MAS350 requires students to identify their own internship placement and then submit all relevant documentation for approval. This process will be your first assessment task and is designed to enable you to demonstrate that you are capable of developing negotiating skills with people from a variety of professional backgrounds. You will be assessed in your ability to work with your chosen organisation to execute all necessary internship forms and agreements in a competent and timely manner. Failure to submit these forms and agreements will result in you receiving a fail grade for this unit. 

Whether planning, creating, or selecting an internship, student interns should be applying certain general principles in order to ensure an optimal experience (see unit learning outcomes). An internship that does not challenge or lead to professional or personal growth will be of little long-term value. If students already have work experience in a particular area but still wish to pursue an internship in a similar area, they should approach the internship from a new perspective, one that will not be a matter of repeating tasks they already have undertaken. Recommendations for internship opportunities are available on the PACE in Arts website: http://arts.mq.edu.au/current_students/undergraduate/pace/opportunities

All MAS350 students are required to complete the following steps -

Read the frequently asked question (FAQ) outline that you will be emailed and/or download a copy via the MAS350 iLearn site.

Work independently to find a placement. The unit convenor has an industry ‘ideas list’ database that has been accumulated primarily through past placements. You can access this database if you so desire. You can also book a time to consult with the unit convenor concerning your placement.

Once you have found an organisation that is willing to host you as an intern, email arts.pace@mq.edu.au and request a link to complete your online Student Proposal Form. 

Complete the Student Proposal Form giving as much detail as possible about your proposed organisation and internship. 

Once you have submitted your student proposal form you will be contacted by email with details on how to complete the following necessary forms and agreements:

1. Participation Agreement – to be completed by your host organisation

2. A Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) form – to be completed by your host organisation

3. Student Undertaking – to be completed by you.

Please note that your proposed internship cannot be approved by the unit convenor without completing these forms. 

You will be contacted by email once all your forms have been returned and your internship is approved. 

Marking criteria:

1.     the timeliness of completing the paperwork and commencing the internship

2.     your accuracy in filling them in

3.     the quality of your content

4.     failure to submit the required forms and agreements will result in you receiving a fail grade for this unit.

1. Skills and Capabilities Audit Tool

Due date: Week 13, with final essay

Students are required to complete the first part of the Skills & Capabilities Checklist (an online document in iLearn under Assessments) at the commencement of their placement and then complete the second part on completion of the placement. It is important to comment fully so that you can assess the changes you have undergone over the duration of the internship and evaluate future growth.

You only need to provide detailed written comments on three topics in each section, but you need to rate yourself on all topics (i.e. give yourself a grade). 

2. iLearn Diary

Due dates: Every second week after commencement

Every second week during your placement you are required to post a 200 word diary entry on the iLearn in the Group Discussion Forum section of Forums and respond to at least five responses to other students’ posts every second week. Please enter each diary entry separately and label it with your name, placement and the number of your log.

In the diary entries you will briefly outline the activities you undertook for your placement during that period, and make at least one critical observation about your placement. This may be, for example, an achievement, a difficulty you faced, or something you learned about the media industry in general; it may also be something you will reflect on later in your Final Essay. The purpose of this is to share experiences with your fellow enrolled students and with the unit convenor, and also to encourage ongoing reflection while you are undertaking your placement.

This is also one of the systems that the unit convenor has put in place to monitor and detect when something has gone wrong with your placement. It is therefore of utmost importance that you complete this task across the semester.

Note that any workplace bullying and resulting psychological damage should be included. The University has a duty of care for you and therefore this is one of the work placement safety monitoring systems that has been put in place for you. Note, however, that this is not the only system, so if anything problematic occurs during your placement, you are required to contact the unit convenor immediately on 9850 2169 or phyllis.sakinofsky@mq.edu.au.

3. Log sheet 

All students must hand in a completed log sheet (available on iLearn under Assessments) which has been signed by the placement supervisor to show they have completed the 100 hour requirement. This document must be scanned and submitted to iLearn when the 100 hours are completed. If you have not completed the internship before the end of Week 13, please notify the convenor and email again when the internship hours have been completed and you have submitted the log onto iLearn. 

 Marking criteria:

1.     Completion of the two self-reflective components at the outset and completion of the internship

2.     Meeting deadlines for regular posting of your diary entries

 3.     Standard of content of postings

 4.     Standard of responses to others’ postings

 5.     Understanding of expectations at the outset and capacity to identify shortcomings in knowledge and skills and then assess what changes and growth were undertaken during the placement

 6.     Level of insight into the placement as an effective workplace

 7.     Where relevant, ability to recognise problems and seek support.

Length: 1000 words
Hand in: via turnitin only

This is a report and not an essay. It is a midway assessment of your placement and should cover two aspects:

In Part 1, you are required to analyse your placement in terms of the sector in which it operates. You are required to look at its vision, mission, structure and human resourcing, clients and achievements and how you think it meets its corporate goals. You can research other similar organisations (size, budgets, prominence, clients, awards, internship programs etc), in Sydney and beyond, and compare them to your placement. While you are doing this, think about how this will assist you in writing your final essay because you should be considering what your research question will be. 

In Part 2, you are examining how the placement has allowed you so far to meet your learning outcomes for this subject and the University’s matching graduate capabilities. Consider how the organisation exists within its community (business and society in general). You must provide evidence to substantiate your claims. You should use the skills and capabilities self-reflection exercise & diary postings assessment task to inform your response. This task will be assessed with regard to how well you have developed the graduate capabilities, and have met the learning outcomes, for this unit. You can also comment on how well the placement supported you in meeting your graduate capabilities, based on the research you undertook in Part 1. You can also look at what has prevented you from achieving these capabilities. 

Review your organisation’s corporate and operational goals:
short term (up to six months)
media term (six months to two years)
long term (beyond two years).

Review the external environment:
marketplace
competitors
current & future technology
regulation.

Understand the internal environment:
resources
infrastructure
products
customers
partnerships.

You could do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to determine what your organisation does best and why, or how you think they could best meet challenges facing them. 

Marking criteria:

Reading and research (30%):

·       Evidence of thorough research into your placement and how it aligns within its sector, within Sydney, Australia and globally

Relevance (20%):

·       The research informs your understanding of your placement and its sector

·       how well you have met the graduate capabilities and learning outcomes for this unit.

Expression (30%):

·       Ideas are expressed clearly and succinctly

·       Correct grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation

·       Written in an appropriate factual style: as this is a report, you can use bullet points and headings but you still should provide narrative, with an introduction and a conclusion.

Presentation (20%):
·       Correct referencing: – as this is a report, you don’t need to reference at the end but should use footnotes for all online documents/reports you refer to
·       The document looks polished and professional.

Length: 1500 words 
Hand in: Hard copy to W6A and also submit to turnitin

This essay involves an engagement with theoretical areas or issues connecting your placement to your studies. It is a critical analysis of your internship, where you assess how your practical experience relates to academic studies.
You can relate your internship experience to your academic studies, selecting one or more media-related topics, processes or theories you have studied in depth and critically discuss or evaluate this/these issue/s in the light of the practical industry work you have completed as part of your internship. You could select an issue from cultural studies, communication studies, or the sociology of the media.
Or you can evaluate how your experiences aligned with the practical coursework you have undertaken. You may wish to compare how the organisation where you were placed performs relative to other similar organisations, by undertaking research.
Depending on the type of your internship project, you may want to write about research methodologies for a film or radio program or an issue such as media convergence.
Previous topics that students have selected include, for example, the future of print media in the digital age, classification systems in the gaming industry, and the growth of social media in public relations.
If your internship focuses on writing in general, refer to theories of writing. If your internship is in the field of Public Relations, you might link your experience to theories of campaign development or media relations. If it is in film, television or radio production, refer to the material you have studied in production and theory subjects in these fields.
You could also examine pedagogic aspects of internships, based on the ideas/issues/problems you encountered while preparing your Placement Research Report and insights your experience provided you (again, you must find academic references). This may be necessary if you feel that your placement didn’t allow for much engagement with theoretical areas or issues you have studied. 

For students interning in non-profit organisations, issues around community engagement, social inclusion and the impact it has on you can also be covered.

Other possible topics include:

·       The role of/importance/development of internships or are they just a form of free labour? 

·       Benefits/shortcomings/insights of working remotely/in a team/small organisation/NGO/national leader/global company

·       Relationships and communication in the workplace – growth of online communication vs face-to-face meetings. You could include the role of the iLearn forum as a form of support.

You must give your essay a title which indicates what the topic is.

The essay can be self-reflective and written in the first person, but it is an academic piece of work: you can use your own voice to strengthen your case but it must still be accurately referenced and the language you use must not be conversational. You can incorporate personal observations and interviews from your Placement Research Reports but you must back them up with academic and independent research and sources. 

Reference widely – you can interview people, refer to blogs, Youtube, media articles and your own published work but it must include independent reading of appropriate academic material, as well as course materials from previous subjects. It requires academic referencing, not footnotes. Remember, all opinions must be supported by academic, referenced sources.

If you need an extension this must be agreed on after discussion with the MAS350 convenor, who may ask for documentation. You must apply for an extension before the assignment due date. 

Extensions asked for after the due date will not be granted. Penalties will be imposed for late submission of this assignment.

Copying anything from essays you have written for previous subjects will be picked up by turnitin and will be treated as plagiarism – this essay must be your own, original work, and must be referenced correctly.

Marking criteria:

1. Research underlying your critical evaluation (its extent and focus) (35%):

·       Evidence of critical engagement with your earlier media course materials and lectures

·       Independent reading of appropriate academic material 

·       Wider, non-academic reading relating to your placement.

2. Content: argument & analysis (35%) 

·       Relevance to question and selection of issue 

·       Evidence of logic and critical thinking in the rational construction of an argument, supported by research evidence

·       Ability to analyse and synthesise issues using relevant media theory 

·       Relating it to your placement.

3. Writing & structure (30%)

·       Presentation and structure, logic and clarity of essay

·       Clarity of written expression; use of English grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary and style

·       Succinct and focused, academic writing style 

·       Correct and consistent referencing.