Students will undertake a timed multiple-choice quiz administered via iLearn. The content of the quiz will relate to readings, lectures, and tutorial discussions undertaken thus far in the unit. The quiz must be taken individually and requires students to be up-to-date on MAS110 material, including lectures and readings.

This assignment should be completed in a timely fashion and the quiz will close automatically at the stated deadline. Late attempts will only be allowed if accompanied by a medical certificate or other evidence of disruption to studies.

Assessment criteria

• Number of multiple-choice questions answered correctly

Students will undertake a timed short-answer quiz administered via iLearn. The content of this quiz will relate to readings, lectures, and tutorial discussions undertaken in the second week of the unit. The quiz must be taken individually and requires students to be up-to-date on MAS110 material, including both readings and lectures.

This assignment should be completed in a timely fashion and the quiz will close automatically at the stated deadline. Late attempts will only be allowed if accompanied by a medical certificate or other evidence of disruption to studies.

Assessment Criteria

• Relation of responses to theories and examples from lectures and readings
• Evidence of understanding key unit content
• Clarity and writing style of response

Students will respond to tasks/questions set via iLearn, demonstrating comprehension of key concepts. These tasks vary but will be based on tutorial discussions, lectures, and readings and are intended to foster continuing engagement with MAS110.

These tasks should be completed in a timely fashion as completions after the stated due date will not be marked, unless a medical certificate or other evidence of disruption to studies is provided.

Assessment Criteria

• Overall engagement with iLearn tasks including demonstration of understanding, evidence of effort and thought, and relation to lecture, tutorial, and readings content
• Number of iLearn tasks attempted
• Writing, formatting, and structure

Students will undertake a creative research project relating an academic theory of their choice to a technology/case study of their choice.

They will critically analyse the selected technology/case study using the chosen theory. This will be discussed further in tutorials.

Students should pick a specific technology/case study, not a broad technological category or format (e.g. Do not analyse the printing press: look at Gutenberg’s movable type printing press. Do not choose the Internet; pick a specific Internet technology such as the BitTorrent protocol or an internet related topic like ‘The Hacker Ethic’.

Projects must demonstrate an application of academic theory and an ability to undertake critical analysis. They must show an understanding of key concepts discussed in MAS110, and build upon ideas from the required readings, as well as showing explicit evidence of self-directed academic research via in-text referencing and a reference list.

Students are to choose one of the following formats in which to submit, and adhere to these length requirements as a guide, +/- 20%:

1.      Video (uploaded to YouTube): 3 minutes (e.g. photo essay, self-shot footage, animation)

2.      Image/text: Up to 20 images and 500 words (e.g. webcomic)

3.      Text: 1000 words (e.g. blogpost), can have up to 3 images.

4.      Hypertext/interactive: 500 words plus functionality

5.      Spoken/music/podcast (uploaded to SoundCloud/YouTube): 3 minutes

6.      Other platforms: seek permission from tutor and negotiate an appropriate length.

The creative work will additionally be accompanied by a 500-word written rationale justifying the choices you made in the process of making the creative work. This rationale should include:                 

1.      Your name and student number

2.      A hyperlink (URL) to the creative work. The creative work must be accessible, or a penalty will be incurred, potentially resulting in a mark of zero if the work cannot be found by your marker.

3.      An academic justification of why you presented your work in the format you did (why was your chosen format appropriate for your case study and argument).

4.      If your chosen format for the creative work does not allow for an in-depth academic discussion of the theory around your topic, you can include a brief discussion of what theoretical work inspired your ideas and why they were appropriate.  

5.      A transcript of your creative work (if appropriate for your chosen format). Not included in word count.

6.      In-text and end-of-text references.

The 500-word written rationale should relate to your chosen technology, for example: 1. A video submission should critically address and aspect of film theory; 2. An image/text submission should critically address an aspect of photographic theory; 3. A text submission should critically address an aspect of the written word or communications theory; 4. A hypertext/interactive submission should critically address an aspect of digital media theory; 5. A spoken-word/music/podcast submission should critically address an aspect of recorded sound or broadcast media theory.

This major assignment should demonstrate sustained effort and thought. Technical (i.e. all non-iLearn) aspects of the creative project are students’ own responsibility and will not be covered in class. You should only chose a format that you are confident that you are competent enough to submit.

Students submit the rationale via iLearn. The creative work does not need to be uploaded to iLearn, but it must be published on the internet on an appropriate site (e.g YouTube, SoundCloud, Wordpress, etc.) and made publicly accessible, with the URL of the creative work included in the rationale so that the marker can locate it.

Late assignments, unless the student has been approved for special consideration, will be penalised at a rate of 10% per day.

Assessment Criteria:

• (Creative Work) Clarity of topic and research question
• (Creative Work) Use of chosen creative technology to convey argument
• (Academic Rationale) Evidence and application of research
• (Academic Rationale) Justification of creative form
• (Academic Rationale) Writing style and referencing

The purpose of tutorials is for students to discuss the concepts raised in lectures and readings to enrich their understanding. All students are required to participate in tutorial discussion. This means arriving at tutorials having completed set readings and being prepared to discuss issues arising.
The format of tutorials is based around student-led discussions. Your responses to your peers will form the basis of your participation mark.

Attendance is not the same as participation. Students receive no marks for simply attending tutorials.

Missing more than one tutorial without medical certification or application for special consideration will result in a 50% deduction of your tutorial participation mark (i.e. a Fail grade).

Assessment Criteria:

•    Evidence of engagement with the readings
•    Evidence of engagement with lecture material
•    Ability to relate key theoretical ideas to previous readings and/or independent research
•    Willingness to contribute to class discussion by asking relevant questions, answering other students questions, treating other students with respect and behaving appropriately (e.g. not talking whilst tutor or other students talking)