Approaches to media analysis (P02603)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : EDU-P-P02603

The mass media is the most powerful means of communication in our society. Media literacy i.e. the understanding of how the media creates and reflects meaning in our society is an essential component of literacy. This can only be acquired through a study of the key aspects of media education. The course analyses how meaning inside a text is constructed by looking at a range of analytical concepts. Furthermore, in studying the mass media, the text is treated as an economic unit, produced by institutions and consumed by audiences. It is therefore essential to understand precisely how powerful institutional factors shape media products. Lastly, the course examines a range of theories about how audiences make sense of, and respond to, texts. By the end of the course students will have a portfolio of collaborative and individual analyses which will prepare them for an individual assignment that requires them to select texts, apply appropriate analytical approaches to them, and link them with the external factors influencing the construction of these texts.

The course is suitable for both practising teachers, and for people who have an interest in the mass media and how it constructs the meanings of our world.

Entry Requirements

? Costs : Access to video/ DVD/ print media and the web. Students are required to purchase the core texts marked in bold.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Education, (The Moray House School of Education, Schedule C)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : To be arranged/Unknown

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of the course will allow participants to:

• discuss the essential features and value of analysis of texts from different theoretical viewpoints
• engage in practical critical analysis of texts using a range of analytical procedures
• link textual analysis to contextual analysis
• place the study of media education in a historical perspective
• ‘read’ the developing media industry and critically evaluate it from a range of textual and institutional perspectives
• critically evaluate current teaching methodologies related to analysis of texts, institutions and audience

Assessment Information

Folio

Students will have the opportunity to write three folio pieces (500 words per piece) during the first three blocks of teaching.

Assignment

Either
Students will produce a written assignment of approximately 2500 words. In this assignment students will focus on a text or texts of their choosing. They will analyse the text(s) or an aspect of the text(s) using a specific approach drawn from course teaching and their own study. Throughout the assignment there will be extensive evidence of appropriate reading

Or
This assignment (2500) can be practice based , in which case students will be expected to give a rational for, describe, analyse and evaluate a particular piece of teaching of text using an analytical approach or approaches studied on the course. Throughout the assignment there will be extensive evidence of appropriate reading.