MP4029 - Consuming Media

You will learn via a variety of activities: including lectures, seminars, visits, online activities (where appropriate) and independent learning. Lectures will provide the contextual and theoretical information you need to understand the module’s themes and approaches. Your lecturer will demonstrate how to apply relevant critical techniques, and to stimulate your engagement with the course material (by, for example, presenting various challenges and conflicts raised in the field). Study visits to various sites of consumption, such as a shopping mall, a museum, cinema or theatre will enable you to engage with the lived experiences of spaces and their impacts on the choices we make and the kinds of pleasures we enjoy. Following those visits, seminars will provide space for you to interrogate and discuss the ideas raised in the lectures and visits with your peers and guided by your tutor. Seminars are oriented around discussion questions and activities to stimulate your engagement. Outside of taught sessions, you will be expected to engage with module-relevant reading in preparation for the sessions. An electronic reading list is supplied via the e-Learning Portal, which will guide you towards appropriate resources, although you are encouraged to explore the wider library catalogue to engage with additional sources too. During your independent working time, it is also expected that you will apply the ideas raised in the reading and the taught content to contemporary media examples beyond those cited in the lectures. Where appropriate, additional materials will be supplied on the eLearning Portal. These independent activities will facilitate your development as you progress through the module, laying a foundation for your assessed work.

You will be supported by the module lead; they will introduce the module at the start of the semester and offer advice and guidance throughout. Your learning is mapped out via documentation on Blackboard Ultra, the Northumbria University online electronic learning portal; this is accessible online on and off campus. The e-Learning Portal will include guidance notes and key dates to help you organise and plan your time. It will also include teaching materials, announcements and updates, and detailed information on assessment. You will have a university email that we contact you through.

We support your learning by providing on-going feedback (Formative and Summative) through the range of teaching and learning approaches offered. We ask you to submit your work electronically, and we will supply feedback via Turnitin. You will be able to compare your feedback across modules so that you can assess your development as you progress through the programme.

Formative assessment is offered throughout the module, and summative assignments will receive written feedback within 20 working days of assignment submission. Every tutor has set weekly feedback and tutorial drop in hours, wherein you can seek advice on your academic progress.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
KU1: Gain knowledge and understanding of contemporary theoretical approaches to consumption of media in everyday life

KU2: Gain knowledge and understanding of the ways specific media and their technologies make, shape and influence consumption

KU3: Gain knowledge and understanding of the ways specific media are consumed, reworked and remade by ‘consumers’

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
IPSA1: Demonstrate your ability to critically interrogate cultural events and/or media artifacts by drawing on the theoretical paradigms and approaches covered on the module

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
The debates covered during the module will enable your reflections on questions about the power of the media and how these concepts may have been blurred in the age of digital communications.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:
To prepare you successfully to undertake the summative assessment(s) on this module, formative assessments will be set by the module team. These may take the form of in-class tasks or projects, developmental activities undertaken between classes, or learning exercises/activities set over a longer period. Feedback (written and/or oral) will be provided to help you learn from, reflect on, and develop in light of these formative assessments.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT:
A 2000 word essay exploring a specific instance of media consumption and its significance (LO 1-5) (worth 100% of overall module grade)

You will receive formative feedback from your peers and module tutor during seminars throughout the module, allowing you to apprehend how your critical skills are developing. You will receive a detailed commentary and a summative mark on your written work in accordance with the assessment criteria (supplied on the eLP). Under normal circumstances, you will receive written feedback on your summative submissions within 20 working days. The feedback will normally be supplied electronically as part of the ESAF process. This feedback will provide a detailed account of your skills, critical engagement and communicative ability, as well as supporting future learning by indicating areas for development. You can also request additional verbal feedback on your submissions by arranging a meeting with the module tutor.

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As media consumers, we have the power to shape our own experiences and perspectives by the choices we make. From TV shows to Spotify playlists, our media consumption is a crucial part of our daily lives, yet we often don't realize the impact it has on us. The ways we consume mediaare often influenced by factors such as gender, age, class, nationality, and ethnicity: the popular belief that romance movies are for women and action movies for men is just one example of these patterns.

Our lives are now more connected to media than ever before. From staying in touch with friends and family through social media to using apps for everyday activities, media play significant roles in our daily lives. Media and Cultural Studies researchers have explored the importance of media consumption and how it both provides us with information about the world, different cultures, and our own attitudes and beliefs while increasingly we are able to interact with others across and within media. As students of media, we can delve deeper into these topics and question how they impact our understanding of representation, entertainment, innovation, and, most importantly, power – this module offers space to explore the ways our lives and perspectives are both shaped and enriched by our media engagements.