Project: Media Platforms and Communication Practices

E2024

Media and Communication

Project

English

Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

Registration for project-exam: Please remember to confirm your registration by signing up for exam as a group when the group formation is final. The registration is through STADS Online Student Service

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

10

David Mathieu (mathieu@ruc.dk)

David Mathieu (mathieu@ruc.dk)

IKH Registration & Exams (ikh-exams@ruc.dk)

U60312

The project Media Platforms and Communication Practices is a problem-oriented, exemplary, participant-driven, and group-based activity, where the student develops and documents knowledge, skills, and competencies to work with a defined, self-chosen, professional problem with a focus on media practices associated with a specific organization. The project focuses on understanding the development and realization of a mediated communication process from its initiation at an organizational level, to its actualization as a mediated communication product, to its reception, taking into account the broader context in which it is disseminated. Students can choose to prioritize one or more of these elements in the project. The project must include a detailed and systematic synthesis of relevant scientific literature within the chosen issue and can choose to employ a mixed- or multi-method design as part of its analysis, alert to the ethics of digital media research. The aim of the project is to use a real-life case to investigate how the media ecology impacts communicative affordances and choices; the project may possibly consider the associated experiences and interpretation of relevant users, target groups, publics, and/or stakeholders, potentially across a variety of media platforms and devices, depending the given focus and emphasis of their research question(s). The project report must be based on relevant, academic literature of at least 500 pages.

The project takes place mostly over the second half of the semester, allowing the students to utilize knowledge from the two semester courses in their project work. Groups are formed during a group formation process that spans over two days.

The total study effort for the student (ECTS points converted into hours) = 270 hours. The hours are divided as follows:

• Group formation (including problem formulation and other supporting activities): 20 hours
• Supervision meetings (including preparation and feedback): 40 hours
• Oral exam (including preparation): 20 hours
• Project work, both in group and independently (including literature search, empirical work, group meetings, reading, preparation of working documents, and writing report): 180 hours
• Other activities (Semester start, guest lectures, etc.): 10 hours

In principle, teaching activities take place on campus. The teaching can be arranged so that one or more activities take place elsewhere than at Roskilde University. This can also be online.

Standardized evaluation in accordance with the rotating evaluation scheme implemented by the Study Board. https://intra.ruc.dk/nc/en/employees/organisation/councils-and-committes/list-of-study-boards/board-of-studies-for-the-communication-programmes/work-on-quality-in-the-education-programme/the-study-boards-evaluation-practice/

At the end of the project work, the student is able to:

• Demonstrate research-based knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and practical problems and opportunities associated with mediated communication in and from organizations and associations to stakeholders.

• Understand and discuss research-based concepts, theories, and methods with a particular focus on organizational communication practices and the associated influence of digital media technologies.

• Identify relevant empirical phenomena and establishing problem-oriented research questions.

• Search out, identify, and synthesize relevant academic research literature around a well-defined topic in digital media and communication studies.

• Design and implement a research project, potentially using a multi- or mixed methods design, explain the strengths and limitations of its analysis, and produce and present research-based solutions to identified problems.

• Independently initiate and complete a media and communication project and enter into professional collaborations with others.

• Take responsibility for one’s own professional development and specialization in the field of media and communication studies.

Oral project exam in groups with individual assessment


Permitted group size: 2-6 students.

The character limits of the project report are:
For 2 students: 48,000-57,600 characters, including spaces.
For 3 students: 52,800-62,400 characters, including spaces.
For 4 students: 57,600-67,400 characters, including spaces.
For 5 students: 62,400-72,000 characters, including spaces.
For 6 students: 67,200-76,800 characters, including spaces.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, summary, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The project report must include a summary, that is part of the assessment. The summary can either be written in English or Danish.

Time allowed for exam including time used for assessment is for:
2 students: 60 minutes.
3 students: 75 minutes.
4 students: 90 minutes.
5 students: 105 minutes.
6 students: 120 minutes.

Writing and spelling skills in the project report are part of the assessment.

Permitted support and preparation materials at the oral exam: All

Assessment: 7-point grading scale
Moderation: External examiner.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam

The exam is an oral group exam. It is based on the written project report and begins with a presentation from each student, with a maximum of 5 minutes per student. The examiner can ask short, clarifying questions after each presentation. On the basis of both the presentation and the project report, the examination then takes place as a conversation between the students, examiner, and external examiner about the project report’s area of study and associated literature.

In the assessment, emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student(s) demonstrate the ability to:

• Identify and discuss a concrete and relevant media and communication problem and examine how it is expressed in a concrete empirical material, a case or context.
• Select, explain, and discuss academic literature from the field of media and communication studies that is relevant to the problem formulation.
• Select, discuss, and apply relevant approaches for a methodological, empirically-grounded analysis of a mediated communication process; from its initiation, to its actualization as a mediated communication product, to its reception.
• Critically reflect on core theoretical concepts and their basic assumptions about digital media and communication
• Communicate field specific knowledge clearly in an oral presentation with precise use of concepts, including delivering an introductory presentation that is well-delivered and logically structured in relation to the time available
• Formulate themselves correctly, precisely, and conceptually clearly, including being able to summarize the project report's content, arguments, and conclusion in a short and precise summary.

In addition, the evaluation assesses whether the project report meets all formal requirements. At the oral exam, the student(s) must also demonstrate the verbal ability, based on the project report, to:

• Disseminate research-based knowledge about communication to both peers and non-specialists clearly and precisely, using well-chosen forms of communication and presentation.
• Discuss the chosen media and communication studies problem, focusing on the selection and inclusion of relevant theories and methods, and the implications therein.
• Be able to account for and reflect on collaboration and group dynamics (roles, expectations, etc.) and enter into a qualified group conversation (listen, build on, opportunities to speak, etc.).

An overall assessment is made based on the written and oral components of the exam.