Modules

Core Module Information
Module title: Mass Communications Project Research
SCQF level: 10:
SCQF credit value: 20.00
ECTS credit value: 10
Module code: JAC10126
Module leader: C. Paul Sellors
School School of Arts and Creative Industries
Subject area group: Screen and Performance
Prerequisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added
Description of module content:

On this module you will explore mass communications strategies and their purposes to identify a significant research problem. You will design a research project to investigate this research problem. Developing this strategy, you will draw upon the research knowledge and skills you have learned across your degree studies to identify core issues in your research problem. You will then explore and experiment with research methods and practices to determine a viable, productive, and creative approach to the problem. From this research you will produce a dossier of your research into your project, a research report that explains and critically reflects upon your research processes and findings, and a proposal for a mass communications project. The scope of each project will be agreed by the module leader. Proposals produced by the class will form the basis of the projects undertaken in the Mass Communications Major Project module in trimester 2, and can be for either solo or group projects. The proposals will outline not only the issues that still need to be researched, but also an associated communications strategy. This communications strategy should draw on your tuition in persuasion, advertising, public relations, journalism, television, and/or film, as appropriate.
Learning Outcomes for module:

LO1: Critically reflect on mass communications issues and strategies to identify a problem to research
LO2: Experiment with research methods and practices to determine appropriate means to investigate a research problem in the field of mass communications
LO3: Test and critically reflect on selected research methods to demonstrate their validity for a research project
LO4: Propose a research project in mass communications
LO5: Demonstrate awareness of and compliance with research integrity.

Full Details of Teaching and Assessment
2022/3, Trimester 1, FACE-TO-FACE, Edinburgh Napier University
VIEW FULL DETAILS
Occurrence: 001
Primary mode of delivery: FACE-TO-FACE
Location of delivery: MERCHISTON
Partner: Edinburgh Napier University
Member of staff responsible for delivering module: C. Paul Sellors
Module Organiser:


Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Approach:
This module uses both seminars and workshops. The seminar classes present and discuss research methods and processes that students will use to initiate, design and develop their research projects. Group discussion during seminars will provide students with the valuable opportunity to present their research in progress to their colleagues and lecturer frequently. This will help them to improve their meeting communication skills and learn how to give, receive, and benefit from constructive feedback (LOs 1, 4, 5). Workshop classes provide students with a supervised and guided environment within which they will develop their research projects. Although each student will complete an individual project, groups will be formed where there is overlap between projects and/or research methods. Workshop groupings will shift across the trimester to accommodate the different objectives and schedules of each research project. One-to-one lecturer feedback will also be provided regularly in workshop classes (LOs 1-5).

Formative Assessment:
This module has extensive opportunities for continuous formative feedback across the trimester as students develop their research projects. Feedback will be provided by other students and the lecturer during seminar discussions and workshop meetings. Most of this feedback will be verbal. Students will develop their listening and note-taking skills to learn how to capture relevant commentary during a live discussion. This mode of feedback is designed specifically to emulate professional meetings. The lecturer will also provide written feedback on the initial ideas for the research project early in the trimester and the project in development approximately two thirds through the module.

Summative Assessment:
This module has three elements of assessment, which will be submitted together. The first is a research dossier that will include, as appropriate, all research notes, annotations, artefacts, and test materials. The second is a research report that explains and critically reflects upon your research process and findings. The third is a project proposal that includes your research problem, methodologies, objectives, rationale, bibliography, preliminary findings, communications strategy, and proposed project timetable. If you are working on a group project you will submit a separate research dossier of your contribution to the project. Your title page should identify the project and your collaborators so your work can be considered in the context of the project. You will also provide your own research report and project proposal. Your contribution to the project must be clearly distinguished from your colleagues’ contributions. In your research report you will explain how your work contributes to the group project.

Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH))
Mode of activityLearning & Teaching ActivityNESH (Study Hours)
Face To Face Seminar 10
Face To Face Practical classes and workshops 14
Independent Learning Guided independent study 176
Total Study Hours200
Expected Total Study Hours for Module200


Assessment
Type of Assessment Weighting % LOs covered Week due Length in Hours/Words
Portfolio 35 1, 2, 3 12 , WORDS= 2000
Report 40 1, 5 12 , WORDS= 2000
Project - Written 25 1, 4, 5 12 , WORDS= 1000
Component 1 subtotal: 75
Component 2 subtotal: 25
Module subtotal: 100

Indicative References and Reading List - URL:
Contact your module leader
 

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