Major Assessment
iGeneration: Communication Studies Masters Unit
Major Assessment
(PDF of Major Assessment Details)
Type I: 4000 Word Essay
1. Critically compare citizen journalism and traditional journalism in relation to their reporting on the recent WA State Government Election. [Anna]
2. Critically examine self-censorship via a comparison of the production of new and traditional media in Singapore. [Alvin]
3. Critically compare two different national citizen media reactions to the 2005 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. [Benedikte]
4. Undertake a critical exploration of some aspect(s) of the social life of users of the MMO virtual world Second Life. [Rouli]
5. Critically analyse the characteristics of higher education as they are discussed in participatory cultural forms – especially blogs – in comparison to traditional notions of higher education. [Yan Man]
6. Critically compare the different impact of political blogs and mass media on public opinion regarding the 2004 US Presidential election. [Siyang]
7. Critically compare the different reactions of traditional media and citizen media creators to a local election. [Ghee]
Type II: Digital Video + 2000 Word Exegesis
8. Critically analyse contemporary visual culture of Philippines as recorded and shared via citizen media. [Ramfel]
Notes and Rules
• This assessment is the major project for a masters unit, and as such it should be written at the highest possible academic standard. Argument, expression, content, grammar and referencing should be flawless. ALL references should be clear, and you should follow the Communication Studies Style Guide to format your references.
• If you have any questions about your projects, including questions about referencing, please see Tama as soon as you can. It is your responsibility to check anything about which you are unsure.
Additional Rules for Video in Type II
• All material sourced must be legally reusable (that is either in the public domain, under specific Creative Commons licenses or material you have explicit permission from the copyright holder to use). For more legally reusable sources, check: http://tamaleaver.pbwiki.com/Sources+of+Legally+Reusable+Media
• Your final video must be 640×480 (4:3 ratio).
• Your final video must be uploaded to any video sharing or social website (eg Blip.TV or, if you must, YouTube.)
• The maximum video length is 2 minutes (plus credits).
• Exegesis must critically and concisely explain, situate and theorise the remix video you create in relation to the unit themes of digital communication and participatory culture. (2000 words maximum, plus references.)
• Weighting: Video: 60% Exegesis: 40%.
Submission Procedure
You must make a blog post which contains your major project. You must also submit a hardcopy of your project to the English and Communications office. (For projects which have a video, the video must be embedded in your blog post and your exegesis must also be included.) All work, in both formats, must be submitted and blogged before 4pm on Thursday, October 30th, 2008.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT THIS ASSIGNMENT
1. Your written work should be submitted to the ECS Office with a cover-sheet attached. Please do NOT submit written work directly to your tutor. (If you do, there may be no official record that the work was ever submitted.)
2. In order to satisfy unit requirements, students must submit essays by the due date. Unless an extension of the due date has been granted, late assignments will incur a penalty of 2 marks per working day. (Extension requests should be made in writing to your tutor, and will normally require a medical certificate.) No work will be accepted after the end of the examination period (without a formal deferral from the Academic Student Advisor).
3. It is essential to KEEP A COPY of your work. In the case of loss of an essay, notes or an earlier draft cannot be accepted as substitutes.
4. Please do NOT write on both sides of the paper.
5. Whether your work is typed or hand-written, it should be DOUBLE-SPACED. (For handwritten essays, this means that you write on every second line.)
6. Please leave a WIDE MARGIN in case the marker needs to offer comments and annotations.
7. PLAGIARISM Please be aware that the essay you submit must be your own work with no unacknowledged debt to some other writer or source. To pass off written work as your own, whether you have copied it from someone else or from somewhere else (be it a published writer, another person, a TV program, a library anthology, or whatever) is to deprive yourself of the real benefits of this unit and to be guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offence! University policy is that plagiarism, the unacknowledged quotation of material from other people’s work, is a ground for failure. Substantial plagiarism means a mark of 0% for the assignment concerned. It is your responsibility to read the Faculty policy on plagiarism:
http://www.faculty.arts.uwa.edu.au/enrolled_students/policies/plagiarism
If you take notes from other sources (critical articles, background works, etc) you must quote carefully and accurately, and acknowledge the quotation. Even if you paraphrase, you must still acknowledge that you are paraphrasing. This is very important!
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Could my Essay question be,
Critically compare different reactions of traditional media and citizen media creators to a local election.
regards,
Ghee
Ghee: yes. That’s you sorted!
I have one (maybe obvious) question….
Can I use APA referencing style?
The Communication Studies style guide seems to be a little different though….
Hi Alvin, No: please use the Com Studies style guide, it just makes everything more straight forward when making. Sorry.
Okie! No problem. Thanks!
Another question (actually just a clarification):
It says on the referencing guide that in-text citations are placed ‘at the end of the sentence and before the full stop’. However, the examples given in the referencing guide mostly place the in-text citations after the full-stop.
Well…which do we follow?
@Alvin: full stop after bracket, thanks.
Okie… citations followed by full stop.
Roger thanks!
(Just trying not to get it wrong).
Cheers.