2013 Summit Programme - The Centre for Excellence in Media ...

PARALLEL SESSION 5: Friday 20th 09.45- 10.25
STUDENT VOICE:
#Mediastudiesyo – Integrating Research, Practice &
Theory in a New Media Studies Sub Major
Catriona Bonfiglioli
Cantor
9132
abstracts
Integrating research into teaching is an international issue, with universities
around the world keen to develop the next generations of researchers
(Kirkup and Bonfiglioli 2011). A widely used approach is to integrate research
into the curriculum in the form of problem-based learning (Hanney 2013).
Students find this challenging, stimulating and valuable (Wood 2010). Media
studies is a new discipline (Berger and McDougall 2012) in which practice
includes both the creation of media artefacts and the critique of media practice,
products and impacts.
The Media Studies Sub Major is a three-unit element in the UTS BA Communication
which expects students to engage with media studies theory,
develop their research skills, and design, develop and conduct original media
studies research which is driven by theoretical concepts gleaned from the
unit’s materials. Goals for the creation of the Sub Major included: integrating
research into learning, preparing students for Honours, and responding to
the UTS Strategic plan (University of Technology 2009). This presentation will
track the evolution of the Sub Major, detailing how research is integrated
into the subject matter and the assignments, reflect on student feedback and
report briefly on students’ Twitter responses to the subjects and the impact
on honours enrolments.
Keywords: media studies, curriculum innovation, teaching-research
nexus, project-led, problem-based.
Catriona Bonfiglioli is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the University
of Technology, Sydney.
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