Offer 1 with catalog number 1001288BNR for all students in the 1st semester
at
a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.
- Semester
- 1st semester
- Enrollment based on exam contract
- Impossible
- Grading method
- Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
- Can retake in second session
- Yes
- Enrollment Requirements
- Studenten die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, moeten geslaagd zijn voor 'Communicatiewetenschappen I' en geslaagd zijn voor minstens 30 ECTS-credits op bachelorniveau. Studenten communicatiewetenschappen moeten ook geslaagd zijn voor 'Onderzoekspraktijk'.
Studenten in een verkort traject communicatiewetenschappen of een master kunnen dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen.
- Taught in
- Dutch
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Communication Sciences
- Educational team
- Axelle Asmar
Willem Joris
(course titular)
Michael Pakvis
- Activities and contact hours
-
26 contact hours Lecture
9 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
145 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
The course 'Media Studies II' introduces the question in which manner the research field has developed and why. More specifically the question arises in which context certain research questions (do not) come to the forefront and why. This contextual setting means that specific attention is given to the influence of other disciplines on the communication scientific doxa, as well as to how certain views on mankind and society determine the evolution of research questions and their matching operationalization. In particular, the following issues are addressed: (1) Battle of the sciences: dichotomies, paradigms and paradigm shift; call for an epistemology of complexity, (2) Political Economy, (3) Cultural Studies and (4) The communication process disarticulated: the communicator, the medium, the message and the public.
The accompanying seminars aim at teaching students through collective analysis and synthesis of scientific articles how to critically deal with theories, authors, concepts and methods within the field of communications sciences. The themes dealt within the practical seminars are directly related to the lectures Media Studies II and hence, are aimed at the active processing and analysing of the course content and course material. During the seminars, students learn to read and debate critically, to convincingly formulate a position in clear language and to write scientifically. This implies that everyone must make individual efforts - both in terms of reading, processing literature and writing of a critical scientific paper - but that through guided group discussions insights can be evaluated and sharpened. In addition, students are required to prepare each seminar in group on the basis of a given questionnaire. After each seminar, the students will evaluate and rework their group preparation sheet. Finally, at the end of the semester each student is asked to give a peer assessment about him/herself and their group members with whom he/she has worked together. More information about the seminars and the related exercises can be found in the task description document that is available on the digital learning platform.
The 4 themes are:
- theme 1: Battle of the sciences: dichotomies, paradigms and paradigm shift; call for an epistemology of complexity,
- theme 2: Political Economy,
- theme 3: Cultural Studies and
- theme 4: The communication process: the communicator, the medium, the message and the public.
- Course material
- Course text (Required) : Communicatiewetenschappen II
Practical course material (Recommended) : Recente krantenartikelen als uitvalsbasis voor kennisname met theoretische en methodologische debatten
Digital course material (Required) : Slides lessen Communicatiewetenschappen II
- Additional info
During the lectures, slides are used. The scientific articles support the lectures, wherein the factual and strongly encyclopaedic information is elucidated and discussed. During the seminars, the scientific articles are considered to be the basic course material and are required to successfully participate during the seminars and to complete the exercises.
Complementary study material:
Recent newspaper articles are used as starting point for examination of theoretical and methodological debates. In addition, the students will also select, read and discuss newspaper articles themselves to connect current events and topics to the tension fields that are discussed in the scientific articles.
Activities and contact hours
Lecture: 24 contact hours
- Classic lectures: 12 * 2 hours
Seminar, exercises or practicals: 11 contact hours
- Group discussions on scientific articles: 4 * 2 hours
- Learning to write, argumentation skills: 2 hours
- Introduction course: 1 hour
Independent or External Form of Study (related to the lectures): 64 hours
- Keeping record of the course during the year and reviewing background information: a ratio of 2 hours per lecture = 12 * 2 hours = 24 hours
- Study: 5 days of 8 hours = 40 hours
Independent or External Form of Study (related to the seminars): 81 hours
- Thoroughly reading the scientific articles, linked with the lectures of Media Studies II: 35 hours
- Preparing the seminar by critically analyse and processing the articles in group, in the form of questionnaires: 4 * 3 hours = 12 hours
- Evaluating and reworking of the answers to the questionnaire for the preparation of a possible exam question: 4 * 3 hours = 12 hours
- Writing of a peer assessment for each group member, including themselves: 15 minutes * 4 = 1 hour
- Writing an individual assignment based on the literature used during the seminars and lectures: 20 hours
- Individual feedback: 1 hour
- Learning Outcomes
-
General competencies
The aim of this course is to give an insight in the how and why of the development of communication studies and research. The course gives an overview of important research questions, theories, concepts, methods and authors of the communication sciences and deals with the underlying tensions that influence the research field. This approach should offer students the possibility to situate themselves and certain research questions and methods in the field of study. The course contributes to the overall programme's objective of students as 'reflective professionals'.
This course contributes to the following learning results of the bachelor program:
- Students have knowledge and understanding of the diverse paradigms, main theoretical currents, concepts and research traditions within communication sciences, including different levels (micro-meso-macro), types ‘e.g., corporate, government, journalistic, … communication) and components (sender, medium, message, receiver).
- Students show insight in the position and mutual relations of the diverse paradigms, main theoretical currents, concepts and research traditions within the discipline and in relation to other theories, methods, concepts and models in other disciplines (interdisciplinarity).
- Students demonstrate insight in the underlying human and worldview and (the historical development of) assumptions of the diverse paradigms, main theoretical currents, concepts and research traditions in general and their approach to the relation between media, communication and society in particular.
- Students have knowledge and understanding of historical and recent developments in media and communication.
- Students show a critical attitude with regard to sources and literature.
- Students can develop their own scientifically grounded judgement and act in the spirit of free inquiry – i.e. with an open, critical-constructive and a-dogmatic attitude. Students do not seek ‘ultimate truths’, yet respond to scientific debate and the relative uncertainty of insights from an open position.
- Students can critically and self-critically, with a long-term perspective, from an interdisciplinary angle, and cautious of monocausal interpretations, gauge the impact of social, cultural, economic, ethical, technological, political, legal and other factors to communication processes.
- Students reflect upon their own position as scientists, construct assumptions and identify and critically explicit their presuppositions.
- Students demonstrate an honest attitude, ethical stance and engaged position, permitting a relevant contribution to current scientific and societal debates.
- Students act upon an open attitude in a culturally diverse international context. They critically reflect on their own (geographical, social, cultural, local, personal, …) position
- Students demonstrate an interested, studious and inquisitive attitude and have an open attitude to life long and independent learning.
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 60% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 35% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 5% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Oral Exam
with a relative weight of 60
which comprises 60% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Assignment
with a relative weight of 35
which comprises 35% of the final mark.
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Peer Assessment
with a relative weight of 5
which comprises 5% of the final mark.
Note: Evaluation of the collaborative process which include the preparation of the group sheets. This evaluation is based on peer assessments
- Additional info regarding evaluation
Lectures:
Oral exam with 15' of written preparation on-site.
Example questions are distributed via the digital learning platform.
Seminars:
- In the course of each seminar, the students are required to fill in a preparation sheet based on a given questionnaire, in group, and submit this via the digital learning platform before each seminar (these will be communicated on time on the digital learning platform). This group preparation sheet should include answers on some concrete questions about the scientific articles connected to the seminar. In addition, the students must select and process press articles from various (inter)national sources in order to illustrate the various themes and topics that are set out in the scientific articles. This group work serves as preparation for the seminars in which the students will participate to the discussions.
- Another part of the grading is related to the writing of an individual assignment based on the literature used during the seminars and lectures: The students need to critically and reflectively describe, discuss and evaluate literature related to communication sciences. This individual assignment accounts for 35% of the total grade of this course.
- At the end of each seminar, each student will be asked to give a peer assessment, in which he/she evaluates each group member, including him/herself, for each seminar by using a given template and/or software application. This serves to assess the collaborative process that includes the processing of the scientific articles and the preparation of the group sheets. The evaluation of the collaborative process it thus partly based on the presence of an extensive individual preparation of the student, by clearly demonstrating a logical and critical argumentation based on a thorough and critical reading of the scientific articles, in the form of notes, files or other written preparations that allow the student to participate in group discussions (so not only the preparation sheet, but the individual processing of the various scientific texts). Hence, the supervisor receives peer assessments and corresponding scores from each student; one for each team member and one for him/herself, per seminar. The peer assessments represent 5 % of the total grade of this course. In case of unfairly given evaluations, the supervisor can decide to adjust the grade of the student in question to give a more appropriate grade. The students know from the beginning that their peer assessments about each other serve as input for the supervisor, and will not automatically form the final grade for this grading category. Further, the supervisor may also decide to deduct points when a student does not adequately fill in the peer assessments.
If you need to participate in the second session, but scored minimum 10/20 for one of the two parts of the evaluation (‘Lectures’ or ‘Seminars’), this partial result is transferred to the second session (in other words, when the student passes a specific section). If the student wishes to retake the part (‘lectures’ or ‘seminars’), you scored minimum 10/20 for in the second session, the student needs to send an e-mail to the professor before (!) the start of the second session at the latest (see academic calendar of the academic year concerned). In case you retake that part in the second session, your first session result is cancelled and the second session result becomes the official result (even if it is lower than the first session result).
- Allowed unsatisfactory mark
- The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.