Media Studies? Vital or wasteful?

[tangerinedream]

Yes but I couldn't have afforded to take the time and money to do this degree unless it was going to have a strong chance of helping my career.

The expense of degrees now means that people are having to think really carefully about what they want to do

I'm not sure I agree, - I think it's more to do with the general message of education/life being about 'getting a job' - whatever degree you do, your earning power is statistically higher than if you didn't do it (to a point where it far outweighs the cost) and if you come from a genuinelly low income background, the cost is considerably reduced and their are many sources of finance, but anyway... another time, another thread.

I must point out that I am in no way defending the levying of tuition fees etc, which I consider to be disgusting.

 

[scifisam]

My degree was Eng. Lit., with some linguistics, some German, some 'cultural studies' (which was one module of what was basically history), some education, one module of Performing Arts (which has turned out to be extremely useful - taught me a lot about presentation skills and being confident in front of an audience), and three modules of film-making, which were part of media studies. They were fantastic - very hands-on, a very good method of learning team-work, negotiation, planning, budgeting and so on, let alone, the actual mechanics of making a film.

Most media studies courses include some of that. It's pretty valuable - there aren't many orher courses where you actually have to spend real money and contact real external organisations to arrange filming, or hire people from elsewhere. Hell, it's project management!

The rest is pretty much the same as Eng. Lit., to be honest. I guess there are some people who will disparage Eng. Lit. too. I don't think either of them are quite as demanding as a degree in physics, but they aren't worthless, either.

That said, I'm glad I don't have to put media studies as one of my main degree subjects. It does have a bad reputation.

 

[tangerinedream]

Like Neil from the Young Ones.

Where did you get my picture from?

*post reported*

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I think it is worthwhile studying that sort of thing. I guess the question is what the standard is though. Maybe someone else can give an accurate picture, but if people are taking it as an easy option and still passing then it has a problem.

 

[tangerinedream]

I think it is worthwhile studying that sort of thing. I guess the question is what the standard is though. Maybe someone else can give an accurate picture, but if people are taking it as an easy option and still passing then it has a problem.

Media studies is often painted as an easy option, however the truth is that though lots of students pass at a-level (cos lots and lots take it), high grades are lower than in a majority of subjects. I don't have a source, so you'll have to believe me, but I read in the grauniad or somewhere.

Now, to me, the question is - do they take it cos it's easy, or do they take it because it is interesting and relevent to their own lives?

 

[Felina]

I'm not sure I agree, - I think it's more to do with the general message of education/life being about 'getting a job' - whatever degree you do, your earning power is statistically higher than if you didn't do it (to a point where it far outweighs the cost) and if you come from a genuinelly low income background, the cost is considerably reduced and their are many sources of finance, but anyway... another time, another thread.

I must point out that I am in no way defending the levying of tuition fees etc, which I consider to be disgusting.

Agreed on the disgusting point!

The thing is people from poor backgrounds get lots of busaries and things now and people from rich backgrounds are expected to be helped along by rich parents. But it is the vast majority from 'normal' backgrounds who are shafted - these seem to be the people who struggle the most with money.

A agree that any degree is good, but I still wouldn't see the point in having carried on with the media and communications unless I was going to use it directly. I think ultimately it's how you USE the degree, whatever it is.

People have always had a pop at media studies, I don't think it's a bad degree at all!

 

[tangerinedream]

Agreed on the disgusting point!

The thing is people from poor backgrounds get lots of busaries and things now and people from rich backgrounds are expected to be helped along by rich parents. But it is the vast majority from 'normal' backgrounds who are shafted - these seem to be the people who struggle the most with money.

A agree that any degree is good, but I still wouldn't see the point in having carried on with the media and communications unless I was going to use it directly. I think ultimately it's how you USE the degree, whatever it is.

People have always had a pop at media studies, I don't think it's a bad degree at all!

Interestingly people often say what you say about the 'normal' people being shafted, yet the biggest drop in university applications since the new rules has been in low income groups (at least in my locality). I'm not arguing by the way, just think it's an interesting point.

 

[Felina]

Media studies is often painted as an easy option, however the truth is that though lots of students pass at a-level (cos lots and lots take it), high grades are lower than in a majority of subjects. I don't have a source, so you'll have to believe me, but I read in the grauniad or somewhere.

Now, to me, the question is - do they take it cos it's easy, or do they take it because it is interesting and relevent to their own lives?

The course I was on was really easy. I had a right shock when I transferred to Psychology. Wasn't expecting it to be much harder to be honest but the difference was huge.

Your students are lucky to have a teacher who's so passionate about their subject.

 

[Felina]

Interestingly people often say what you say about the 'normal' people being shafted, yet the biggest drop in university applications since the new rules has been in low income groups (at least in my locality). I'm not arguing by the way, just think it's an interesting point.

Maybe these bursaries and things aren't outlined enough to people from low income backgrounds, people probably don't realise how much help they can get.

 

[bodach]

Now, to me, the question is - do they take it cos it's easy, or do they take it because it is interesting and relevent to their own lives?

I'd like to know who sets the course, and their backgrounds. Feels like a soft school stat answer.

 

[tangerinedream]

The course I was on was really easy. I had a right shock when I transferred to Psychology. Wasn't expecting it to be much harder to be honest but the difference was huge.

Your students are lucky to have a teacher who's so passionate about their subject.

It's not my subject at all. I have taught it but only as cover. I actually dismissed it myself before teaching it.

Are you sure you aren't confusing 'easy' with being good at it? To me, English, Drama and so on are 'easy' because I am good at them, to my mates, maths was 'easy' and English a nightmare.

 

[tangerinedream]

I'd like to know who sets the course, and their backgrounds. Feels like a soft school stat answer.

Well, look up the exam boards then. Nothing stopping you. The university courses obviously will take longer.

Wjec, Aqa, Edexcel, OCR. Hmm, can't remember if OCR do it. Still, onl really three to go at there.

 

[Felina]

It's not my subject at all. I have taught it but only as cover. I actually dismissed it myself before teaching it.

Are you sure you aren't confusing 'easy' with being good at it? To me, English, Drama and so on are 'easy' because I am good at them, to my mates, maths was 'easy' and English a nightmare.

Hmm, not sure. I put very little into it really. In terms of taught hours and self study, the workload was very small compared to the course I'm on now. All media studies degrees will be different though!

 

[tangerinedream]

Maybe these bursaries and things aren't outlined enough to people from low income backgrounds, people probably don't realise how much help they can get.

There is a hell of an effort to get that accross. Quite how you select 'the poor kids' and emphasise that without being patronising as fuck, I dunno. It's also because parents of low income families are less likely to have ambitions of higher education and they recieve the hype about how 'damagingly expensive' it is for middle class families (cos the media never really explains it fully), therefore sometimes it's not just a case of explaining to kids, but also overcoming parental resistance to the idea.

 

[tangerinedream]

Hmm, not sure. I put very little into it really. In terms of taught hours and self study, the workload was very small compared to the course I'm on now. All media studies degrees will be different though!

Are you comparing first to third year?

 

[scifisam]

I'd like to know who sets the course, and their backgrounds. Feels like a soft school stat answer.

I know that at my undergrad uni, which, in case you're wondering, was an old Poly, it was easier to pass Media Studies (although the courses were all modular, so no-one just took media studies), but that only meant getting a third, which will cause you problems in quite a few jobs (for example, teaching - try to get into that with a third! I know people with 1sts who had trouble getting in!) However, getting a first was much more difficult. This is probably because the grading criteria was quite new.

If someone had a first in media studies, then I'd think they were probably at least reasonable bright and hard-working. The grade matters rather a lot, IMO.

As does the uni itself, of course.

The subject of the degree is only one of many factors in how much in a degree is considered 'worthwhile.' You could study 'toilet rolls 1990-2000' as every single module on your degree, and, if you'd taken it at Oxford (proper Oxford, not Brookes), then you'd go to the top of the pile when it comes to job applications.

 

[Felina]

Are you comparing first to third year?

Trying to compare first to first year and they were pretty different

 

[scifisam]

Maybe these bursaries and things aren't outlined enough to people from low income backgrounds, people probably don't realise how much help they can get.

They're not, it's true. When I was doing my A-levels I read that, at Oxord, you weren't allowed to work during term-time. I knew that there was no way I would be able to support myself without working in term-time, so I ruled Oxford out completely (and Cambridge, of course).

I've since learnt that there are lots of bursaries available to low-income students, which I didn't know at the time; all the same, given that the bursaries start after you've started the course, and they're not guaranteed, I may still not have considered Oxbridge.

I understand that ruling - it means that people focus on their studies - but it rules a lot of people out. Actually, it's particularly bad for anyone whose family is wealthy but unsupportive financially, but.

 

[Felina]

I understand that ruling - it means that people focus on their studies - but it rules a lot of people out. Actually, it's particularly bad for anyone whose family is wealthy but unsupportive financially, but.

Yeah totally. It's wrong to assume that wealthy parents will neccessarily fund their child through uni.

 

[tangerinedream]

Trying to compare first to first year and they were pretty different

fair enough.

I can't see the point of pyschology personally

 

[Felina]

fair enough.

I can't see the point of pyschology personally

Watch your back, I use urban as a case study

 

[tangerinedream]

Watch your back, I use urban as a case study

I look forward to your cutting scientific insight into the mind of a media studies teacher, desperately seeking personal validation of his subject, his knowledge and therefore his philosophy and very sense of being through the medium of the internet then.

Nobel prizes all round methinks.

 

[bodach]

The subject of the degree is only one of many factors in how much in a degree is considered 'worthwhile.' You could study 'toilet rolls 1990-2000' as every single module on your degree, and, if you'd taken it at Oxford (proper Oxford, not Brookes), then you'd go to the top of the pile when it comes to job applications.

The great british sychophantic institution.

 

[Fledgling]

Helped me mate out making a film for media studies A level once, had a great day and he got a good A because his film was the best. I wouldn't take it myself but the I can't say much because

A) You never know how good or useful a course is until you do it yourself

B) The course's value depends on the person taking it and their efforts to some extent (i.e. they can make it good, like my mate who was realy just having a good time)

C) I wish I could choose all my A levels again and had I been able to I'd have chosen mine and not worried about anyone else. If everyone's going to study and there aren't enough course specific jobs around why worry that some are choosing media studies.

I'd rather someone studied media studies with enthusiasm than maths/history and flunked it out of boredom.

 

[Prince Rhyus]

My problem is not with media studies, it's with courses that are poorly thought-out, poorly planned, poorly resourced and poorly taught.

I've not studied the subject myself but out of curiousity found an old GCSE media studies book in a charity shop. I bought and read it to see what all the fuss was about.

Amongst other things it teaches kids to look at the media with a critical eye and not to swallow right-wing newspaper headlines as gospel. Is it any wonder then that media organisations don't like media studies as a subject? It gets people to look at them with a critical eye!

One of the other reasons is, that because it's a relatively new subject, the universities that have taken them on have been relatively new ones - ones that are able to have lots of different types of courses. Compare the ranges of Oxford and Cambridge to some of the ex-polytechnics and you'll see what I mean. THe question there is whether limited resources are spread too thinnly and whether the intensity of some of our degree courses is in fact far too lax.

I'm in the latter school of thought - certainly for arts, humanities and social sciences. I did an economics degree from a redbrick university and got a 2:1. Ticked all the Daily Mail/Telegraph boxes of respectable subject/university/grade. But to this day I do not believe my degree is worth the paper it is printed on. There is too much variation in the standard of university and A-level courses. Because of this, employers (rightly) start to question standards because they don't know what they are.

Privatised exam boards are a nonsense IMHO.

 

[scifisam]

I look forward to your cutting scientific insight into the mind of a media studies teacher, desperately seeking personal validation of his subject, his knowledge and therefore his philosophy and very sense of being through the medium of the internet then.

Who?

 

[johnnymarrsbars]

for anyone who thinks Media Studies is a waste of time and not worth bothering with, I suggest they read Media Semiotics by Jonathan Bignell. Fascinating book that says a lot about how we interact with, manage and filter the constant barrage of information we are subjected to in modern life.

Just to add, I don't and have never done Media Studies, but I wouldn't look down upon anyone who does or consider their hard work less 'important' than someone who read, say, History or maths.

Anything that is a critique of how we live our lives in contemporary society and helps us understand the world we live in is hardly a 'waste of time' IMO.


I'm an Advertising student. Think of that what you will.

 

[stereotypical]

I reckon its a pretty good and interesting thing to study. I did it at A-Level and really really enjoyed all the theory/critique and practical stuff aswell, would of ended up doing it a degree level but my family convinced me to do something a bit more 'proper' so I did politics which as it turns out doesnt seem to be very 'proper' at all since I cant get a bloody decent job despite having a first from a half decent uni.

Sorry about that little irrelevant rant there

 

[nino_savatte]

McLuhan etc, semiotics, quick overview of media law, miscellaneous - could likely be covered in a week, with the fifth afternoon left free for the pub.

Oh? Then there's ownership and control of the media, The Frankfurt School, Stuart Hall and the Birmingham School etc. etc.

 

[nino_savatte]

My problem is not with media studies, it's with courses that are poorly thought-out, poorly planned, poorly resourced and poorly taught.

I've not studied the subject myself but out of curiousity found an old GCSE media studies book in a charity shop. I bought and read it to see what all the fuss was about.

I agree, many schools offer it but there are very few teachers who are actually qualified to teach it. Quite often the teaching of media studies will fall to some poor English teacher who has an interest in film. This sometimes happens at FE colleges too.