Media Studies

About the subject

Students explore the role of media in Australian and global contexts, and how media can exert a significant influence on the way people receive and interpret information about the world, explore their own and other cultures, make economic choices, develop political ideas, and spend their leisure time.

Course content

The following key media concepts underpin the study of media and provide an investigative framework to support students’ assessments in critical analysis and production:

• Media conventions
• Media organisations
• Media audiences
• Media representations

Students choose three of the following topics:

• Photojournalism
• Documentaries
• Cult Television/Film
• Music and Media
• The Internet
• Television Genres
• Community Media
• Short Films
• Advertising and Audiences
• Globalisation and Media
• Youth and Media
• Children and Media
• Media Ethics and Regulation
• Cultural Diversity in Media.

Assessment

Students demonstrate evidence of their learning through the following assessment types:

Information on the External Assessment

The investigation should be a maximum of 2000 words if written or the equivalent if in multimedia format. Students select a topic that has been the subject of public debate or coverage within the previous 12 months, and formulate a question to be addressed in the investigation.

The investigation is double graded, firstly by the student’s teacher and secondly by an external assessor appointed by the SACE Board. The teacher and the external assessor make a decision about the quality of the investigation with reference to performance standards.

Performance Standards

The Media Studies Subject Outline includes performance standards, which describe five levels of achievement that are reported with the grades A to E at the student’s completion of the subject.

The school-based assessments and the external assessment will be graded with reference to the performance standards.