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Postgraduate Programme Specification

MA Media and Broadcast Production

Academic Year 2022/23

A programme specification is required for any programme on which a student may be registered. All programmes of the University are subject to the University's Quality Assurance processes. All degrees are awarded by Queen's University Belfast.

Programme Title MA Media and Broadcast Production Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)
Master of Arts
Programme Code BCP-MA-MB UCAS Code HECoS Code 100444 - Media and communication studie - 100

ATAS Clearance Required

No

Health Check Required

No

Portfolio Required

Please note, applicants for this course are required to submit a piece of recent written work on an academic topic that represents your best work to date (not more than 3000 words).

Interview Required

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Mode of Study Full Time or Part Time
Type of Programme Postgraduate Length of Programme Full Time - 1 Academic Year
Part Time - 3 Academic Years
Total Credits for Programme 180
Exit Awards available No

Institute Information

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Arts, English and Languages

Quality Code
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code

Higher Education Credit Framework for England
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/higher-education-credit-framework-for-england

Level 7

Subject Benchmark Statements
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/qualifications-frameworks.pdf

Communication, media, film and cultural studies (2008)

Accreditations (PSRB)

No accreditations (PSRB) found.

Regulation Information

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

N/A

Programme Specific Regulations

Students are ordinarily expected to pass taught modules equivalent to 120 CATS points before proceeding to the Dissertation/ Research Project. Students who have not passed all taught modules by the end of the ordinary assessment period will be reviewed by the Programme Convenor and, as appropriate, other appropriate subject area staff (Module Convenors, Subject Lead). This will determine if the student is able to proceed to Dissertation/ Research Project while also completing further attempts to pass taught modules. Ordinarily no more than one resit will be supported alongside progression to Dissertation/Research Project

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

No

Educational Aims Of Programme

Within the framework of the University's Mission Statement, the Media and Broadcast Production programme is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the craft of factual media production as well as a deep and robust research driven awareness of the range of issues that concern factual media production and the larger media industry. This teaching unit harnesses strategic connections with the Media and Broadcast industry and promotes an educational environment of diversity, equality, tolerance and mutual respect.

Broadcast media organisations are key knowledge-producing institutions. This programme’s broad aim is to produce graduates who have an informed, critical and creative approach to the area of factual media and its production. It does so by developing critical and creative independence, flexibility, and reflexivity across individual and group work, and in critical and production work. The programme also aims to open the door to contemporary and emerging developments in factual media production.

Practice-based work accounts for about 60% of this programme and its range includes: audio packages, podcasts, audio documentaries, video packages, video documentaries and contemporary technology outputs like online/web-based storytelling and VR – all produced following the processes and best practice established by the public broadcasting culture and ethos of the BBC system. Complementing this practice-based core is a substantial theory component, which amounts to about 40% of the programme, and consists of a rigorous, academic exploration of the modern discourses and technologies of media and broadcast. Within this context, this MA programme integrates the critical and practice-based study of Media and Broadcast Production, and aims to:-

- Deliver an innovative, intellectually robust, and flexible curriculum, in accordance with relevant QAA Benchmark Statements, reflecting the diverse field of scholarship and production practices within Media and Broadcast Production at Queen's. The curriculum is informed by the practice and research interests of staff, as well as promoting new convergences between critical and creative practice in the areas of media studies
- Facilitate the study of media and broadcast production through an integrated balance of practice and theory whereby practical-based modules are placed within a critical, interrogative framework and where theory-based modules can inform creative practice
- Provide students with knowledge of, understanding of, and technical competence in the key production processes and professional practices relevant to audio, video and multi-media; cultural and communicative industries; and ways of conceptualising creativity and authorship
- Enable students to develop advanced knowledge of, understanding of and technical competence in legal, ethical and other regulatory frameworks, including the intellectual property framework, that are relevant to media and cultural production, manipulation, distribution, circulation, and reception
- Provide students with the widest possible opportunity to pursue and extend their knowledge and competence in the narrative processes, generic forms and modes of representation at work in media and cultural texts
- Enable students to acquire the knowledge of, understanding of, and technical competence in the audio, visual and verbal conventions through which sounds, images and words make meaning
- Attract students from regional, national and international environments through an appropriate range of entry routes, and to provide them with the best possible learning and teaching experience
- Provide all students with the widest possible opportunity to pursue and extend their knowledge and understanding of broadcast production and media culture through a variety of learning methods
- Enable students to develop advanced critical, analytical and technical skills, as well as their creative potential; to improve their self-confidence, powers of concentration, understanding of group dynamics, and communication skills through a variety of oral, written, visual and practice-based media
- Facilitate the students’ acquisition of knowledge and understanding of particular media forms and genres, and the way in which they organise understandings, meanings and affects the role of changing technology in media production, content manipulation, distribution, access and participation
- Enable students to develop an understanding of the ways in which forms of media and cultural consumption are embedded in everyday life, and serve as ways of claiming and understanding identities; understand the dynamics of public and everyday discourses in the shaping of culture and society
- Introduce new areas of teaching and implement innovative pedagogical techniques and technologies in response to advances in scholarship, technology, and educational research, student feedback, as well as the interests and aptitudes of staff members
- Provide a supportive and stimulating learning environment that enables learners with a variety of entrance qualifications to fulfil their potential and develop their capacity for motivated independent learning
- Provide appropriate learning resources, including suitable production facilities and to supplement library provision by effectively utilising modes of online learning
- Foster mutually beneficial partnerships with the Media and Broadcast industry and training programmes to facilitate applied learning
- Enrich students' learning experience by exploring possible interdisciplinary linkages /collaborations with other subject areas within the School
- Embed a diverse range of generic and transferable skills in our pathways, and thus prepare students for a variety of academic and professional careers
- Provide a range of opportunities to apply theory in the context of audio, screen and lens-based production

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate a keen critical awareness of the main research methods used to collect and analyse data

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study; resource-based learning, including library work and attendance at screenings, production workshops, filming and editing skill labs and research seminars

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods focus on project work and essays submitted to a deadline

Understand the relations between practice and theory in the discipline

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Tutor and self-directed study, tutorial/workshop discussion, resource-based learning, attendance at production workshops, post-screening discussions, meetings with industry professionals/industry workshops

Methods of Assessment

Individual and group tutorial presentations, learning journals, reflective essays, practice-based outputs

Analyse and engage critically with diverse forms of discourse and their effects on representation within the field of Media and Broadcast; engage critically with major thinkers and debates within the field

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study. Skills are nurtured through class debate and discussion, through the keeping of reflective journals that accompany practical work and through the practice of writing

Methods of Assessment

Independent thought expressed through individual essays, written assignments and exercises or through practice project-based outputs

Think reflexively and independently

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Classroom discussion and online interactions, practice-based production sessions

Methods of Assessment

Edited commentaries on learning journals, story proposals or practice outputs

Understand group dynamics and implement them in practical contexts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in film production and classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group presentations and group practical project works

Make critical judgements in the understanding and evaluation of communication, media, and culture

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study; resource-based learning, including library work and attendance at screenings, production workshops, filming and editing skill labs and research seminars

Methods of Assessment

Assessed through individual essays or practice-based audio-visual or text/online outputs

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate critical, analytical skills in the field of media and broadcast production both for textual and practice-based outputs

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study; resource-based learning, including library and production studio work and attendance at screenings and relevant public events; on-line teaching methods

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods include practice-based projects and essays, exercises submitted to a deadline and a dissertation

Demonstrate creative, ethical and imaginative skills as shown through the realisation of practical projects; display a high level of accuracy and attention to detail in theory and practical projects

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work and attendance at screenings

Methods of Assessment

Continuously assessed individual and group presentations

Communicate in a variety of oral, written and audio-visual media

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Online and face-to-face teaching methods, participation in pitching sessions and story idea discussions

Methods of Assessment

Summative group presentations

Develop ideas, construct arguments, and present them in appropriate ways

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Filming and editing workshops, production meetings/audio recordings

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations, essays or story pitches

Handle creative, personal, and interpersonal issues

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in the story / documentary production process and in classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Participation and engagement

Negotiate and pursue goals with others

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Group work in the story / documentary production process and in classroom presentations

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group presentations and story / documentary productions and other group-project type of practice outputs

Manage personal workloads and meet deadlines

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays, exercises and presentations with hard deadlines

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays, exercises and presentations with deadlines

Produce written work with appropriate conventions

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Essays marked for grammar, presentation, and content

Methods of Assessment

Essays submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate information retrieval skills, involving the ability to gather, sift, synthesise and organise material independently and critically evaluate its significance

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays, presentations, factual story or documentary production

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays, presentations and factual story productions submitted for assessment

Demonstrate information technology skills such as word processing, electronic mail, accessing electronic data, as well as video and audio editing software, and website design skills

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Assigned essays and presentations, communication with lecturer and other students during class or skill labs

Methods of Assessment

Assigned essays, presentations and factual story productions submitted for assessment

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate an advanced knowledge of broadcast and media theory and practice; historical evolution of particular genres, aesthetic traditions and forms, and of their current characteristics and possible future developments

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

This is an integrated programme, with a close inter-relationship between theory and practice. The statement of teaching and assessment methods indicates a broad correlation with different learning outcomes, but there is necessary overlap between different areas of learning

Methods of Assessment

Essays/exercises submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate an understanding of how to analyse and discuss the conventions and practices involved in producing a short radio or television story, longform documentary and other media formats

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Attendance at workshops, screenings, pitching sessions, story critiquing and tutor & peer feedback sessions

Methods of Assessment

Individual Interviews, marked essays, pitches and written feedback

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of contemporary technologies and their relationship to broadcast and media production and scholarship

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work, practice-based learning through skills labs, DVD and other recordings and online resources

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations, marked essays or assessed practice-based projects

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Demonstrate a high level of specific skills including the reading, analysis, documenting and/or interpreting of media and broadcast audio, images and text; a wide range of processes in the creation of original work

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Specific teaching methods include tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study. Also included: interviewing (audio & visual), practice-based individual and group projects

Methods of Assessment

Key assessment methods focus on project work and essays submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate a wide knowledge and understanding of regional, national and international broadcast and media production landscape, the historical evolution of particular genres, aesthetic traditions and forms, and of their current characteristics and possible future representations. Demonstrate knowledge of the ways in which forms of media and cultural consumption are embedded in everyday life and serve as ways of claiming and understanding identities

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, seminars, tutorials, classroom debates

Methods of Assessment

Essays submitted to a deadline

Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of contemporary technologies and their relationship to media and broadcast production, including emerging technologies and future screens

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Resource-based learning, including library work, DVD and other recordings, skills labs and specialist practice workshops in filming, editing, website design

Methods of Assessment

Individual presentations, marked essays, assessed practical projects

Demonstrate an understanding of how to analyse and discuss the conventions and practices involved in producing different forms and genres of film; demonstrate a high level of understanding and technical competence in legal, ethical and other regulatory frameworks, including the intellectual property framework, that are relevant to media and cultural production, manipulation, distribution, circulation, and reception

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures, seminars, tutorials, classroom debates Attendance at seminars/workshops

Methods of Assessment

Individual Interviews, marked essays and through assessed practice-based individual and group project work

Initiate, develop and realise distinctive and creative work within various forms of aural, visual, audio-visual, sound, or other electronic and digital media; produce work that uses the effective manipulation of one or more of sound, images, and the written word, including understanding relevant industry standards and how they are defined and achieved

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Tutor-led, student-led, self-directed study, practice-based productions, pitches, tutor and peer feedback sessions. Practice-based workshops and demonstrations exploring the creative processes behind real broadcast texts

Methods of Assessment

Individual essays, assessments, exercises, and presentations; group practice projects

Understand, evaluate, document and/or interpret

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Face-to-face and online teaching methods

Methods of Assessment

Practice-based exercises, assignments/exercises

Demonstrate the media and broadcast production skills necessary to communicate to an audience

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Workshops, lectures, tutorials and seminars

Methods of Assessment

Participation and engagement

Participate in processes in the creation of original work; employ production skills and practices to challenge or advance existing forms and conventions and to innovate; experiment, as appropriate, with forms, conventions, languages, techniques and practices

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Contact with industry professionals in all relevant specialisms (eg editors, camera operators, directors

Methods of Assessment

Individual essays, practice-based exercises; group practice projects

Understand the importance of the commissioning and funding structures of the creative industries and work within the constraints imposed by them

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Seminar discussion and industry workshops

Methods of Assessment

Contributions to learning logs and online forums; assessed essays

Understand production and postproduction filmmaking processes and forms (eg. studio-based, location, documentary, fictional, etc.)

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Workshops and screenings

Methods of Assessment

Assessed group/individual production work

Demonstrate knowledge of, understanding of, and technical competence the narrative processes, generic forms and modes of representation at work in media and cultural texts

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Tutor led, student-led, self-directed study, Practice-based workshops and demonstrations exploring the creative processes behind real broadcast texts

Methods of Assessment

Assessed individual essays, assessed individual and group practice-based projects

Module Information

Stages and Modules

Module Title Module Code Level/ stage Credits

Availability

Duration Pre-requisite

Assessment

S1 S2 Core Option Coursework % Practical % Examination %
Documentary Practice BCP7012 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N YES -- 40% 60% 0%
Hybrid Storytelling BCP7011 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N YES -- 50% 50% 0%
Interactive Media BCP7007 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N -- YES 30% 70% 0%
Broadcast Journalism BCP7005 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N YES -- 100% 0% 0%
Broadcasting Genre BCP7003 7 20 -- YES 12 weeks N YES -- 100% 0% 0%
Media & Broadcast Analysis BCP7004 7 20 YES -- 12 weeks N YES -- 100% 0% 0%
Media & Broadcast Production Dissertation BCP7006 7 60 -- YES 12 weeks N YES -- 100% 0% 0%

Notes

Students are ordinarily expected to pass taught modules equivalent to 120 CATS points before proceeding to the Dissertation/ Research Project. Students who have not passed all taught modules by the end of the ordinary assessment period will be reviewed by the Programme Convenor and, as appropriate, other appropriate subject area staff (Module Convenors, Subject Lead). This will determine if the student is able to proceed to Dissertation/ Research Project while also completing further attempts to pass taught modules. Ordinarily no more than one resit will be supported alongside progression to Dissertation/Research Project.

Students who fail one or more taught modules are permitted one further attempt to pass the module at the next available opportunity for a maximum mark of 50%.

Students can choose between a theory based or practice based dissertation.

An electronic copy of the Dissertation must be submitted by 15 September for full-time students or 1 May (of their third year) following completion of taught modules for part-time students.

Students will be eligible for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma in Media and Broadcast Production if they fail to achieve a mark of at least 50% in the Dissertation or do not submit a Dissertation and have passed all the taught modules.

Students may exit with a 60 credit Postgraduate Certificate if they fail to achieve a pass mark in 6 taught modules, based on the successful completion of three compulsory modules.

BCP7007 is an optional module if there are other optional modules available to take in its place.