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How to Survive JMS 494: Media, Law and Ethics

March 18, 2010 by  

Dear JMS students,

For those of you who have not taken 494 yet, I want to assure you that it is passable – despite what you may hear from past students.  To ease your minds, I want to share a few 494 secrets that I have acquired so far this semester.

  1. Kruming usually gives two or three quizzes within the semester testing students on material that he expects students to know.  I do not recommend any student to only look at their notes in order to prepare for these quizzes.  Along with studying notes, one MUST visit the Web site provided on the back cover of the course book.  On this Web site you will find ‘practice quizzes’ for students to take.  A majority of the quiz questions are taken from these practice quizzes.
  2. To read or not to read?  That is the question.  Personally, I am definitely a reader.  I find that it clarifies any confusing material that I encounter during lecture.  For those of you who do not have time to read the 20-30 page chapters, don’t fret.  It’s only really necessary to read the court cases to get a little more information about them.  Other than that, reading is not mandatory; but, of course, always encouraged and depends on the type of learner you are.
  3. The last thing that is important to discuss is whether to go to class or not.  Even though the instructor goes off topic a lot of the time, he does not put his power point slides on BlackBoard.  Therefore, going to class everyday is pretty important.  Plus, he tells the class to look up certain material that is not in the book or slides that will definitely be on the midterm. The cases he discusses during lecture are important and all the more relevant to current events.

You basically have to go to class, kind-of read and study hard for the quizzes and midterms.  You’ll definitely appreciate the content you receive … even if it isn’t until after the class is over and you recall the concepts from a current issue you hear in the news or read in the paper.

All I can really say, is good luck!

Sincerely,

Angela Ibarra

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