Title: Activity design for cultivating students' online inquiring minds and journalistic skills

Authors: Xiaohong Zhang; Kaoru Matsubayashi; Kenichi Kubota

Addresses: Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan ' Yamato University, 2-5-1 Katayama-cho Suita-shi Osaka, Japan ' Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine how students improved their inquiring minds and journalistic skills through designed activities in a journalism course based on a case study. This research was conducted in a Japanese university course, called 'internet journalism in practice'. The authors conducted mixed method including participant observation and questionnaire investigation to collect and analyse data. The authors identified that the following five design elements were important in activities to cultivate students' inquiring minds and journalistic skills. These elements were: 1) role-playing as journalists in a team; 2) visualisation of scaffolding of the four-pattern framework; 3) situational support of writing techniques and critical thinking; 4) game elements that made students experience fun and the unexpected; 5) encouraging students' active participation to critique assignments online after they reached a higher level of journalistic and critical thinking skills.

Keywords: activity design; journalistic skills; inquiring minds; news report writing; blended learning environment; journalism education; active learning; blended learning environment; higher education in Japan; course design; online discussion; case study; participant observation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2023.132785

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2023 Vol.34 No.2, pp.208 - 222

Received: 12 Dec 2021
Accepted: 23 Sep 2022
Published online: 09 Aug 2023 *

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