Introductory task: Why do practical work?
Students to order the statements into priority
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pupils’ successful practical productions are evidence of their theoretical understanding |
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media practical work, without sufficient professional input, is nothing more than children playing games: it’s not useful; |
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studying the media is partly about studying an industrial process to which pupils should gain insight. |
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some media courses have a distinct vocational element - pupils are the next generation of radio DJs, film-makers, dubbing mixers, magazine editors, web-designers etc; |
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creativity is a vital part of children’s learning experiences; |
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children learn more than about media, they learn social and collaborative skills. |
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Task: Exploring possibilities and Barriers
Again blanking out the grid, have trainees think individually or collectively about the possibilities and constraints of practical work, this will equally draw attention to areas in need of further development.
| Possibilities for Practical Work |
Barriers |
| Pupils find it engaging and look forward to working in new groupings and with different outcomes. |
Children work in less regulated spaces outside the classroom – edit suites, corridors. |
| The dynamic of classroom interaction is altered – not necessarily teacher led. |
Managing pupils’ work – them managing their own work. |
| The opportunity to be creative. |
It is hard to assess pupils’ creativity in terms of the outcomes alone. |
| The process of production can reveal aspects of a text’s construction, distribution and exhibition. |
Pupils may find it difficult to work to a clear brief, opting for less ordered creative responses. |
| Pupils practice good skills in production work – speaking and listening, decision- making, presenting etc. |
The curriculum is very crammed already and practical work takes up too much time. |
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Doing practical work in ITE
In addition to the subject knowledge enhancement afforded by such work, drawing out the learning from a practical activity might satisfy evidence criteria for specific ICT use in lessons (Q17). Working collectively and evaluating practical approaches are good examples of achieving against other professional standards (Q6, Q7 Q8 and Q9) – all standards that refer to the development of the personal professional self.
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Sample Practical Task:
This task has worked very well in the past at the end of the English PGCE course when there is an opportunity to look ahead to the demands of the NQT year. By this time some trainees already know they will be teaching GCSE Media Studies so focusing on the specifications here is helpful. For others the opportunity to practise the skills required here is good professional development.
The Brief
The purpose of these two days is to have ‘hands on’ experience of production and evaluation. We will work to the brief for the production aspect of WJEC GCSE Media Studies. This GCSE brief raises a number of questions both in terms of prior learning that pupils may have had but also provides a view of where pupils’ skills and production experience might be progressed to. The GCSE specifications have liberalised the number of mediums in which to work including web-design thus acknowledging at one level that pupils own experiences with technologies have expanded. However, the basic production artefacts required in the Production coursework remain quite small in scale and achievable with minimal equipment. The specification states that “a short piece will generally be sufficient” to assess pupil knowledge and understanding in this area. We will be thinking ‘small’ and aim to make best use of our location.
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Day 1 : Using Video
Create the opening sequence of a new soap opera called “ … insert name of school or college or invent soap opera based on family or town name”. This will mean the ‘concept’ has to be discussed and agreed upon; it then must be filmed and edited, all by 4:00 on the day. This will be a new Soap for a mature audience trialling first on BBC 3 and after monitoring success, will move to BBC 1 in the autumn if a larger audience can be attracted to it. The groups must decide on how to best utilise all the members in terms of the range of roles available: planning, storyboarding, filming, editing, acting.
Each individual member is required to keep a ‘log’ of the production process.
You are reminded that, whilst support is available through the technician to solve any technical problems, this workshop is not intended to ‘teach’ you how to be better at video or editing. Like many of our students in school some of the time spent on production will be trying to understand the equipment and it’s potential. The aims of this day have been made clear as about understanding the production and evaluation process that characterises pupil work under the heading of Media Education.
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Day 2: The process of Evaluation
The day will begin at 9:30 with a screening/viewing of the production pieces from Day 1 to the whole group.
In the morning we will work through an array of different evaluation procedures and debate strengths and issues from each of the models.
Activity 1: The role of the real audience in evaluation
Using the WJEC grade criteria we will attempt to ‘grade’ each of the production pieces as a whole.
The whole group will be asked to act as the intended audience to provide evaluative feedback to the production group.
The aims of practical work in WJCE
2.6 “to become creative media producers for different audiences”
2.7 “to engage with the aesthetic, technical, economic, legal, ethical and moral issues … as they arise in … media production
We will use these aims to direct the evaluation in the first instance and the criteria for award as a way of grading the work.
WJEC GCSE MEDIA STUDIES 21
Marking Criteria for Assignment 3: Production AO Level Descriptors
| A0 |
Level |
Descriptors |
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Level 1
(1-8) |
The candidate will produce a short production task individually or make a
contribution to a group production task. This will demonstrate that the
candidate has used editing skills in a simple way and can present the
production in an acceptable manner. Candidates will often replicate
existing productions at this level. The candidate will accurately use simple generic codes and narrative conventions at the higher marks in this level. |
| AO3 |
Level 2
9-16 |
At this level, the production task will demonstrate a more thorough
understanding of typical codes and conventions but these will have been
used by the candidates for their own purposes. The candidate's editing
skills will be competent and the production will be well organised, well presented and appropriate to the target audience. |
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Level 3
17-25 |
A technically competent piece which reveals an excellent grasp of editing
skills. Tasks will be firmly based on a developed understanding of the
codes and conventions associated with the type of media production. The
better productions in this level will be creative, stimulating and interesting to the target audience. |
Evaluation
| A0 |
Level |
Descriptors |
| AO4 |
Level 1
(1-5) |
A basic account of the production process which will tend to follow its
chronological stages. The description of these stages will be in simple
language. The candidates will be able to comment on the issues which
arose for the production task. The account will reveal an obvious
understanding of how the production task links to the target audience. As
candidates move through the marks at this level, they will begin to make simple judgements about their work. |
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Level 2
6-10 |
At this level candidates will begin to reflect on the outcomes of the
production task in relation to their aims, which will be clearly stated. They
will have also commented on ideas for promotion, distribution and the issues their production raises for potential audiences. |
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Level 3
11-15 |
At this level the candidate's account will be a well-drafted document with
the clear structure of an evaluative report. Candidates will reveal evidence
of critical reflection in terms of the specification framework and will outline possible areas for revision. |
AO3 – “demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media production through engagement with pre-production and production work;
AO4 – “present evaluative accounts of their own pre-production and production work”
The Artefact is awarded 25 marks
The Evaluation is awarded 15
Activity 2: The role of the individual in group production
Whilst an overall grade might be awarded for the production of a specific artefact, the specification requires that individuals are graded separately. The spec states that “It is vitally important that the contribution of each candidate can be identified. Evidence of this must be demonstrable to the moderator i.e. candidate evaluation and teacher assessment”
Account for your choices verbally based on the log. How does the log help?
Activity 3: Evaluating Creativity
The Collaborative Assessment Conference (or unfortunately acronymed, CAC)!
This process was developed by Steve Seidel and Project Zero Colleagues at Harvard University and involves a very precise, stepped process of evaluation. In the context of school, the facilitator could be a teacher, assisting one group to help another with their evaluation. The steps:
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The Facilitator asks a group to ‘read’ the performance of another group. (No context to the work is provided – ‘audience’ reads the work ‘cold’. |
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b) |
Facilitator asks the group ‘what do you see?’ this is like ‘denotation’. No value judgements are permitted. The focus is on the elements that stand out. |
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The Facilitator asks ‘What questions does this raise for you?’ Group members ask questions of the work. The Facilitator doesn’t answer the questions, just records them. |
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The group member who produced the piece presents what they were trying to do |
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A discussion is held between the group ‘reading’ and the individual or group who have produced the piece based on stages a-c; |
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The groups reflect together on the different experiences or reactions to the piece. |
The rationale for the CAC is that the staged approach will reveal gaps in the thinking that might not be admitted or even realised by the production group as they are too ‘close’ to the process. Interestingly, and as noted by other commentators on the course, children often report their intentions for the work over the realities so they have a kind of ‘blind spot’ for what they actually produced. The use of another group to assist evaluation may address that blind spot. Further Reading about the CAC can be found on http://www.lasw.org/CAC_description.html
Activity 4: Free Evaluation
How does what you want to say about the production tally with what you are obliged to say for assessment? Are there any obvious gaps?
Which processes might assist pupils on the way to formal evaluation? (Video diaries; written logs; oral logs; portfolios and journals; ambassadors recording ideas from one group to another? ) .
Buckingham states that “it is vital that students be encouraged to reflect upon those (production) processes, and to understand the conditions under which their own meanings and pleasures are produced; and in order to do so, they will need to develop a metalanguage, a form of critical discourse, in which to describe and analyse what is taking place. “( 2003:172). Finding the right protocols for evaluation may be a way of developing that metalanguage.
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