Course summary
The objective of this course is to equip students with an interest in valorisation (e.g. geo-journalism) to deliver their scientific results as re-usable research objects for delivery through digital NEWSrooms, such that analysis can be repeated fully independently and best practices in journalism can be adhered to.
Stories about our Planet are broad by nature and it is the job of a journalist to help pin down the often interconnected reasons that drive environmental change. The growth of large, publicly accessible datasets presents the media community with new opportunities, but this also comes with the need for new skills to turn this trove of information into easy-to-understand, evidence-based stories. Simultaneously, ITC/UT has been teaching applied geo-information sciences for +60 years, but with increasing emphasis on academic skills in recent years. According to a recent survey, however, more than 80% of our alumni do not pursue an academic career. Therefore, an all-new MSc course module on geo-journalism is presented which teaches students to combine geodata, data analytics, and various Bodies of Knowledge (BoK) in creating compelling (cartographic) infographics to support their storytelling. Using this knowledge and skill, students are enabled to create compelling (cartographic) infographics in minutes rather than days. These infographics are fully semantically enriched, allowing others to see and question the data sources and underlying analyses. With each course assignment, students gradually populate their online NEWSroom with blog articles annotated by these (cartographic) infographics. As a portfolio of the student’s environmental storytelling efforts, this NEWSroom also helps improve their personal branding since their reporting is automatically indexed by Microsoft Bing and Google search because of the adherence to the Semantic Web-standards of our NEWSroom tooling.
The semantic tools and data models used in geo-journalism provide important ‘spill-overs’; the open-source technology stack not only facilitates fact-checking of claims made in news and blog articles, but also those in scientific journal articles. Studies show that only 10~30% of published science articles are reproducible. Many argue this is a logical result of the publishing format as in most papers textual reference is made such as “this experiment was conducted as previously reported [insert reference here]” instead of a live reference to the online executable algorithm and workflow to recreate the results. Our hope is that it will enable those with an enthusiasm for storytelling to use these rapid geo-information pipelines to support their valorization efforts in publishing (reviews) of scientific findings and how to stimulate viral spread across the Internet.
Learning outcomes
Upon completing this course the students are able to:
Discover and tell a story that is appealing
Gain insights in journalistic best practices by publishing scientific results in the media
Master tools for geo-journalism and online, rapid executable EO workflows
Master robust, online peer-review workflow to stimulate viral spread across the Internet
Valorize on research results by appraising and recommending suitable methods to summarize scientific findings for a broader audience using infographics and social media blog articles
Understand practical ways to build-out your personal brand name by developing sound social media strategies
Contents
This course will prepare the students to become vocal individuals who have ability, attitudes, skills and know-how necessary for sound geo-journalism for the valorization of research results and uptake addressing the appropriate level of understanding for an audience.
The course is structured as follows: (a) basic theory (frontal teaching) (b) flipped classroom teaching where the transfer of theoretical information from teacher to student (‘lecturing’) is taken out of the classroom/lectures and presented as material to study before the lecture. The lecture itself is then used to discuss important questions about the material, and assess the student’s level of understanding (c) getting practical, including storytelling exercises (d) editorial meetings (e) develop a NEWSroom consisting of co-authored blogs and infographics, and, finally, a self-reflection report (f) where participants reflect on their learning curve and possible follow-ups are identified.
A. Basic theory
The course starts with lectures (incl. guest lectures), followed by practical assignments.
A.1 Lectures
A. Develop storytelling skills to repot about our Natural world:
Discover the story by identifying elements in scientific findings that contradict, agree, or deviate from popular opinion
How to write a news article in a 'foldable' manner
Business models for (semi) professional geo-journalism;
A.2. Guest lectures
A series of guest lectures will be organized from UTwente staff who have experience with:.
How to write an enticing introductory section of a news story, aka "lede", that helps keep the reader’s attention
Understand design criteria for easy-to-understand visuals that support or tell your story
B. Advanced concepts: flipped classroom
Online materials are provided to the course participants to enhance their competencies in authoring and reviewing blog articles, accompanied by an appropriate (cartographic) infographic, related to a contemporary issue. The aim of this phase is to discover a students’ learning path and to prepare them for the role of author, editor, and publisher in a role-play (phase in C).
Master rapid, online executable EO workflows for geo-journalism and online publishing:
Appraise methods, tools, and data that help summarize these findings using an infographic
Elaborate data needs for the infographic
Subset geo-data by time, space, and parameter for the infographic
Propose rapid geo-data processing functions & reduce the data dimensionality meaningful for the infographic
Present and augment computer-generated infographics to be visually appealing and easy-to-understand
Master robust, online peer-review workflow to stimulate viral spread across the Internet:
Understand the basic principles of the Semantic Web 3.0 and the structured data types for "fact-checking"
Demonstrate an understanding of the full definition of ClaimReview (schema.org/ClaimReview)
Demonstrate authoring of a (review) claim (schema.org/CreativeWork)
Understand how truthfulness ratings are assigned using the reviewRating of the ClaimReview-process (schema.org/Rating)
Understand how the claim being checked by multiple reviewers can be summarized programmatically (based on this crowd of fact-checkers)
Appraise strategies and reasons to build a personal brand :
Understand practical ways to build-out your online presence
Be able to tell a story orally, pitch your perspective on a contemporary environmental issue in less than 3 minutes
Discriminate social media strategies
Understand (non)monatery business models for (semi) professional geo-journalism (e.g. freelance journalism, personal branding, or valorization of research results)
C. Getting practical; storytelling (oral and written) and roleplaying
In this phase you get to improve your geo-journalism skills by working on a story covering a real-life, contemporary environmental issue backed by geoinformation science. This requires that you use multiple theories and tools from geoinformation and journalism in an integrated fashion. Given the technical readiness of geo-journalism, several social-cultural aspects also deserve attention such as what are the (perceived) occupational or cultural barriers to be publicly outspoken.
Four contemporary issues (study cases) are presented to students, whereby groups of students will jointly work on the design cycle of a story, frequently alternating the student’s role from author-editor-publisher-reader. Below an example design cycle:
Read up on promising fact-checking articles and discuss why some spread virally across the Internet
Compare the findings of 3 scientific articles (focus on the abstract & conclusions), are there elements that deviate from popular opinion (contradict, agree)?
Write an appropriate "lede" for the story you have in mind: hard-news ledes are generally used for breaking news and for more important, time-sensitive stories. Feature ledes are generally used on stories that are less deadline-oriented and for those that examine issues in a more in-depth way.
Write the main body of the blog post in a 'foldable' manner such that the reader can 'skip over' sub-paragraphs while still understanding the main point of the story
By hand, sketch a dummy infographic that would support the main elements of the story.
Review the handwritten dummy infographic from one of your peers: does it support the main elements of the story?
Create the online-referenceable, reproducible EO workflow needed to create the infographic (based on the sketch).
Etc.
The design cycle of a blog or a news article is an iterative process. This means that throughout the project you will improve each design step by going back and forth between steps until a satisfactory result is achieved, and checked by a potential reader or paying publisher. This means design iterations and rework are a natural part of this design cycle, all with the sole goal of improving the young geo-journalist.
D. Editorial meetings
Editorial meetings are foreseen to monitor and stimulate the progress of the students. The student groups will be presenting their progress in identifying and telling stories, addressing the challenges, and proposing possible solutions. The students will have the opportunity to comment on each other’s works and ask questions to the scientific and professional consultants.
E. NEWSroom
As part of the students’ growing journalistic aspirations, with each course assignment students gradually populate their online NEWSroom with blog articles annotated by (cartographic) infographics as personal portfolio of their environmental storytelling efforts. This NEWSroom also helps to improve their personal branding since their reporting is automatically indexed by Microsoft Bing and Google search because of the ReviewClaim-tag, incl. their work in the various role-playing modes, e.g. as editor and reviewer, where fact-checking and feedback on the scientific rigor of underlying facts, incl. data, method, results and discussion, are presented in a scientific and clear manner.
F. Self-reflection report
A written self-reflection report (max 400 words) on the learning process within the context of the learning outcomes of the course and the contribution to the case studies supported with evidence
(individual & mark)
Teaching and learning approach
This course integrates blended learning with storytelling teaching approach. Blended learning combines face-to-face lectures with flipped classroom via online learning materials. Tutorials are self-learning online materials that stimulates learning by doing with some limited coaching. The students will work, hereafter, in multinational groups (consisting of 3-4 persons) on an article or story, combine and develop their skills in role-playing, and present in a “simulated” public hearing setup.
Allocated time per teaching and learning method (hours)
Assessment
The assessment will consist of 3 tests:
Test 1: Practical storytelling assignment(s), need to finish (pass / fail)
Test 2: Theory 1 written test (and 1 resit); 30% of the final mark
Test 3: Write a Blog/news article and fact-check one (60% of the final mark):
Blog; 40% of the final mark
NEWSroom contents; 20% of the final mark
Test 4: self-reflection report 10% of the final mark