Analysing advertising
Find one advertisement or commercial (on the internet, in newspapers, in magazines, etc.)
and analyse the texts (i.e., what is written or being said) and images found within it. What
is being sold and who is the intended audience? Is the ad or commercial selling consumers
something more than just the product (for example, a particular identity, social status, or
lifestyle)? If so, what is being sold? How are these ideas being conveyed through the texts
and images found in the ad or commercial? What are the symbols, metaphors, and/or
cultural references that are used to persuade the consumer to purchase the product? Be
sure to attach a copy of the advertisement (or include the hyperlink to the website where
the advertisement or commercial can be found) to your assignment.
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OPTION 2: Analyzing your consumption of social media
For this assignment, you will need to reflect on your consumption of social media. Select
one or two forms of social media that you consume on a regular basis. This could include
(but not limited to) Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, etc. Why do
you think you engage with these forms of social media? Is your sense of identity (in terms
of how you see yourself and how you think others see you) and/or ‘community’ (in terms
of feeling connected or a part of something) related to your use of social media? Explain.
Do you see yourself as an active participant in both the consumption and production of
social media? Why or why not? Lastly, are you at all concerned about your consumption
of social media? Why or why not?
PlayBuild is an after-school program located in New Orleans which repurposes vacant lots around central city to engage kids with the architectural history and design of public spaces with outdoor play with imagination playground and design challenges. Do these activities have unique cognitive learning opportunities that warrant investment, and if so what curriculum decisions contribute to positive learning outcomes and what kinds of methodology are feasible to measure such a cognitive development among children? A literature review on play and children’s cognitive development has been done to explore these three questions.
Before detailing particular research findings, below is a brief summary of this literature review. Research suggests that role play, joint action, and physically modeling objects, spaces, or systems can develop perspective-taking and systems literacy (Harris, Vygotsky, Schwartz et al., Sebanz et al., 2006). Research comparing invention-based curriculum with teaching-practice curriculums show evidence of perspective change (e.g., seeing deep structural relationships vs. surface feature covariation) and evidence that perception of deep structure correlates with increases in understanding and transfer.
Invention-based curriculums have the potential to engage participants in fantasy and role play as well as scale to forms of meaningful sociocultural participation in the community. Design and construction of diagrams and models of homes, cities, spaces, or city systems grounded in the community and history of New Orleans is worth an investment because it affords opportunities to develop perspective-taking, systems reasoning, metacognition, and mathematical and spatial thinking skills through meaningful participation in local community culture.