From my experience teaching over 2,000 hours of material, I have developed a number of ways to facilitate this kind of dynamic learning. The core of my teaching strategy is founded on a seminar structures, with lecture and in class discussion being supplemented by readings and assessments, but also by journal assignments and group projects designed to provide students with practical experiences and a taste of the reality behind media production and analysis. 

 

Overall I find believe a key to creating a space where students can learn to use tools of self motivation and critical thinking is to embrace a sort of “90/10” philosophy. In my own field of Radio, Television and Film, this involves bringing in new media sources (there are a wealth of high quality series of critical theory and formal interpretations of media online, and many of these allow students to see the content in a way far removed from the facts of a textbook). As a working professional (and original video-essayist) myself, I believe that these new forms of media can help inspire students for their own collaborative and analytical work, and can allow them to gain a real-world understanding of the material, which will ideally prepare them not only for their future classes in the discipline, but also for operating within the realities of our modern media landscape.