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Teaching and Learning Resource (TLR)

1. Title

‘Water on the Moon’ Part 2: Critical Media Text Analysis

2. Keywords

wilderness, ‘natural’ resources, science-technology-environment relationships, contested knowledge claims, mass media, critical textual analysis.

3. Introduction

Assuming that recent scientific claims concerning water on the Moon are upheld, it seems inevitable that commercial and other pressures for lunar exploration, colonisation and resource exploitation will intensify.

The TLR takes this scenario, and associated mass media coverage, as its point of departure. It addresses philosophical, political and sociological questions concerning the science-technology-environment relationship, albeit from a novel perspective. Indeed this ‘lunar’ case study is designed, in part, precisely to cast analogous ‘terrestrial’ environmental issues (for example, concerning competition for resources and the future of wilderness areas) - including the interplay of corporate and political interests and values in public debate and decision-making - in sharper relief.

Specifically, students apply skills of critical thinking - and, in particular, of critical textual analysis - to a newspaper article which discusses recent claims by NASA and others, concerning water on the Moon.

This TLR can be used independently; however, greater educational benefit may be derived if it is used as one learning activity within a three-part set, which also includes:

• ‘Water on the Moon’ Part 1: Simulated Debate
• ‘Water on the Moon’ Part 3: Letters to the Editor

In the first of these exercises, students take part in a simulated debate, of the kind broadcast on current affairs and specialist science/environment programmes - variously playing roles in favour of, opposed to, and neutral on the question of lunar exploration, colonisation and resource exploitation. In the third TLR, they write letters of the kind which might be sent to the editor of a newspaper or magazine - written from the perspectives of parties variously in favour of, opposed to, and neutral on the question of lunar exploration, colonisation and resource exploitation. Much of the preliminary research which supports each of these exercises will probably also ‘add value’ to the present activity, and vice-versa.

The written work associated with this exercise can be assessed (see below, How to use TLR).

4. Aim

This TLR provides a framework for active learning, which invites students to apply skills of critical analysis to a media text which raises philosophical, political and sociological questions concerning science-technology-environment relationships.

5. Learning outcomes

Students who have successfully engaged with this TLR will:

• Have critically examined a range of perspectives in environmental philosophy, pertaining in particular to questions of wilderness, ‘natural’ resources, and science-technology-environment relationships.
• Have actively explored sociological and political questions pertaining to knowledge claims-makers (e.g. interest groups, pressure groups, government) and the mass media.
• Have applied skills of critical thinking - and, in particular, of critical textual analysis - to a newspaper article.
• Have undertaken background research, involving printed and electronic sources.

6. Pre-requisites

This TLR requires some knowledge of relevant philosophical, political and sociological questions, including the diversity of ethical stances on controversial environmental issues; and the behaviour of corporate, political and other claims-makers. TLRs which may assist in the development of these pre-requisites are:

• Approaches in Environmental Ethics
• Classifying Environmentalism: A Critical Introduction to Technocentrism and Ecocentrism
• Deep Ecology: A Critical Introduction
• The Brent Spar Conflict: Making Sense of the Greenpeace Case

Familiarity with mass media portrayal of controversial environmental issues would also be advantageous. The following TLR examines mass media representations of environment/nature in general (i.e. with no exclusive focus on issues which are widely recognised as ‘controversial’, or on any particular media or genres):

• EnviroFile: Representations of Environment/Nature in the Mass Media

Finally, some experience of critically appraising the knowledge claims advanced within media or other texts would be particularly helpful. Numerous TLRs are designed with the cultivation of these skills in mind, including:

• Classifying Knowledge Claims
• Evaluating the Credibility of Knowledge Claims
• A Guide to the Critical Reading of Scientific Research Papers
• Critical Reading of Corporate Environmental Reports: A Discourse-Based Approach
• Critical Book Review
• Virtual Climate Change: Critical Evaluation of Internet Sources

7. How to use TLR

I. Oral discussion

This TLR could form the basis of a tutorial (with up to around six students) or seminar (with up to around 20 students). In either case, the article itself (see below, Annex One) and discussion questions (see below, Instructions to students) should be distributed one or two weeks in advance of the main discussion, in conjunction with an oral briefing. Between 10 and 30 minutes may be required for these preparatory activities, depending on students’ familiarity with the subject matter and the kinds of learning tasks being proposed. Students might also be selectively directed to further sources (see below, Recommended reading) at this stage, chosen with reference to their pre-requisite knowledge and to the circumstances in which the TLR is being deployed (including the amount of private study time allocated to it, and use - or otherwise - of related TLRs).

The main learning activity could usefully occupy between 45 minutes (in tutorial mode of use) and 75 minutes (for a seminar - perhaps involving small group discussion, followed by a plenary ‘feedback’ session). However some further briefing may also be necessary, in order to ensure that students are clear about the intended learning outcomes and/or organisational arrangements.

Following the main learning activity, individual students’ responses could be written up as an assignment, supported by further research (see below, Recommended reading) and fully referenced.

II. Text-based examination

NB The following suggestion is merely indicative of ways in which the kinds of learning outcomes under consideration here could be tested under examination conditions. However examination ‘security’ may be breached if the text and discussion questions provided here are themselves used.

This TLR could form the core of a synoptic, text-based examination; it would be particularly appropriate for courses which aim to develop students’ powers of interdisciplinary and critical thinking, in relation to contemporary environmental issues. If used in this way, it is recommended that the text itself (Annex One), along with the examination briefing notes (Annex Two), be distributed to students approximately three to four weeks before the examination. Students might also be directed to additional sources (see below, Recommended reading) at this stage.

However, in examining course aims and learning outcomes of these kinds, via case-based materials, it is strongly advised that issues with which students are familiar be used: candidates will tend perform to the best (rather than the worst!) of their ability if they are familiar with the case, and can feel confident and knowledgeable in their analysis of it.

For a two-hour paper, two compulsory questions should be used (see Instructions to students: Questions 1 and 2); they should be issued on the day of the examination only.

Such an examination has the following merits:

• The questions require a display of higher level thinking skills, as opposed to those of ‘recall’.
• The questions are ‘synoptic’ - they extend beyond the specific case of ‘water on the Moon’ (to test wider powers of interdisciplinary and critical thinking, in relation to contemporary environmental issues).
• Use of two compulsory and synoptic questions largely removes the ‘chance’ element which characterises many essay-based examination papers (particularly where each question tests a discrete portion of the syllabus).
• The ‘security’ of the assessment is protected, by preventing the use of ‘prepared’ answers (of uncertain origin).

It is strongly recommended, however, that students who are not accustomed to this type of examination be carefully supported in their preparation - for example, by oral counselling (in addition to the briefing notes) and by incorporating text-based analysis tasks (formatively assessed in some cases, if possible) into the programme of learning activities (see, for example, The Cold Fusion Story; The Brent Spar Conflict: Making Sense of the Greenpeace Case; ‘Killer Rabbit Virus on the Loose!’; ‘Gulf War Syndrome’).

2. Instructions to students

Read the newspaper article, ‘Water on the Moon - our passports to the planets’, and undertake associated background reading as directed. Then consider the following:

1. Identify and evaluate the main argument that the author is advancing in this article? In particular:

• What principal conclusions does he reach? Where in the passage are they stated?
• What form do these conclusions take - for example, ‘facts’ and/or recommendations?
• What reasons are given (or assumed, but not explicitly stated) in support of these conclusion - for example, evidence, stated and/or unstated assumptions, logical inferences (eg causal connections)? Where in the passage are the stated reasons given?
• How valid and persuasive are the reasons given (or assumed) in support of the conclusions?

2. Now evaluate the persuasive qualities of the ‘text’ as a whole, including its possible audience reception. In particular, comment on:

• The author’s use of science and values, in support of his argument.
• The author’s use of sources, including those individuals and organisations whose testimony he portrays as credible and those whose voices are not heard.
• Textual devices used in connection with the article - for example the visual imagery, language and rhetoric.
• The possible significance of the author himself.

9. Stimulus Material

Students should be given a copy of the newspaper article (see Annex One); and may require access to the electronic - along with at least some of the print - sources listed below (see Recommended reading).

10. Degree stage

The learning outcomes associated with this TLR are unlikely to be attainable by students below undergraduate Level 2; indeed, they may not be fully achievable before Level 3, unless there has been some emphasis on skills of critical analysis and on philosophical, political and sociological (including media-related) questions concerning science-technology-environment relationships.

11. Resource requirements

This TLR probably requires access to the electronic - along with at least some of the print - sources listed below (see Recommended reading).

For the ‘oral discussion’ mode of use, it also requires accommodation suitable for tutorial or seminar-based work.

12. Preparation

This TLR requires briefing of students, as indicated above (How to use TLR).

13. Links with other TLRs

This TLR is the second of a three-part set, which also includes:

• ‘Water on the Moon’ Part 1: Simulated Debate
• ‘Water on the Moon’ Part 3: Letters to the Editor

As indicated in the Pre-requisites and How to use TLR (above), there is some commonality between this TLR and:

• Approaches in Environmental Ethics
• Classifying Environmentalism: A Critical Introduction to Technocentrism and Ecocentrism
• Deep Ecology: A Critical Introduction
• EnviroFile: Representations of environment/nature in the mass media
• The Brent Spar Conflict: Critical Analysis of the Greenpeace Case
• Classifying Knowledge Claims
• Evaluating the Credibility of Knowledge Claims
• A Guide to the Critical Reading of Scientific Research Papers
• Critical Reading of Corporate Environmental Reports: A Discourse-Based Approach
• Critical Book Review
• Virtual Climate Change: Critical Evaluation of Internet Sources
• The Cold Fusion Story
• ‘Killer Rabbit Virus on the Loose!’
• 'Gulf War Syndrome' Part 1: Claims and Claims Makers
• 'Gulf War Syndrome' Part 2: Critical Textual Analysis

More generally, the aims and/or learning outcomes of this TLR are related to those of other TLRs listed in the following 'thematic clusters':

• Environment and the mass media
• Case studies

14. Follow-up activities

In general, students’ skills of critical analysis will be enhanced by further oral and/or written exercises of a similar or related kind - including (but not confined to) those based on some of the TLRs listed above.

Specifically, more experienced students might attempt to critique the same newspaper article from a particular philosophical perspective - for example, from a ‘shallow’ or ‘deep’ green (or from a ‘technocentric’ or ‘ecocentric’) position. Exercises of this kind might lead students to consider whether (or how far) it is ever possible to undertake such critical textual analyses, other than from a distinctive perspective (either tacitly held or explicitly acknowledged).

15. Recommended reading

• The mass media

Allen, S et al (eds) (2000) Environmental Risks and the Media. Routlegde

Anderson, A (1997) Media, Culture and the Environment. UCL Press, London

Curran, J (1990) ‘Cultural Perspectives of News Organisations: A Reappraisal and a Case Study’. In M Ferguson (ed) Public Communication: The New Imperatives: Future Directions for Media Research. Sage Publications

Eldridge, J (ed) (1993). Getting the Message: News, Truth and Power. Routledge

Fowler, R (1991) Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. Routledge, London

The Guardian (1999) The 2000 Media Guide. The Guardian

Hansen, A (ed) (1993) The Mass Media and Environmental Issues. Leicester University Press

Vujakovic, P (1998) ‘Reading between the lines: using news media materials for geography’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, volume 22, number 1, pp147-155

• Pressure group activity

Rose, C (1993) ‘Achieving change’. In F Goldsmith and A Warren (eds) Conservation in Progress (pp116-183). John Wiley & Sons
This looks at how NGOs campaign, and touches briefly on their use of arguments based on intangible values and utilitarian benefits. A mainly practical essay on how to achieve change, it explains what a campaign is and what it is not: it is not awareness-raising or education but a way of eliminating doubt and building up certainty to the point where people are motivated to act. He gives the basic principles of campaigning - the process and the methodology, necessary elements and reasons for success and failure.

Young, S C (1993) The Politics of the Environment. Baseline Books
Handy guidebook to environmental problems facing government, protest, green parties, how they work etc.

Potter, D (1996) ‘NGOs and environmental policies’. In P Glasbergen and A Blowers (eds) Environmental Policy in an International Context, 3: Prospects for Environmental Change. Arnold, Hodder Headline
Gives an overview of NGOs, what they are and how they work, the constraints and opportunities. Discusses whether they are successful in influencing policy and the factors for assessing effectiveness.

• Ethical aspects of science-technology-environment relationships

Stevenson, L (1993) ‘Is scientific research value-neutral’? In S Armstrong and R Botzler (eds) Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence (pp9-16). McGraw Hill

Brown, D A (1993) ‘Ethics, Science and Regulation’. In S Armstrong and R Botzler (eds) Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence (pp17-29). McGraw Hill
About how technology is assessed without reference to ethical or social questions.

Hartmann W K (1984) ‘Space exploration and environmental issues’. Environmental Ethics, vol 6 (Fall), pp227-239
Looks at it from various angles, including ‘space as wilderness’.

• Environmental philosophy

Fox, W (1990) Towards a Transpersonal Ecology; Developing New Foundations for Environmentalism. Shambhala Publications, Mass., USA (also has British publisher, Green Books?)
About Deep Ecology and Naess (but Chapter 6 also provides a good overview of a range of ecophilosophical positions)

Devall, B and Sessions, G (1985) Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered. Gibbs Smith, Layton, Utah
Includes chapters on wilderness and resource conservation

Regan, T (1982) ‘The nature and possibility of an environmental ethic’ (chapter 9, pp184-205 ) in All that Dwell Within: Essays on Animal Rights and Environmental Ethics. University of California Press
Looks at the concept of inherent value and applies it to non-animal nature.

• Journals

Environmental Ethics

Environmental Values

Environmental Politics

Media, Culture and Environment

• Websites

http://www.ari.net/back2moon.html
Should we return to the moon? A world wide web public policy forum

http://www.sciam.com/explorations/1998/0316moon/
Forum to discuss exploration from various viewpoints, viz the moon should be open to commercial exploitation; development should be regulated; it should be left alone.

http://www.sciam.com/explorations/1998/0309
Pieces from Scientific American about the discovery of water on the moon.

http://www.geodata.soton.ac.uk/hypermail/envsci/group2/topic4
Discussion of water on the moon

http://www.lycosuk.co.uk/webguides/technology/t_moon.html
Moon webguide

http://www.suwa.org/
Website for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. The Utah wilderness is under threat from mining.

http://gree.ca/issues/econo/deepE.html
On Deep Ecology

http://www.aet.co.uk
AEA Technology

http://www.highview.co.uk
BNSP (United Kingdom Space Agency)

http://www.matra-marconi-space.com/
Matra Marconi Space

http://open.gov.uk
The British Government

http://www.dra.hmg.gb/dera.htm
DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency)

Annex One: Newspaper Article

Annex Two: Draft Examination Briefing Notes

The newspaper article entitled ‘Water on the Moon - our passports to the planets’, and the ‘further reading’ list, are to be used in preparation for the … [insert title] … examination.

You will be permitted to take into the examination room:

• Your copy of the newspaper article, annotated as you wish.
• One A4-sized sheet (two sides) of your own hand-written or printed notes.

In the examination room, you will be given:

• A further copy of the newspaper article (if required)
• The question paper - consisting of two compulsory questions, each of which carries equal weight in the assessment.

You will then have 15 minutes to consider the questions, and to plan your answers, followed by two hours’ writing time.

Broadly, you will be asked to critically analyse the article - which discusses recent scientific claims concerning water on the Moon, and their implications for lunar exploration, colonisation and resource exploitation. In so doing, you will be expected to consider philosophical, political and sociological questions concerning science-technology-environment relationships, albeit from a novel perspective. Indeed this ‘lunar’ case study is designed, in part, precisely to cast analogous ‘terrestrial’ environmental issues (for example, concerning competition for resources and the future of wilderness areas) - including the interplay of corporate and political interests and values in public debate and decision-making - in sharper relief.