GCSE Coursework

Coursework at GCSE
There is no denying that the coursework element is the ‘sexy’ part of Media Studies; students (generally) happily engage with the production element of the coursework and often achieve the higher grade in the coursework element of the course. There are some general principles to keep in mind when managing the coursework element:
· Students should always have access to an abundance of professional media texts in the area in which they are working, i.e. if they are producing magazines, film posters, adverts etc… they should have four or five ones in front of them when they are designing and producing theirs and always keep referring back to them

· Students should have access to digital technology to enable them to produce their own media texts- the standard student work across the country gets better and better each year, so they have to produce articles which look professional (for print they should ideally be working in Photoshop or something similar)

· Students should be monitored at all times when producing production work (this is a requirement of the controlled assessment- research may be carried out independently as homework tasks). It is tempting to have lessons where students just get on with the work, however in order to get the best out of students they need to have clear structure in their lessons and have specific foci discussed at the start of lessons to ensure they are focussed on producing a professional looking text.

· And finally remember this is not English coursework- students will need large chunks of time to draft/draw/design get frustrated throw all their work away and start all over again. They should not be writing in exercise books each lesson. Also analysis can be done in a range of ways and ideally students should steer clear from formal English style analytical essays when it comes to this aspect of the coursework.


Coursework Assessment
Students are assessed on the following areas for their coursework pieces:
Media Language
Analysis
Communication
Genre & Conventions
Institutions
Representation
Production and Planning Skills