Course Coordinator:Renee Barnes (rbarnes1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces various empirical methods and tools to investigate emerging forms of media and audience practices. It offers a detailed understanding of different ways in which questions of media impact and audience power have been theorised in communication studies. You will engage with contemporary digital media and audience research methodologies, write an innovative research proposal and develop ethical skills in relation to these. Approaches examined include quantitative and qualitative with emphasis on surveys, case studies, focus groups, ethnography, textual and virtual analysis.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Lecture – 1 hour online lecture content for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On campus tutorial/workshop for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
Online | |||
Online – 3 hours online content for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 3hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
Communication and media research paradigms
Research methodologies
Research methods
Developing a research proposal
300 Level (Graduate)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
1 | Interrogate media and communication practice. | Creative and critical thinker |
2 | Recognise and evaluate concepts, methods, paradigms, and theories in communication literature | Knowledgeable |
3 | Develop and produce a research plan. | Empowered |
4 | Demonstrate scholarly communication skills | Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
CMN253
Knowledge of media industry practices and communication concepts and theories.
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
A draft copy of your research idea will be peer-reviewed and discussed in a participatory 2-hour workshop session or via an interactive discussion board to provide formative feedback early in the semester.
Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
Blended learning | 1 | Activity Participation | Group | 20% | 20 minutes oral12 ppt slides |
Week 4 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Blended learning | 2 | Literature Review (or component) | Individual | 35% | 1500 words |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Blended learning | 3 | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | Individual | 45% | 3000 words |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Online | 1 | Activity Participation | Individual | 20% | 15 minutes oral12 ppt slides |
Week 4 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Online | 2 | Literature Review (or component) | Individual | 35% | 1500 words |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Online | 3 | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | Individual | 45% | 3000 words |
Week 12 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
Blended learning - Assessment Task 1:Research Brief | |
Goal: | You will work in a team to identify, develop and pitch a significant research problem within a delimited research topic to a group of your peers. |
Product: | Activity Participation |
Format: | Team oral presentation: Create a clear, well researched, and theoretically supported presentation for a potential research topic. Should include several ways of interrogating the problem/issue. One slide dedicated to outlining how each team member participated in the development of the project. 12 slides total - use graphics and images rather than text heavy slides. Be convincing! |
Criteria: |
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Blended learning - Assessment Task 2:Annotated Bibliography | |
Goal: | A literature review is an essential part of the research process. You will develop the ability to identify past studies relevant to your research problem, cite sources appropriately and summarise and critique literature. |
Product: | Literature Review (or component) |
Format: | Essay format with Harvard referencing style (detailed on blackboard). You should use between 12 -15 peer reviewed academic journal articles (journal articles are not all the same depth or complexity) |
Criteria: |
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Blended learning - Assessment Task 3:Research Proposal | |
Goal: | You will develop a research proposal outlining the step-by-step process of your research plan. Your proposal should be written in a convincing and methodologically competent manner. |
Product: | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece |
Format: | You will further develop the research problem identified and reviewed in assessment tasks 1 and 2. You will refine your research questions, revisit literature, identify an appropriate methodology and write a plan for the research. A more detailed outline of this task will be provided on Blackboard. |
Criteria: |
|
Online - Assessment Task 1:Research Brief | |
Goal: | You will identify, develop and pitch a significant research problem within a delimited research topic. |
Product: | Activity Participation |
Format: | Submit a video presentation of a clear, well researched, and theoretically supported presentation for a potential research topic. Should include several ways of interrogating the problem/issue. 12 slides total - use graphics and images rather than text heavy slides. Be convincing! |
Criteria: |
|
Online - Assessment Task 2:Annotated Bibliography | |
Goal: | A literature review is an essential part of the research process. You will develop the ability to identify past studies relevant to your research problem, cite sources appropriately and summarise and critique literature. |
Product: | Literature Review (or component) |
Format: | Essay format with Harvard referencing style (detailed on blackboard). You should use between 12 -15 peer reviewed academic journal articles (journal articles are not all the same depth or complexity) |
Criteria: |
|
Online - Assessment Task 3:Research Proposal | |
Goal: | You will develop a research proposal outlining the step-by-step process of your research plan. Your proposal should be written in a convincing and methodologically competent manner. |
Product: | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece |
Format: | You will further develop the research problem identified and reviewed in assessment tasks 1 and 2. You will refine your research questions, revisit literature, identify an appropriate methodology and write a plan for the research. A more detailed outline of this task will be provided on Blackboard. |
Criteria: |
|
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Please note that you need to have regular access to the resource(s) listed below. Resources may be required or recommended.
Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
Required | Niranjala Weerakkody | 2015 | Research Methods for Media and Communication | 2 | n/a |
Nil
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.
Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) per day for the first two days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day and subsequent days up to and including seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome.
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