Assessment
Assessment 1: Research Portfolio Proposal 10% Week 3: Friday, August 13, 5pm
Assessment 2: Portfolio Work in Progress 30% Week 8: Friday, September 17, 5pm
Assessment 3: Media Research Portfolio 60% Monday, November 1, 5pm
Assessments in this unit
There are three assessments in this unit: Assessments 1 and 2 will help you in the lead-up to producing the final assignment, Assessment 3, your Research Portfolio. This requires you to produce a portfolio of work that demonstrates depth of engagement, analysis and critical thinking on a specific area of media/ communications research. By ‘portfolio’, we mean a linked set of documents, chapters, original media or multi-media products on a cohesive topic that showcases your abilities as a media and communications postgraduate student.
Because all the assessments are related to the Research Portfolio, you will need to decide on the following two things first:
• Your topic
• Your medium/ mode of delivery
Portfolio topic: choose one
You will need to narrow the topic to suit your own area of interest for your portfolio. More information about each of these topic areas will be given in class.
If you have a strong idea for a different topic, it is possible for you to do it, but you must discuss it first with your tutor for approval. Send an email to your tutor requesting permission, even if you have discussed this in class or in consultation. Your tutor will then reply to you, and you should take a screenshot of this permission to include with Assessment 1: Research Portfolio proposal.
1. Reality versus unreality in the digitised world
How do media professionals determine what is real and what is not, and how do they incorporate this knowledge in their practices? Use real-world examples or a case study to illuminate your points. You will need to narrow the topic to suit your particular interest. Some ideas on areas you could focus on are:
• Journalism and the threat of disinformation/ misinformation, ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’.
• The rise of deep-fake videos.
• VR/AR (virtual reality/ augmented reality) and their relation to real-life scenarios, e.g. virtual internships, empathy training.
• The dissemination of health information and the rise of conspiracy theories during COVID-19.
• AI (Artificial intelligence) in everyday life as portrayed/ represented/ used in media.
2. Communicating climate change
Consider perspectives on the way ‘climate change’ has been communicated in media, and examine why this topic is problematic. Consider one of the following as your focus (or, alternatively, you can come up with your own focus):
Explore how online communities, entities and hubs are using communication strategies to disseminate messages from climate change science.
Comparatively analyse the way climate change and/ or climate change denial have been presented in popular news media or on selected social media. Compare and contrast the nature of the coverage, how it relates to the science and what might influence the coverage.
3. Creative city futures
Investigate a particular city or part of a city where you live or have some connection with, and examine its past, present and future from a cultural and creative industries perspective.
Some of the things you could consider are:
• Strategies and alternatives for the city’s future as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, such as virtual city tours and live music performances, outdoor art shows, mediated audiences at live sports events.
• Diversity and inclusiveness in the arts.
• How the area is represented in media, and how its cultural history and creative industries contribute to this.
4. Design an E-petition and campaign strategy
Design an e-petition and related campaign strategy on a topical social or political issue. E-petitions are very popular forms of political participation, and platforms can be run by governments (e.g. Australian parliament, UK parliament e-petitions) or via independent organisations (e.g. change.org, 38 Degrees). Here are some examples of real petitions: https://www.aph.gov.au/petitions, https://petition.parliament.uk/,https://home.38degrees.org.uk/, https://www.change.org/
There are three steps in this option:
• Identify and justify a petition topic of social or political importance.
• Write your petition text. This should be designed with consideration to existing research, and/or your own analysis of successful petitions; your chosen platform; and your chosen topic. Is it clear? Does it have a ‘pull factor’?
• Create a communication strategy to try to ensure your petition is successful. This may include advertisements, press releases, designing a meme campaign, plans for partnering with NGOs or politicians, plans for fundraising or using celebrities. This can be a combination of written and multimedia material. For example, you might choose to create a podcast, video/s, or use digital story-telling.
Portfolio medium/ mode of delivery
You should choose to produce your portfolio as ONE of the following:
A. Professional research report (5500 words): This is a written report with design elements (such as cover; data visualisations, illustrations and/ or photos). Instructions on how to write a report will be given in class.
OR
B. Creative media response, plus 1000-word written exegesis. Lengths for creative projects are guidelines and will depend on what the project entails—discuss with your tutor for advice. Examples of what you could do are:
• Documentary film or short-film series (total 10-15 minutes of film), plus exegesis (1000 words). Note: this is not the same as a vodcast (see below).
• Digital storytelling (such as manga, cartoon or storyboard artwork) plus exegesis (1000 words)
• Podcast or vodcast episode or series of episodes (total 15-20 minutes of audio or video), plus exegesis (1000 words)
• Journalism (3000-4000 words) or photojournalism (series of about 10 original photographs with captions); or a combination—say, 1500 words of journalism and 5 original photographs with captions, plus exegesis (1000 words)
• Creative non-fiction writing (3000-4000 words), plus exegesis (1000 words)
• Strategic communications campaign (3000-4000 words or a mix of audio-visual and creative material), plus exegesis (1000 words)
Exegesis instructions for option B only (1000 words):
• Discuss the aims of the research and how your portfolio showcases and analyses the issue/s in regard to the topic.
• State your research questions, and explain how the portfolio shows your answers to these.
• Discuss the key scholarly literature that informed your portfolio.
• Explain the creative process of your portfolio. Here you can also explain any key media sources that informed your portfolio.
• Reference list in Monash Harvard or Monash Harvard 2020 style.
Below are the three assessment tasks you will need to complete for this unit, all related to the topic you have chosen.
Assessment 1: Research Portfolio Proposal
Purpose: to provide an initial overview and account of what you would like to do in your research portfolio and to receive feedback on this.
Due: Friday, August 13, 5pm
Value: 10%
Word count: 500 words (excluding your reference list)
Instructions:
This is a written statement about what you want to do and why. Your proposal should address the following questions:
• What is the topic? State whether you are doing one of the set topics, or your own topic, and how you might refine the topic for your specific portfolio. Why is this significant or important in relation to media and communications? ***Note that If you are doing a different topic to those set, you must include a screenshot of your tutor’s email granting permission.
• What are your aims and research question/s (i.e. what is the purpose of the research and what do you want to find out, specifically)? What research will you need to do and where/ how will you find this information?
How are you planning to present your portfolio and why? Note the medium you are using, e.g. industry report, podcast, video. What will be some challenges associated with your portfolio project? Note that, at this stage, you don’t have to have all the details set: this should be a discussion of what you are considering. You can add more detail in Assessment 2.
