JOMC 486: Mass Media Law—A Peer Review of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio

Mass Media Law, JOMC 486, is a required course for all majors in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. This includes majors in journalism (traditional print journalism and online journalism), broadcasting and advertising-public relations. The purpose of this portfolio is to assess whether the learning objectives of the course are achieved. The evidence compiled for this portfolio suggests that the students are learning basic information about mass media law. Further, analysis of the tests shows that they are also learning how to apply the principles of media law to situations they have not encountered, thus preparing them for dealing as professionals with situations that raise legal questions. The outside papers, however, seem to contribute relatively little to learning about media law and the application of media law principles. This suggests that the time devoted to these papers might be better spent on another project that will contribute more to the students\u27 understanding of the course material