Year
2021Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Prerequisites
MEDA101 Theories of Media
Incompatible
MEDA216
Teaching organisation
Lecture, tutorials, workshops/online or on campus.Unit rationale, description and aim
This capstone unit explores the varied approaches to audience scholarship; from early 20th century visualisations of mindless consumers, drip-fed by a continuous flow of ‘messages’, to the study of new media as a site of participatory culture and community. Particular emphasis is given to fans, whose online production practices may push the boundaries of genre, taste and copyright law. Students will demonstrate the skills acquired in this unit through the piloting and evaluation of their own audience research project.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
LO1 - Identify and explain historical and contemporary approaches to the study of media audiences (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9)
LO2 - Discuss the varied relationships that may occur between audiences, producers and texts (GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA9)
LO3 - Use a selection of audience research methods to study an audience (or) user (or) fan subculture (GA1, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8)
LO4 - Evaluate and communicate the findings of audience research (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10)
Graduate attributes
GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity
GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making
GA4 - think critically and reflectively
GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession
GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account
GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively
GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information
GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media
GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.
Content
Topics will include:
- Historical concepts of the media audience (i.e. passive receptors of messages)
- Ratings, and the commodification of audiences
- Citizenship, public opinion and the public/private sphere
- New media, participatory culture, and the disruption of cultural monopolies
- Fandom, and the pleasures of identification
- Contemporary methodologies suitable for the study of media audiences
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Students value tools of instruction that have immediate uses (Slade 2010, p37), and are seen to develop skills that employers will value (Nicol 2009, p36). One of those skills is research. In MEDA304, students will research and pilot their own audience research project and will therefore be able to demonstrate facility with basic data gathering techniques to a prospective employer.
Each tutorial will consist of two distinct types of activities that transition from skills of acquisition to skills of application. Students will be asked to analyse examples of media audience research before undertaking practical exercises which model the research technique in small groups. This will prepare students to deploy a selection of those techniques for their final assessment task without the same level of supervision.
This unit has Taught Ethics clearance.
Assessment strategy and rationale
In this unit, students will be asked to prepare assessment tasks appropriate to their year level. A range of assessment procedures will be used that combine to meet the learning outcomes and graduate attributes of the unit, consistent with University assessment requirements.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes | Graduate Attributes |
|---|---|---|---|
A review of published audience studies themed around an audience product, practice or site. | 20% | LO1, LO2 | GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA9 |
A research design for a student-led engagement with a ‘real-world’ audience | 30% | LO1, LO2, LO3 | GA1, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9 |
An evaluation of a report on the outcomes of audience research undertaken by students (which might include written, oral and audio-visual components, depending on the nature of the research undertaken and methodologies employed). | 50% | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4 | GA1, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10 |
Representative texts and references
Budarick, J & Han, G (eds.) 2017, Minorities and Media Producers, Industries, Audiences, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Burgess, J & Green, J 2014, Youtube: online video and participatory culture, Polity Press.
Chilisa, B 2011, Indigenous Research Methodologies, SAGE, Los Angeles.
Duffett, M 2014, Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture, Bloomsbury Academic.
Gauntlett, D 2011, Making is Connecting, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Hight, C, & Harindranath, R (eds.) 2017, Studying Digital Media Audiences : perspectives from Australasia, Routledge, New York.
Jenkins, H 2013, Textual Poachers: television fans & participatory culture (updated twentieth century edition), Routledge, New York.
Lee, A (ed.) 2014, A Sense of Community: Essays on the Television Series and Its Fandom, McFarland & Company, North Carolina.
Mandiberg, M (ed.) 2012, The Social Media Reader, New York University Press, New York.
Nightingale, V (ed.) 2011, The Handbook of Media Audiences, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
Stein, L & Busse, K (eds.) 2012, Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom: Essays on the BBC Series, McFarland & Company, Jefferson.
Sullivan, J 2013, Media Audiences, Effects, Users, Institutions, Power, SAGE, California.