among the VFC 2009 participants.
Learning & Motivation
As a Stoneleigh Junior Fellow at Research for Action
from 2010-2011, I worked on a project about how students learn, what
they learn, and why they are motivated when engaged in media production
programs. This allowed me to work with VFC again and to expand my
observations to include the work of the Philadelphia Student Union
(PSU). Find out more about this research if you're interested in
connecting new and traditional literacies or finding ways to engage
students.