LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY

Course Specification BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures

2018-19 (BAMCT)

www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Record of Enhancement

No. Detail of modification (Provide a brief description of the modification and where the Course Specification has been updated)

Date Effective (Indicate the academic year of entry and course level(s) to which the modification will apply)

V2 Bringing in the re-validated Module Specs following the the re-validation of BA (Hons) English and Media (BAEAM) in November 2017, and subsequent transfer of all docs to Course Spec/Module Spec templates. L5 module, ‘Media Professionals Workshop’ an either/or option modules with the new School-wide ‘Applied Humanities: Live Brief Learning’ module. L6 module, ‘City Cultures’ replaced by ‘Digital Media and Culture’. Assessment weightings for L4 module, ‘Cultural Studies’ changed from Online Test 50%/Essay 50% to Online Test 20%/Essay 80%.

September 2018

Version Control

Version Control

Version number and date effective V2 Effective from September 2018

For completion by Quality Assurance Services only:

Next Re-validation date

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Target award, course title and programme code: BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures (BAMCT)

Level of qualification: 6

Course Rationale and Philosophy: Although all of the external quality markers have communicated that our undergraduate programme is a good course and meets a range of quality benchmarks this process of periodic review has entailed a large body of work at ‘root and branch’ level to entirely re-think the programme we offer to ensure our programme is attractive to students, meets the shifting demands of the media subject area, and evolving employer requirements. The Periodic Review of our Undergraduate curriculum has built on the refocusing exercise of 2012 and in line with the University’s graduate attributes ensures that our students are distinguished by three overarching features that we can evidence at the level of course content, assessment and delivery: • Enterprise/Creativity • Digital Literacy • Global Outlook Our proposed programme embeds employability more firmly into the architecture of the course and supports students to plan their careers from level 4. It is designed to offer all students work related learning at module level and encouraged participation in volunteering and/or international exchange. The proposed programme responds to shifts within the discipline to better represent digital cultures at both the level of both context and assessment to ensure students are able to make creative responses to the increasingly technological landscape of contemporary culture. The proposed course also responds to the increasingly diverse and international background of our students. It prepares students to be global citizens able to analyse the international contexts of their discipline and work collaboratively with others from a range of backgrounds and global contexts. As a result of the Periodic Review of our Undergraduate Curriculum we will: • Improve student progression, achievement and employability, • Improve the progression of our overseas students • Enhance the market attractiveness of our Undergraduate portfolio The course team has embraced the periodic review process as an opportunity to provide a course with a stronger identity, a coherent core structure, and modules which provide opportunities for deeper learning. We believe that we have refined the optionality element of the course in ways which mean that students will be more

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able to meaningfully navigate their way through levels 5 and 6 with sufficient exposure to and training in key academic and industry skills. Our recent Senior Lecturer appointment brings an expanded range of specialist modules to level 6 (for example ‘Race, Culture & Media’) which expands our curriculum. In sum Periodic Review will enable our students to develop a clearer sense of how graduate attributes, combined with our employability remit sharpen their transferable skills for the world of work post-graduation.

Overview and Aims: This programme is designed to provide students with the skills to make informed, critical responses to media, communication and cultures. The course prepares students for their professional, personal and public lives as global citizens. While we recognise that some graduates may enter the creative and cultural industries, the course seeks to develop students’ critical understanding of the media rather than with providing them with training or industry standards in the media. However, media-making and creativity is threaded through the degree via our diverse range of assessments. We embed employability at all three levels via careers’ consultancy, industry-speakers, and a dedicated industry module in the second year of the programme. The course aims to: • provide students with a thorough grounding in the theories, methods and

approaches to media, communication and cultural forms both locally and globally;

• provide students with the critical, intellectual, evaluative and research skills to analyse both historical and contemporary media, communication and cultures;

• provide students with the ability to critically interpret how cultures are shared, experienced and disseminated;

• enable students to understand the dynamic contexts of media, communication and cultures and to produce creative responses in a range of public and professional contexts.

• provide students with the attributes and key transferable skills relevant to equip them for professional careers or further study: independent research, analysis, digital literacy, networking capacities, creativity, enterprise/practice and oral and written communication;

The course offers a broad-based foundation in media, communication and cultural studies with content that includes increasing levels of specialisation as students move through the programme. Modules focus on a range of media contexts and forms including: television, film, internet and digital media, popular music, radio. While the programme is mandatory at level 4 and the first half of level 5, we support

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students to specialise at particular moments of the programme around their particular interests, for example in the second semester of level 5 where optionality is first introduced, in ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ and/ or ‘Applied Humanities’, in the level 6 dissertation, and in their elective module choices at level 6. Throughout our students develop skills in independent research, communication and visual literacy.

Course Learning Outcomes

1 Demonstrate critical awareness of media and cultural contexts, practice and forms locally and globally.

2 Demonstrate a critical understanding of how cultures are created, shared, experienced and disseminated.

3 Understand the dynamic conetxts of media, communication, cultures and produce creative responses to such shifts in a range of public and professional contexts.

4 Demonstrate skills in critical reflection, research and analysis as applied to media, communication and cultures.

5 Work independently and collaboratively in groups and with individuals from a range of settings to present, problem-solve and synthesise material related to media, communication, cultures.

Level Learning Outcomes

Level 4 No. Learning Outcome

1 Explain media and cultural contexts, practice and forms locally and globally.

2 Understand how cultures are created, shared, experienced and disseminated.

3 Identify the dynamic contexts of media, communication, cultures and produce creative response to such shifts in a range of public and professionals contexts.

4 Understand critical reflection, research and analysis as applied to media, communication and cultures.

5 Operate independently and collaboratively in groups to present and problem-solve material related to media, communication and cultures.

Level 5 1 Demonstrate practical awareness of media and cultural

contexts, practices and forms locally and globally.

2 Demonstrate a critical understanding of how cultures are created, shared, experienced and disseminated.

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3 Understand the dynamic contexts of media, communication, cultures and produce creative response to such shifts in a range of public and professional contexts.

4 Apply skills of critical reflection, research and analysis as applied to media, communication and cultures.

5 Work independently and collaboratively in groups and with individuals from a range of settings to present and problem-solve material related to media, communication and cultures.

Level 6

1 Demonstrate critical awareness of media and cultural contexts, practice and forms locally and globally.

2 Demonstrate a critical understanding of how cultures are created, shared, experienced and disseminated.

3 Understand the dynamic contexts of media, communication, cultures and produce creative responses to such shifts in a range of public and professional contexts.

4 Demonstrate skills in critical reflection, research and analysis as applied to media, communication, cultures.

5 Work independently and collaboratively in groups and with individuals from a range of settings to present, problem-solve and synthesise material related to media, communication and cultures.

Course Structure

Level 4 In level 4 the main aim is to provide a core of modules introducing, surveying and exploring the fields which are central to the programme. The curriculum provides a platform of knowledge, skills and understanding, paying particular attention to the fundamental of learning and skills in semester 1. In semester 1 the students are introduced to a broad base of concepts, theories and contexts of media, communication and cultures before the increasing focus on medium specificity in relation to radio, film and television in semester 2. The modules at level 4 are organised within an historical, theoretical and critical framework that set the context for the programme’s global focus, creativity, enterprise and employability in terms of content, skills acquisition and assessment. Thus ‘Cultural Studies’ links to ‘Media Interactions’ and ‘Interpreting New Media’ to set the context for the study of the discipline, its guiding concepts and theories as well as production, distribution and reception contexts. ‘Researching TV’, ‘Cinematic Identities’ and ‘BBC Radio: Cultural Talk, Public Purposes’ offers the opportunity to explore in greater depth the degree’s themes and frameworks in relation to specific media contexts.

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In addition to their core modules, students are also offered opportunities to undertake tailored study skills activities with our Writing Development Tutors – these include writing and research skills workshops and one-to-one sessions, to support students and build confidence as they make the shift to greater levels of independent learning required at University.

Semester 1 Core (Y/N) Semester 2 Core (Y/N)

Interpreting New Media Y Researching Television Y Cultural Studies Y BBC Radio: Cultural Talk,

Public Purposes Y

Media Interactions y Cinematic Identities: Class, Gender and Race

Y

Level 5 At level 5 the rationale for the structure of the curriculum is to ensure progression in the key strands and fields established at the foundational level 4. The key emphasis is to deliver a greater degree of focus, more complexity in theory and analysis, and to elaborate specific fields of subject knowledge: for example ‘Media Theory’ and the history, politics and geographies focus of ‘Media: Past/Present, When/Where’. In ‘Popular Music and the Moving Image’ students are required to consider the connections between formats explored in Level 4 (TV, film) with a new area of study, popular music. In addition, level 5 is anchored by two key components: ‘Research Skills’ which equips students with the methodological approaches and skills to generate and develop independent research in the field: and a choice between ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ and ‘Applied Humanities’ which in different ways provide students with a strand of work-related learning, applied knowledge and collaborative work with industry-standard media professionals. More generally the level expands the conceptual and analytical range of modules and foregrounds students’ increasing independence and the expertise of the course team: for example, the choice between option modules ‘Youth, Crime, Culture’ and ‘Comedy, Media & Diversity’ taken alongside core modules in research training and industry-experience in semester 2. As is the case at all levels, in addition to the modules students are able to access advance writing skills workshops and drop in sessions which amounts to a further possible 2 hours per week of activity as well as tailored careers’ consultancy before and after their ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’s module.

Semester 1 Core (Y/N) Semester 2 Core (Y/N)

Media: Past/Present, When/Where

Y Researching Media and Culture

Y

Media Theory Y Media Professionals’ Workshop

N

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OR: Applied Humanities: Live Brief learning

Popular Music and the Moving Image

Y Comedy, Media and Diversity OR: Youth, Crime, Culture

N

NB - All option modules are indicative.

Level 6 At Level 6 the main aim is to provide opportunities for advanced learning which incorporate greater degrees of sophistication in theory and analysis, and a greater emphasis and development in students’ independent learning. To facilitate this, a wide range of specialist elective modules are made available for study at this level. Whilst continuing to develop core subject knowledge, theories and analyses established at Levels 4 & 5, the range of modules offered explicitly foreground the research and publishing expertise of staff. Within the curriculum at Level 6 the mix of elective Modules is framed by a single mandatory 'core' Module 'Dissertation', which is blocked out across the two Semesters and carries 40 credits. This weighting signifies the importance placed upon the dissertation as a measure of subject knowledge, depth and sophistication of understanding and capacity for independent learning. Overall the Dissertation represents the most substantial piece of individual work during the students' degree and offers the experience of working in a one-to-one relationship with a dedicated member of staff. Appropriately for a single honours degree programme, it marks the culmination of students' academic experience, development and achievement. To accompany the 40 credit dissertation, students choose TWO options per semester, from a variety of modules. The course structure below offers some examples of the optional modules students might choose from the media, communication, cultures programme. Students might also choose cogent modules offered from the History and English programmes in the School to increase optionality, for example, ‘The Postcolonial City’ is an English option. To support the most advanced levels of learning, our writing development tutors offer a series of tailored sessions for level 6 study, which includes dissertation workshops including planning, researching and writing skills and one-to-one coaching sessions. This amounts to a further possible 2 hours per week of additional study time.

Semester 1 Core (Y/N) Semester 2 Core (Y/N)

Media Dissertation Y Media Dissertation Y

Lifestyle, Media, identity N Popular Music, Dissenting Cultures

N

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Genre Blending, Genre Blending

N Digital and Media Cultures

N

New Media Geographies N Sports Media N

Race, Culture and Media N Media Stardom and Film Stardom

N

NB - All option modules are indicative.

Contained awards available: Award Title Level

BA Media, Communication, Cultures 6

DipHE Media, Communication, Cultures 5

CRTHE Media, Communication, Cultures 4

Length of programme, FT/PT and mode of study:

Learning and Teaching The programme is student-centred in its approach to learning. Recognising that a varied diet of in-class activities is the key to engaging students, small-group work, student-led seminars and presentations, in-class reading, interactive screening and listening tasks and field-trips are just some examples of the kinds of activities students undertake. Similarly we have taken care to ensure that the curriculum is vertically aligned to ‘scaffold’ students through the increasing complexity required of each level of the programme in terms of concepts and theories, skills and assessment. Assessments are varied and constructively aligned to ensure that assessments test module learning outcomes and allow students to demonstrate their knowledge & skills. Students, for example, are required to collaborate and present work in groups, complete online tests, write discursive essays, produce podcasts, policy documents, case-study reports, blogs, write exams, and devise and produce media artefacts. We equip students with a variety of types of assessment at Level 4 to ensure they are sufficiently comfortable and confident when asked to prepare similar assessments of increased complexity in Levels 5 and 6. For example, at Level 4 in ‘Interpreting New Media’ students are required to produce a portfolio in a blog format. This equips

Programme Length (years)

FT/PT (please specify)

Mode (campus based/DL or other)

BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures

3 FT Campus

BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures

6 PT Campus

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them with the skills to prepare for further assessments requiring blog writing in Levels 5 and 6, for example in (New) Media Geographies. We have also ensured that the taxonomy of assessment domains are identified and met by each module in order to ensure the ‘levelness’ of module learning outcomes. The curriculum is designed to ensure that modules feed into course and level learning outcomes (LLOs) at each stage. Lectures, seminars and workshops are key components in our teaching delivery as tools to impart knowledge. We also place high value on discussion and task-based seminars where we work hard to achieve an atmosphere of inclusiveness. We also use seminars as a space where either tutor-led collaborative learning can take place or simulated work-based learning can be nurtured (for example, ‘Media Professional Workshop’). We seek to develop students‘ skills across a variety of writing modes (the discursive essay, the production log, presentation notes, blogs) where we encourage clarity and lucidity of expression and coherence of argument, which must at all times accompanied by a consistent and accurate referencing system. Central to our ethos is that we encourage students to learn more independently on a year-on-year basis. We begin by placing the onus on students to read and prepare thoroughly for seminar tasks at level 4; by level 5 students are beginning to marshal their ideas for their dissertation proposal and in level 6 students are expected to search and retrieve their own bibliographical sources either for the Dissertation or for option modules. At level 4 the curriculum is focused on introducing foundational knowledge – crucial for inter-disciplinary knowledge acquisition. It requires students to evaluate different models for problem solving (eg. in group work activities ‘How can we get member x to participate?’) and evaluating different theoretical models. In level 5 students begin to encounter deeper learning, for example, that knowledge is not absolute and needs to be checked for provenance and reliability. At level 6 students are required to demonstrate a far more complex body of knowledge, some of it new and cutting-edge. Also at level 6 we equip students with the ability to adjudicate/ problem solve in unpredictable scenarios. Increasing emphasis on independence culminates when students encounter the core module ‘Dissertation’. The Media, Communication, Cultures team are all active research scholars, most of them internationally reputed for their publications. Level 6 options are written in light of such expertise and we hope to encourage students to feel stimulated by them in terms of their own research projects. It is also our aim to set creatively enterprising tasks where students are encouraged to use the skills and graduate attributes required for the world of work. In these ways we seek to encourage students to envisage possible career paths where employees are required to be flexible in an unstable labour market.

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Learning and Teaching Activities The course is delivered through weekly lectures, seminars, and workshops although there is variation in terms of how individual modules utilise that format. Each module entails at least three hours of contact time for students. Some colleagues teach in three hour blocks, others in 1.5/1.5 blocks others still in 1 hour/2 hour blocks depending on activities. Lectures, which are most often delivered using powerpoint (and which also include clips, visual images, maps and other kinds of material), introduce and impart knowledge about theory, key critical concepts, offer textual interpretation of media texts and contextualise key debates. Lectures presentations and notes are made available to students via the University VLE. Detailed module guides help students navigate the learning activity each week and make recommendations for the pursuit of academic sources. Module readers equip students with the required reading for each weekly session. Seminars/Workshops might for example involve close reading; small group-discussion of media texts or objects; creative work to demonstrate understanding of key concepts/ideas, work with a media professional on creating a media artefact, or the time may be used to receive a student-led assessed presentation. Most seminars will involve a combination of activities over their duration in order to maximize student enagement and knowledge acquisition. The students who opt to do ‘Media Professional Workshop’ work in small groups with an assigned expert form the media industries. Students for example who work on making a documentary film with a BBC producer are required to produce a shooting schedule, carry out a shooting script, handle filming equipment, edit from rushes, learn how to use editing software – all in small groups scenarios where skills of negotiation, co-operation and team work are crucial. Or if they opt to do ‘Applied Humanities: Live Brief Learning’ they negotiate a ‘live-brief’ project with a media or cultural organization. In both cases students are placed in new and exciting ‘real-life’ employability scenarios. The onus is placed on the student to do a number of independent research activities: set seminar reading, independent research using books, journals, websites and electronic databases, keeping learning journals and small student groups may meet at mutually convenient times to work on collaborative projects. Coursework - may for example include: an analysis of a media form or genre, the construction of an essay plan, the preparation of a paired presentation, the creation of a media television concept, a group policy document for a local radio station, devising a podcast, a design for an empirical research project, or an essay written in response to a set topic devised by a student.

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Graduate Attributes Global Outlook A global outlook is one of the under-girding concepts of the Media, Communication, Cultures course. One of the course learning outcomes explicitly acknowledges this in ensuring that by the end of the course students will be able to ‘demonstrate critical awareness of media and cultural contexts, practices and forms locally and globally’. Key examples of where questions of the global are encountered by students are below: At level 4: The module ‘Cultural Studies’ develops students’ global outlook by exposing them to texts from Britain, the United States and Australia. By introducing students to critical political economy students must engage with the impact global capitalism has on media texts. In ‘Interpreting New Media’ students deal directly with the globalizing effects of new media contexts such as Twitter, Ebay and Facebook. In ‘Media Interactions’ students learn about the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies; in so doing they examine how popular culture represents class, gender and race. In this way, students – themselves located by class, gender and race - feel a sense of ‘inclusivity’ in the course content. They also learn that audience members’ socio-cultural variables (class, gender, race, sexuality) arguably impact on media reception. In ‘Cinematic Identities’ students critically investigate how Hollywood and independent cinema produce and disseminate gendered images of masculinity and femininity and how they cross-cut with issues of class and race to produce dominant and marginal representations. At level 5: Students examine a range of cultural contexts to understand the history, politics and geographies of media production, distribution and reception. This includes focus on recent global protests movements such as Occupy! and the ‘Arab Spring’. Students in ‘Media Professional Workshop’, in devising online marketing strategies for real clients, must think carefully about the global reach of social media and online territories. In ‘Comedy, Media & Diversity’ students are required to analyse comedy acts, their structure and the different ways comedians of different gender identification, sexuality, ‘race’ and class produce stand-up performances (and comedic identities) from a global perspective. At level 6: At level 6 students are required to deploy sophisticated theory (ie. post-colonial theory) as means to deconstruct global forms of culture. In ‘Popular Music, Dissenting Cultures’ students are required to critically assess the contribution of black and working-class musicians to the ‘canon’ of popular music both in Britain and across the Atlantic. The relationship between the local and the global is an underpinning theme of ‘(New) Media Geographies: transformations in space and place’, where film texts demonstrate and problematize the tension between the two

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categories. For example, module content investigates topics such as film production in Germany, France, Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, and China as well as the USA and Britain. In ‘Sports Media’ students are required to consider the global reach of sport stars such as Mohammed Ali. Digital Literacy Digital literacy is required across the programme: all modules have a VLE presence via the University VLE and students are required year-on-year to increase the sophistication of their use of sourcing, for example journal articles using Library databases. We also develop and enhance students’ digital literacy skills via assessments which require competency in digital production techniques, for example the use of blogging platforms, podcast software, digital editing and digital story-boarding software. At level 4 At level 4 students are introduced to data gathering and analysis using digital tools such as Leeds Beckett’s Library tool ‘Discover’. For example, in ‘Interpreting New Media’ students are required to use VLE and library-related online resources, web research and practical case studies of new media. They are also required to produce a blog using blogging platforms as part of their assessment for the module. In ‘Cultural Studies’ students use the VLE for assessment in the form of an online test. At this level students are required to acquire ICT computer literacy (for academic communication and presentation); media literacy (including visual literacy and multimedia literacy); and information literacy (finding, accessing and recording information). In ‘Media Interactions’, students consider the development of digital music production and reception and interrogate the ubiquity of mobile telephony. In ‘Cinematic Identities’ students engage in Eforum discussion groups between seminar and lecture sessions via the VLE. This requires them to contribute to discussion and engage with other students and tutors in online environments in a professional manner. At level 5 At level 5 students expand their digital literacy by using more advanced digital tools. They are required not only to access and record information but also to evaluate its authority. Students in ‘Media Professional Workshop’ who choose the ‘online’ brief as part of their assessment may have to design an online marketing campaign for external clients working with a media professional who is a specialist in online web design. Students who work with either the television or documentary film production professionals are trained in the use of Final Cut Pro editing software. In the core ‘Researching Media’ module students are equipped with the skills to research online environments for their dissertations, this covers a range of new media platforms and data extraction tools.

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At Level 6 Expectations about digital literacy are raised by the demands of final year study. Here students must use the full arsenal of digital literacy skills and attributes. In ‘New Media Geographies’, students must deploy a range of new media technologies to complete their assessment, for example, students use blogging software to produce a reflective blog incorporating digital maps/photos/video/sound. A social media group augments class discussions and students choose the most appropriate online site to meet module requirements of sharing, discussion and privacy thereby ensuring they evaluate the functionality of a range of new media platforms. All digital literacies are required for the core ‘Dissertation’ module where students use digital scholarship, academic practice, media and information literacy to adjudicate, synthesise and appropriate independent use of digital sources and learning materials. In ‘Lifestyle, Media, Identity’ students produce a digital storyboard as part of their ‘pitch’ assessment and are required to demonstrate sophisticated presentation skills and produce visual material to accompany this using appropriate presentation software. Enterprise At Level 4 The team have worked to devise an assessment regime which is concerned with embedding elements of creative enterprise or ‘media-making’ into the curriculum. For example, in ‘Media Interactions’ students work in groups to design an empirical research project to research new media consumption practices - thereby gathering data which is potentially useful to the media and culture industries. In ‘Researching TV’ students produce a podcast suitable for a local television audience testing their innovation and enterprise skills as they research material and decide how to pitch to their chosen demographic. At level 5 In ‘Media Professional Workshop’ students have the opportunity to create enterprising media artefacts (for example a documentary, a radio channel, an online marketing campaign, an urban lifestyle magazine) alongside an industry professional thereby generating links between academic life and the world of work. At level 6 Further enterprise opportunities exist in modules such as ‘Lifestyle, Media and Identity’ where students are required to devise an innovative new lifestyle television television series concept: they must create an industry ‘pitch‘ using a storyboard and reflective portfolio detailing their production decisions. Students are encouraged by a range of industry-speakers who discuss and support their pitch ideas. In ‘Genre Blending, Genre Bending’, students are rewarded for their ability to creatively present knowledge in a non-linear fashion and for a range of non-academic audiences in their research portfolio assessment.

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Use of the Virtual Learning Environment All modules use University VLE to provide students with current information, including the module guide, lecture powerpoints and notes, additional learning tasks, detailed assessment criteria for course tasks and web links to access digitised readings. At level 4 the requirement to use the University VLE platform develops the learning capabilities outlined in field 40; these capabilities are progressively developed at levels 5 and 6. Certain modules make more innovative use of the VLE, for example, in (New) Media Geographies students use the VLE ‘journal’ section to upload drafts and links to their blogs; in ‘Cinematic Identities’ students use the VLE as an Eforum for discussion between classes. In ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ the VLE is used to deliver a range of online workshops relevant to career planning, reflective practice, group work and presentation skills. Use of Blended Learning Some blended learning takes place on the Level 4 Media Interactions module and L5 Researching Media and Cultural Studies module. Students’ engagement with blended learning is supported via guidance note handouts, discussions in seminars and tutorials with Module Directors.

Student Support

Course Support When the course began, we established a system of allocating an Academic Adviser to students for the entirety of their degree programme. The role of the Academic Adviser involves organising meetings with their tutees once per semester to talk through any personal, academic or development needs. During course induction Academic Advisers provide students with advice about contact processes for the course (via email, online and the course notice board). Level 4 students are also given advice about the transition to academic study and what their studies will entail. After Exam Boards have taken place, Academic Advisers also contact their tuttees to offer advice and support about issues that are likely to affect their progression, such as non-submission of assessment or failing marks. Academic Advisers also discuss career aspirations and progression with students, signposting them to the Careers and Progression team.

Students are supported through tutorials which are a part of the delivery of modules at all levels of the course. These module related tutorials provide guidance on coursework, feedback on assessments and other module related matters. Students are given guidance about how they can contact their Course Director about matters which may be impacting upon their overall student experience or performance at university. The Course Director also delivers welcome sessions to students at the start of each academic year. For Level 4 students this welcome session is to make them feel part of a cohort with a distinctive identity. At Levels 5

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and 6 these welcome sessions are a forum for students to reflect on their achievement and plan ahead for the start of a new academic year.

We also have a dedicated Writing and Skills Development tutor who runs a programme of workshops for students on making the most of feedback; managing and writing the Dissertation; presentation skills; writing essays; references, citations and plagiarism; and editing, as well as an essay surgery. One of the outcomes from Course Enhancement Meetings was to establish an informal mentoring scheme for students to support them in their studies. Initially this will be piloted at Level 4 and involves pairing up a new Level 4 student with a study buddy from Level 5. In this way, students will have someone to talk to, share concerns and ideas. The Level 5 study buddies will also be able to pass on their experiences and tips for success with those new students who are just starting the course. General Administrative support is provided via a designated course administrator, who can support students with the day-to-day aspects of academic administration (such as submitting assignments, return of work, mitigation and registration issues).

Student Support Network If you have a question or a problem relating to your course, your Course Administrator is there to help you. Course Administrators works closely with academic staff and can make referrals to teaching staff or to specialist professional services as appropriate. They can give you a confirmation of attendance letter, and a transcript. You may also like to contact your Course Rep or the Students’ Union Advice team for additional support with course-related questions. If you have any questions about life at our University in general, call into or contact the Student Hub on either campus to speak to our Student Experience Team. This team, consisting of recent graduates and permanent staff, are available to support you throughout your time here. They will make sure you have access to and are aware of the support, specialist services, and opportunities our University provides. There is a Student Hub on the ground floor of the Rose Bowl at City Campus and one in Campus Central at Headingley. You can also find the team in the Gateway in the Leslie Silver Building at City Campus. The telephone number is 0113 812 3000, and the e-mail address is StudentHub@leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Within MyBeckett you will see two tabs (Support and Opportunities) where you can find online information and resources for yourselves. The Support tab gives you access to details of services available to give you academic and personal support. These include Library Services, the Students’ Union, Money advice, Disability advice and support, Wellbeing, International Student Services and

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Accommodation. There is also an A-Z of Support Services, and access to online appointments/registration. The Opportunities tab is the place to explore the options you have for jobs, work placements, volunteering, and a wide range of other opportunities. For example, you can find out here how to get help with your CV, prepare for an interview, get a part-time job or voluntary role, take part in an international project, or join societies closer to home.

Specialist Support Library and Information Services pay a key role in supporting students on the course. For instance, the Help and Information desk which provides students with support for IT and subject information and their dedicated academic librarian. Students can also access the Skills for Learning team via their website, workshops or book individual tutorials. The course team also works with their dedicated Academic Librarians to ensure the Library service meets the specific needs of Media students. Each Academic Librarian has a subject specialism and is responsible for evaluating electronic information sources (such as databases and electronic journals), as well as providing training and tutorials. All new students are offered an induction session and follow up information skills teaching complemented by online guides, web pages and online tutorials to inform students of relevant resources and activities to support their programme of study. Academic Librarians provide tailored information and literature searching sessions to students as part of their courses and also offer one-to-one appointments for students and staff. We also have a Student and Graduate Futures Team, which provides careers advice and runs an employment agency for students who are looking for work. This team of experts can help students to make well-informed decisions about student and graduate employment or postgraduate study. Through their vacancy database, regular careers & jobs fairs and their employer links, students will be supported in accessing employment and postgraduate study opportunities. Practical help and resources are also available to assist in exploring and researching careers, job hunting and presenting oneself professionally in CVs, applications and interviews in an increasingly competitive market. The Course Team also works with the Careers and Progression Team to offer tailored support for students at various points in the course. For instance, students are invited to participate in ‘Meet Employers’ event which is structured into their induction week programme. Student Services In line with the Leeds Beckett University Student Support Framework, students can access a range of support mechanisms in one place. Using the ‘support’ tab in MyBeckett students can access information and guidance about a range of services on a 24/7 basis, such as accommodation, finance and counselling. Students can also register and make appointments with various Services, register for workshops and

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employability tutorials, search for job vacancies and use a range of careers resources. The BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures course also works closely with Disability Services to offer our students any support necessary to succeed on the course, tailored to each student’s particular disability need. The Course Team recommends that all students with an impairment, dyslexia, mental health (anxiety and depression) or a health-related concern (e.g. epilepsy, diabetes) register with Disability Services as soon as possible so that their reasonable adjustments and support needs can be identified. Course Representatives Students are also supported via their Student Union Course Representatives. There are Course Representatives for each level of the degree programme who work closely with their Course Director. The Course Representatives are invited to attend meetings with the Course Director and members of the Course Team to discuss student matters. Course Representatives are also invited to attend School wide meetings. Primarily the role of the Course Representative involves engaging in two way communications: collecting feedback from students and relaying any key messages from Course or School level meetings to students and the Student Union. If you have a question or a problem relating to your course, your Course Administrator is there to help you. Course Administrators works closely with academic staff and can make referrals to teaching staff or to specialist professional services as appropriate. They can give you a confirmation of attendance letter, and a transcript. You may also like to contact your Course Rep or the Students’ Union Advice team for additional support with course-related questions. If you have any questions about life at our University in general, call into or contact the Student Hub on either campus to speak to our Student Experience Team. This team, consisting of recent graduates and permanent staff, are available to support you throughout your time here. They will make sure you have access to and are aware of the support, specialist services, and opportunities our University provides. There is a Student Hub on the ground floor of the Rose Bowl at City Campus and one in Campus Central at Headingley. You can also find the team in the Gateway in the Leslie Silver Building at City Campus. The telephone number is 0113 812 3000, and the e-mail address is StudentHub@leedsbeckett.ac.uk. Within MyBeckett you will see two tabs (Support and Opportunities) where you can find online information and resources for yourselves. The Support tab gives you access to details of services available to give you academic and personal support. These include Library Services, the Students’ Union, Money advice, Disability advice and support, Wellbeing, International Student Services and Accommodation. There is also an A-Z of Support Services, and access to online appointments/registration.

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The Opportunities tab is the place to explore the options you have for jobs, work placements, volunteering, and a wide range of other opportunities. For example, you can find out here how to get help with your CV, prepare for an interview, get a part-time job or voluntary role, take part in an international project, or join societies closer to home.

Assessment Strategy At level 4 assessments are based on setting tasks that require students to survey, explore and encounter new forms of knowledge. It sets the foundation of the assessment diet that will support the student throughout the three levels of the programme. Students are assessed in a variety of ways both individually and in pairs or small groups. In level 4 they complete a portfolio in blog format and presentation, complete an online test, write an essay, produce a group policy report, prepare a podcast and contribute to an Eforum discussion; they design an empirical research project, and complete a paired presentation. Having ‘encountered’ knowledge at level 4, level 5 places more focus on assessments that require students to increase the complexity of their theoretical knowledge across a range of media and cultural contexts. Students work as a group on a practice brief with an industry professional, prepare a research design presentation, write two essays, write a case-study report, one exam, two presentations, and one portfolio. The longer essays and assignments they write here contribute directly to the development of skills required for the level 6 dissertation. At level 6 students are assessed in ways that test their advanced theoretical learning and their increased capacity for independent research, enterprise and creativity. The elective options require students to potentially: design a lifestyle television concept, design a racism awareness policy campaign, write a group production log, prepare a blog, develop a presentation for non-academic audiences, write two exams and an essay. The Dissertation is the place where students make the connection between transferable skills and their personal career and personal development strategies. In the interests of employability, the course assesses students in groups across a number of modules at all levels on the course. In order to support students to manage their work tutors issue students with three key documents which provide clarity about what group work means and how to manage the issues that arise: • Group Work Checklist; • Group Work Criteria; • A Group Work Contract. These documents encourage students to set the parameters of working effectively with others and of continuously monitoring group work progress. For example, the checklist asks students: ‘Has your group: clarified its objectives? established a set of

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meetings? allowed some members to sit back and not participate?’. The criteria document sets out good working principles for the ‘good group member’: ‘comes prepared for meetings, gives constructive feedback’ while the final document gets students to sign up to a contract which stipulates a system around communication practices, tracking meetings, decision making and disputes.

Feedback on Assessed Coursework Prompt and effective feedback to students is a priority for the course. Feedback is given in a range of different ways: in written form or verbally and may be formal or informal. Academic Advisers provide guidance and direction to students about how they can make the most of the feedback they receive. Personal tutorials are scheduled at appropriate points in the programme to discuss feedback with students, to address patterns of underachievement and to offer praise and reinforcement where this is due. Some of the key features of this are:

Comments and responses to students in seminars and tutorials are part of our feedback regime;

Feedback is given to students within 4 weeks after submission of work;

Feedback often takes the form of written comments on the work submitted via a separate typed feedback sheet. This feedback sheet provides comments relating to the assessment’s specific marking criteria (which will be published in module/assessment guides and made available on MyBeckett).

The feedback given to students is constructive and includes an indication of how a piece of work could be improved;

Group feedback is often provided which summarises the key strengths and weaknesses of the assessment overall. This provides students with an opportunity to learn directly from their peers;

The process and types of feedback are explained to students in module booklets, lectures and seminars to ensure that they are fully aware of what is meant by feedback;

Feedback on presentations is often given immediately.

Module Assessment Methods (core modules only)

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Module Titles

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Interpreting New Media √ √

Media Interactions √ √

Cultural Studies √ √

BBC Radio: Cultural talk, Public Purposes

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Researching Television √√

Cinematic identities √ √

Media: Past/Present, When/Where

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Popular Music and the Moving Image

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Media Theory √

Researching Media and Culture √ √

Dissertation √

Employability and Professional Context In addition to the employability skills students gain as a result of completing the Media, Communication, Cultures course, they also have access to our Employability Team which supports students and graduates with all aspects of career planning & decision making, along with helping them recognise and develop their employability skills. The Faculty have assigned individual Careers’ Consultants to course teams and this enables us to build tailored careers advice into our programme at all levels of study. Our Careers’ Consultant, Ben Robertson, offers input to the programme at level 4 induction and as part of ‘Interpreting New Media’ at level 5 in sessions before and after ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ and ‘Applied Humanities: Live Brief’ module at level 6 as part of the ‘Dissertation’ module induction. This allows us to support our students with expert advice from trained professionals who can help them make well-informed decisions about student and graduate employment or

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post graduate study throughout their undergraduate career. This is supported by the Employability Team’s online presence MyHub, which incorporates career’s advice and employment opportunities. Through MyHub’s vacancy database, regular careers and jobs fairs and employer links, students are supported in accessing employment and post graduate study opportunities. Practical help and resources are also available to assist students in exploring and researching careers, job hunting and presenting themselves professionally in CVs. One-to-one appointments with our assigned Careers’ Consultant, Ben Robertson, also enables our students to access tailored advice for the media subject area.

Work Related Activities Equipped with the transferable skills learned on media studies courses, graduates can enter a wide range of careers. Our graduates have skills of independent research, communication and visual literacy. Some students enter the media industries (television and radio, copy writing, journalism, publishing and events management, advertising and PR) others branch out to public sector and administration, education, retail management or information services. Some of the non-media career paths students typically enter include: Personnel Recruitment Consultant Playgroup Leader Sales and Retail assistant Secondary Education teaching professional Social Worker One of our key aims is to provide added value by making the relevance and value of the degree for employment explicit to students. Our strategy has been to: • Embed personal career planning and personal development planning through the

programme from level 4 to 6; • Maintain and nurture ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop‘ at the heart of the student

mid-term experience; • Develop forms of assessment which are ‘practical in orientation‘, enhance

students’ creativity and which we term ‘media-making’. With their emphasis on simulating production conditions in the media and cultural industries, they encourage skills of creative enterprise which strengthens employability.

At School level an online Careers Planning module allows all Cultural Studies and Humanities students to continuously assess their skill base and plan their careers via a module delivered via the University’s virtual learning environment ‘MyBeckett’. At programme level employability is embedded throughout the degree. At level 4 semester 1 the module ‘Interpreting New Media’ is specifically designed to initiate students’ thinking about personal career planning. The module develops enterprise:

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a session on careers in the media and creative sectors is offered by Leeds Beckett Careers’ Consultants and workshops on CVs and networking are introduced as part of the curriculum. Students have the opportunity to focus further their future career plans in level 5 when they encounter either ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ or ‘Applied humanities: Live Brief’ module. Media Professionals’ Workshop provides students with an opportunity to explore and understand some of the features of professional work practice within the media and cultural industries. Visiting Industry-Standard tutors bring experience from online marketing, television production, magazine publishing and radio production. Students work in small collaborative teams and are given briefs such as: ‘make a short documentary film around the theme of “Why I Love My Job”; ‘research, produce and market an urban lifestyle magazine for a chosen demographic’ (group project worth 75%). In the ‘Applied Humanities’ module students undertake ab individual professional work related project. Alongside this project, they willproduce a reflective journal which maps out the employability skills, knowledge and experience they have gained from this module. In this way, students are encouraged to network with media professionals and self-market in a sector known for not relying on advertised vacancies. As such students are able to make clear links between their academic learning and the world of work; they are in a much stronger position to clarify their choice of career and plan for their employability intentions post-graduation. This is enhanced by Careers’ Consultancy workshops before and after the module to support students to plan their post-university careers. Personal development Planning is continued at Level 6 in the ‘Dissertation’ where students are encouraged to make links between the transferable skills they have utilised and their personal career strategy. Careers’ Consultants arrange one-to-one sessions with final year students in semester 1 to help them implement their career plans. The team have also consciously devised an assessment regime which requires students to produce innovative elements of ‘media-making’. For example across the programme students: make radio policy, create a pitch for a new lifestyle television series, write a city ‘blog’ using blogging software, and prepare a podcast for a local television audience. These kinds of assessment activities simulate workplace learning skills and enhance students’ enterprise skills. In so doing they prepare students to make active links with an envisaged future career. The team are presently developing an MA programme in Media, Communication, Cultures. This will provide the opportunity for our students to continue study within the school at postgraduate level. Work Related Activity Level: Media Professionals’ Workshop and the Applied Humanities: Live-Brief option module are situated at Level 5, semester 2.

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Placement or Work Related Activity Length in Weeks: In the case of The Media Professionals’ Workshop students work with industry-professionals over a period of ten weeks. Each workshop session lasts two hours. These sessions are supplemented by online workshop materials, Careers’ Consultancy and lectures with academic tutors over the twelve weeks of the module. If students take the Applied Humanities: Live Brief option module this will also span a twelve week period, some of which will involve directly working on a project with the remainder of the time working on a reflective portfolio. Type of Placement or Work-Related Activity: In the Media Professionals’ Workshop module students simulate working practices alongside a dedicated media professional to produce and present a media professional project. Some examples of project briefs include: ‘Produce and present a proposal for a new radio station‘; ‘Research and make a documentary about first careers in the media & cultural industries‘ and ‘make a short documentary film around the theme of ‘why I love my job’; research, write and market an urban lifestyle magazine’ and ‘Manage an online marketing campaign for Leeds West Indian Carnival’. By undertaking these tasks students develop the skills that will be required to perform similar tasks in the workplace. Indeed, this work-related placement module helps to develop students capacity to be active citizens who are able to effectively perform tasks in the world at large. For the Applied Humanities: Live Brief option module students may work at a literary festival or another event or conference that is linked to research and teaching activities in the School. Students may also be given the option to become a temporary research assistant to work on staff realted research in the school.

Reference Points used in course design and delivery

All our courses leading to Leeds Beckett University awards have been designed and approved in accordance with UK and European quality standards. Our courses utilise the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) and where relevant subject benchmarks (where these are available) and professional, statutory and regulatory body requirements (for professionally accredited courses). We review our courses annually and periodically, responding to student feedback and a range of information to enhance our courses. Our University is also subject to external review by the Quality Assurance Agency. Our latest report can be found on the QAA web site at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports We are aware that the consultation process for a new subject benchmark statement is underway and publication of this is expected in 2016. We will respond to that statement and make any changes to the programme where appropriate at that

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point. For the purposes of periodic review we have used the most recently available benchmark statement dated 2008. Communications, Media, Film and Cultural Studies The subject benchmark details the subject knowledge and understanding, subject-specific skills and general transferable skills appropriate to the level of qualification. The BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures course has been developed in accordance with the subject benchmark Learning Outcomes, thus incorporating and extending the benchmark statement. At level 4, the 6 modules meet all the criteria for ‘subject knowledge and understanding’. Learning outcomes in the modules demonstrate this: for example, in ‘Cinematic Identities’ students, ‘Evaluate changing forms of cinematic representations across different historical moments in the post 1945 period’. In ‘subject specific skills’ intellectual analysis and research skills are met by ‘BBC Radio: Cultural Talk, Public Purposes’, ‘Researching Television’ and ‘Media Interactions’; skills of ‘media production’ are met in ‘Interpreting New Media’ and ‘Cultural Studies’ while ‘creative, innovative and imaginative skills’ are met in ‘Interpreting New Media’ and ‘Media Interactions.’ While of the ‘generic skills’ ‘Interpreting New Media’ and ‘Cultural Studies’ make students ‘problem solve’. All 6 level 4 modules combine to meet the ‘generic skills’. At Level 5, in combination all 6 modules meet the criteria for ‘subject knowledge‘. ‘Media production skills‘ are met by ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop‘; ‘skills of social and political citizenship’ are met by 3 of the 6 modules and 2 meet ‘creative and innovative skills‘. All the generic skills are also required across all 6 modules - students are required to ‘communicate effectively as a team and work as a team‘ in ‘Media Professional’s Workshop‘ and ‘Popular Music & the Moving Image‘ - the former module also requires students to ‘problem solve’. The research skills students will require for the level 6 core the dissertation are met specifically by the research training module ‘Researching Media & Culture’ module and enhanced across all level 5 modules. For example, content analysis is a tool used in ‘Comedy, Media, Diversity’, information literacy, academic practice (academic writing, appropriate referencing, task management) and digital scholarship are met for example in ‘Youth, Crime, Culture’ and ‘Popular Music and the Moving Image.’ At Level 6 most of the skills required across subject benchmarking are strongly mapped across the options available for students. However, students are specifically required across both semesters to be ‘creative and imaginative’, ‘communicate effectively interpersonally’ and ‘work as a team. ‘ The University’s education strategy is currently under development but will require increasing levels of independence and criticality at levels 5 and 6 and we are confident that the revised programme we are proposing comfortably meets those new demands.

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At the certificate level of the BA (Hons) Media, Communication, Cultures the following are fostered: all modules require students to demonstrate accurate communication in their assessment; and all modules operating within the framework of the University’s regulations, require students to take responsibility for their own learning, this is specifically a function of the module ‘Interpreting New Media’ where personal and seminar tutoring come together to synthesize the personal and the academic. At level 4 the curriculum is focused on introducing foundational knowledge. Intermediate level learning develops knowledge and theoretical understanding, with a wider and deeper application of that knowledge base. It requires students to learn how to evaluate different methods for problem solving and evaluate different theoretical models. The framework explicitly references the potential vocational orientation of intermediate (diploma) level learning. Level 5 modules show students that knowledge is not ‘absolute’ and needs to be evaluated. This is reflected in the Learning Outcomes, for example after completing ‘Popular Music & the Moving Image’ students will be able to ‘understand key theories of economics and culture, and their relevance to different texts and contexts’. Vocational orientation and wider application of knowledge are a focus of the level and ‘Media Professionals’ Workshop’ demands that students apply knowledge in a professional context. The range of different assessment processes is designed to test the students’ acquisition of understanding in the principles of subject knowledge. Honours students demonstrate a complex body of knowledge, ‘some of it at the current boundaries of an academic discipline’. They should show that they have developed ‘analytical techniques and problem solving skills’ of use in employment. We are required to equip them with employability attributes including the exercise of personal responsibility and decision making in complex/unpredictable contexts. At level 6 there is increasing emphasis on independence in modules such as the ‘Dissertation’. Level 6 electives, developed from the team’s research expertise, test the boundaries of the discipline as a deliberate policy. The requirement to engage with increasingly sophisticated knowledge bases and theoretical models informs all modules. Assessments are designed so that students can demonstrate evaluative skills and judgment. We appoint External Examiners to verify that our University sets and maintains standards for awards which adhere to relevant national subject benchmark statements and the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (UK), ensure standards and student achievements are comparable with other Higher Education Institutions in the UK, with which they are familiar, and ensure that assessments measure achievement of course and module learning outcomes and reach the required standard. External Examiners may also provide feedback on areas of good practice or potential enhancement.

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Staff Teaching on the Course You can find details of our highly qualified permanent teaching staff on our website, who are involved in teaching, research and administration associated with the course.

Regulatory Exemption details (if applicable) N/A