This assessment works best as a formative piece that takes place towards the beginning of the semester as it builds student confidence; provides early feedback on work; allows staff to identify students in need of additional support; and teaches the application and implementation of core theoretical concepts. This assessment is ideally low-weighted and scaffolded with other major assessments so that knowledge is developed comprehensively and progressively throughout the duration of the course. This technique aligns with personalised learning pedagogies as students are able to choose their own media piece as well as the focus of their analysis, thereby catering to individual student interests. This technique calls for critical examination of a media stimulus but is not limited to fields of media study. In POLS7523 students select a media piece relating to gendered experiences of contemporary conflict and critically reflect on this item using appropriate disciplinary analysis. This may involve questioning assumptions underlying the article's message, or the various socio-political inequalities contained within these. These types of critical reflection and document analyses skills are highly valued in a wide range of academic and vocational fields (e.g. Journalism, Social Science, Marketing and PR).
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 40-60
- CLASS LEVEL
- Second year, Third year, Post-graduate
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- Medium security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- Medium time
- GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES
- Effective communication skills, Critical judgement, Ethical and social understanding
- FEATURES
- Authentic
- TAGS
- reflective/reflexive, critical reflection
Advantages
This formative assessment helps to provide a quality teaching and learning environment by giving students regular feedback, and provides means for progressive improvement through a scaffolded learning model. Fosters practical and cognitive skills that contribute towards Critical Judgement, Effective Communication Skills, and Ethical and Social Understanding (UQ Graduate attributes) through an applied activity using an everyday stimulus (media).
Challenges
Some students struggle to locate an appropriate news item for analysis. This can be mitigated by providing students with pre-determined options. Care must be taken by the course coordinator to select context-specific media pieces that align with course content. Students are sometimes ambivalent in responding to open-ended tasks. This can be managed by providing regular feedback to students, and establishing rigorous and systematic approaches to performing critical analysis that become the focus of tutorial exanalysis that become the focus of tutorial exercises.
Tips for implementation
Allow sufficient time for individual student consultation in order to provide feedback as well as identify areas for improvement prior to submission.
How it supports academic integrity
This piece supports academic integrity via promoting a student-led approach that also allows for regular feedback. That is, it engages students in selecting their own media piece and guiding their own critical analysis; whilst allowing students to communicate their ideas and understanding through staff consultations and tutorial discanalysis; whilst allowing students to communicate their ideas and understanding through staff consultations and tutorial discussions.
Authentic learning characteristics
engagement, authenticity and student ownership
Associate Professor Nicole George
n.george2@uq.edu.au
Nicole’s research focuses on the gendered politics of conflict and peacebuilding, violence, security and participation. She has a strong interest in feminist institutional theory, as well as conceptual debates on regulatory pluralism and contested notions of (gendered) order as they are evident in local and global politics. Since the early 2000s, she has conducted research in the Pacific Islands region focusing on gender politics, gendered security and post conflict transition in Fiji, New Caledonia, Bougainville and Solomon Islands. She has worked in collaboration with women’s organisations, women decision-makers and women policy-makers in these settings to progress aspects of this work. She has led large, externally funded, comparative research projects examining how women's rights to security are instsitutionalised in Pacific Island countries (2013-2016) and where and how women particiipate in post-conflict transformation (as part of a broader collabortive ARC Linkage Project (2016-2020). Aside from the scholarly publications listed below, she has made influential contributions to national and regional intergovernmental policy forums on gender, security and development programs and is a regular contributor to national and regional on-line opinion editorial sites. Find out more