HITS 2022 day one is over! It was a lot of fun to reconnect with the group and meet new people. Tonight, I watched the Lilly 2022 session “Effectiveness of Crime News Analysis in Teaching Criminology and Criminal Justice Courses” by Ali Ozdogan. Ozdogan wanted to convey the power of crime news analysis as a teaching tool in criminology and criminal justice classes. The use of crime news exposes students to the social context in which crimes take place. Ozdogan spoke about the lack of studies and how they wanted to collect data on how crime news analysis assignments may help students. Ozdogan mentioned that while movies can be useful tools to teach criminology and criminal justice, they have disadvantages: they may be too time-consuming, distractive, contain inappropriate scenes/language, or have non-realistic scenarios. Ozdogan helps introduce the assignment by first focusing on the theoretical concepts in class. The guidelines for the assignments are detailed: the assignment must contain a brief story of the incident, identify the offender(s)/victim(s)/crime(s) and circumstances, including the background and motivation of the offender… Ozdogan shared with students an IRB-approved 20-question survey. The participants were mostly criminal justice majors or minors and totaled 129. Most respondents thought the assignment enhanced their learning experience. Several other survey questions suggested that the assignment raised students’ interest in the subject, enhances their learning, and promotes thinking skills. I wonder if a crime analysis related to biotechnology and bioprospecting could be a good way to start discussions about this topic?
