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| Not really sure what picture to put here, but this will do for now |
This has been a strange year for everyone, and, without wishing to go in to too much detail here, the way in which students graduating in 2021 will be assessed will also be... strange. In many ways, the changes that have so far (!) been set out have been reasonable, clear, and, arguably less stressful for students than in a normal year. Gone are formal assessments, to be replaced with... well, other assessments, but ones set, marked and moderated by your teachers.
However, it's really important to note that the ways in which you are being assessed are essentially the same as ever. All media students must complete work which demonstrates varying degrees of mastery of
- Media language/key terminology
- Knowledge and understanding of key concepts, such as representation and genre
- An ability to apply higher level concepts, such as hegemony and the manipulation of the audience
- An ability to present a clear, concise and argumentative point of view
- Evidence of an ability to create practical media work that appeals to a specific audience
This post is an index of the revision tasks and also a timeline of everything we think is going to happen. Please realise that this timeline is provisional, and all dates should be taken with a pinch of salt unless stated otherwise!
Assessment timetable
1 - Unseen assessment 1
- Assessment type: unseen textual analysis
- Corresponding exam section: component one section a
- Industry: unknown (print)
- Question type: media language or representation
- Time allowed: 30 minutes
- P block - Friday 23rd April 10:50
- S block - Friday 23rd April 09:00
- Q block - Thursday 22nd April 12:25
- U block - Friday 23rd April 12:25
2 - Unseen assessment 2
- Assessment type: unseen textual analysis
- Corresponding exam section: component one section a
- Industry: music video (comparison) (the video you are shown may or may not be a music video, but you will be expected to compare it to one of the music videos we have studied)
- Question type: media language or representation
- Time allowed: 30 minutes
- P block - Monday 26th April 09:00
- S block - Monday 26th April 10:50
- Q block - Monday 26th April 14:40
- U block - Tuesday 27th April 09:00
3 - Mock assessment
- Assessment type: exam style questions
- Corresponding exam section: Component two sections a and B
- Industry: TV and Magazines
- Question type: Any type of question (representation, media language, industry or audience) can come up in component two
- Time allowed: 100 minutes
- P block - Wednesday 19th May 09:00
- S block - Wednesday 19th May 09:00
- Q block - Wednesday 19th May 09:00
- U block - Wednesday 19th May 09:00
Resources to check out
The revision guide
2019 revision sessions master list
2020 remote learning master list
Media Focus YouTube channel
Week one: coursework catch-up and revising the basics
8th March
This week allows you the opportunity to finish off your coursework to the best possible standard, and it also gives us an opportunity to go over the basics, which of course means media language!
Basic textual analysis
Q block - Basic textual analysis: 'Open That Coca-Cola (Music by Tyler, The Creator)'
Q block - Basic textual analysis: 'Halifax | It’s a People Thing'
U block - Basic textual analysis: Adobe - 'Take a fantastic voyage with Photoshop'
U block - Basic textual analysis: 'Walkers MAX x KFC crisps | It Makes Sense'
Week two: learning conversations and assorted revision tasks
15th March
This week will see your teacher 1-1 in the time when you would be having an online lesson. You'll be spending the rest of the time revising for your upcoming assessments. You can find a list of what you should be doing here.
Week three: Weird week
22nd March
You will only be in class for the first half of the week. You will be told about your upcoming assessments, and roughly what you should be revising over the Easter Holiday. We will also discuss how to revise, though remember, it's not a one-stop shop, and everyone will have different methods which work for them. We will also cover some media language revision, either print or digital.
Q block - Textual analysis of print media products: Midsommar theatrical poster (2019)
U block - Textual analysis of print media products: Knives Out theatrical poster (2019)
Week four and five: Easter Holiday revision
From 29th March
Check out the upcoming assessments, and use the information you know so far to help you prepare. These weeks will be extremely important for your preparation, so make sure you use them wisely.
Week six: revision
12th April
This week will be devoted to revision tasks and essay writing tips. There will be no form of assessment this week. However, as ever, you can submit past paper questions to your teacher for guidance.
For the first lesson, we will focus purely on the nitty-gritty of essay structure. Click here to watch this lesson in video form before the lesson! Just remember, we're not doing exactly the same thing this year, obvs.
Q block - DAC introduction practice
U block - DAC introduction practice
Q block - textual analysis - No Time To Die trailer
Week seven: revision and unseen assessment 1
19th April
This week will continue the revision started well over a month ago now! You will also complete an unseen assessment at the end of this week
For the first two lessons, we will concentrate on textual analysis of print and audiovisual media products. The first will focus on print, the second on audiovisual.
In the third lesson of this week, you will complete an assessment:
- Assessment name: unseen assessment 1
- Assessment type: unseen textual analysis
- Corresponding exam section: component one section a
- Industry: unknown (print)
- Question type: media language or representation
- Time allowed: 30 minutes
Week eight: unseen assessment 2 and revising industry and audience
26th April
At the start of this week, you will complete another unseen assessment. The rest of this week will be spent revising the TV industry, and Humans in particular
In the first lesson you will complete 'unseen assessment 2', which will be based around comparing an unseen audiovisual media product to a music video you have studied.
- Assessment name: unseen assessment 2
- Assessment type: unseen textual analysis
- Corresponding exam section: component one section a
- Industry: music video (comparison)
- Question type: media language or representation
- Time allowed: 30 minutes
Week nine: more revision
3rd May
No assessments this week, as we continue to prepare for the 'mock assessment'. This week focuses on TV, though we may move on to magazines on the last lesson.
Monday 3rd May is a bank holiday, so P block, S block and Q block do not have a lesson on this day.
You can find a video to help you revise Humans by clicking here
And you can find a video to help you revise Les Revenants by clicking here
Humans textual analysis - deconstructing 'the breakfast scene'
Representations of gender in the TV industry
Week ten: preparing for the mock assessment
10th May
No assessments this week, as we continue to prepare for the 'mock assessment'. This week is all about magazines.
Here's a video to help you revise Woman
And here's a video to help you revise Adbusters
Week eleven: mock assessment
17th May
This week is your formal mock teacher assessment, taken under exam conditions, which can/may contribute to your final grade. Remember guys, this 'aint an exam, it's an assessment!
- Assessment name: mock assessment
- Assessment type: exam style questions
- Corresponding exam section: Component two sections a and B
- Industry: TV and Magazines
- Question type: Any type of question (representation, media language, industry or audience) can come up in component two
- Time allowed: 100 minutes
FAQs
Why have we got so many assessments? We have more assessments than we would have exams! Why!?
Please take a look at the set times for these assessments. We have decided to plump for shorter assessments rather than setting a mega 'exam style' assessment. We believe this is a lot less stressful and a lot more conducive to learning about media studies. And that's what we're here for!
Our other subjects have told us exactly what we're doing! Why can't you tell us?
Because media is assessed differently to your other subjects. But, we have told you everything that we can possibly tell you about the assessment, certainly enough to give you a really good idea about exactly what to revise!
I get extra time or other arrangements. Will I get these arrangements in these assessments?
Yes! However, it's definitely worth emailing academic support, right now, to make sure.
Why are you calling it an assessment when it's clearly an exam?
Because none of these are exams. Why not? Exams are 'do or die'. You performance on them assigns a very specific percentage of your overall grade. Exams are completed at the exclusion of other forms of assessment. This is not the case this year. The mock assessment may look and feel like an exam, but it's one form of assessment of many. So it can't be an exam.
I've been working hard all year. Why do I need to do these assessments?
Good for you (seriously)! This will help your overall grade. However, it is arguably unfair to expect this from everyone. You knew from the start that you would be assessed by two exams, and coursework. Now, the goalposts have changed, and you may wish you'd worked harder on your key assessments. These assessments give everyone a final opportunity to demonstrate what they are capable of.
So how are we actually assessed?
Put simply, we look at everything you've done over the course. We will then compare your performance to a series of grade descriptors which at the time of writing are yet to be published by the exam board. These will say things like (and I'm completely making this up):
X grade: excellent practical and production skills. Evidence of ability to present a clear and concise argument. Excellent knowledge and understanding of media debates etc
Our job is to find evidence which backs up which grade boundary you fit in to!
What percentage are the final assessments worth?
It doesn't work like that. Think of it like a line of best fit. If you do wonderfully in your final assessments, it will help you out, to put it bluntly.
How much should I revise?
When you signged up to , you were told that the expectation was to complete an additional 4.5 hours of additional study for each of your subjects each week. This expectation hasn't changed. I am not naive. I know most students have not completed an additional 12.5 hours of study every week. However, now it's crunch time. Again, I'm being blunt, but this is an A-level. It requires a significant amount of independent study.
Can I talk about another part of the media framework in a question, for example can I talk about representation in an audience question?
Yes, and this is a really good idea and shows you have linked up thinking. BUT, you must make sure that you answer the question. So if the question is about AUDIENCE, then remember it’s an AUDIENCE question, and including a few audience theories (eg Stuart Hall and reception theory and Gerbner’s cultivation theory) would work well. For example:
“[as the ‘analysis’ to a paragraph exploring Anita’s sexualised representation]. By representing Anita as both a hyperreal and stereotypically sexually attractive housewife, the producers of Humans cultivate not only a potentially sexist representation of women as primary caregivers, but also reinforce a dominant patriarchal hegemonic ideology that in order to be successful in contemporary society, a women must fulfil an agreeable level of attractiveness. This ironic statement positions the audience in a deliberately uncomfortable mode of address, and forces the middle class target audience to negotiate the character of Anita. Do they accept her as an allegory of the issues faced by women in society, or reject her character as being unnecessarily sexist and sexualised? This difficult mode of address ensures that the niche target audiences continue to discuss and to engage with the show throughout its run, maximising its potential profit.”