Media Studies Baseline Assessment

Subject: Media Studies and English Language
Level: Secondary
Age Group: 14 - 16, 16-18,
Order Number: 5290

Media Studies is an increasingly popular subject at both GCSE and GCE. Media skills are a complex blend of creativity, analytical ability and wider contextual knowledge. When students start a course in media studies, teachers seldom have any idea where their students’ are at, which in turn, makes measuring progress very difficult: if you don’t know where they're starting from, how do you know they have moved on? Formal media teaching prior to commencing a course is often patchy, and limited to a few English lessons on writing a film review, so prior knowledge will depend largely on how interested and aware of the mass media the student personally is. This baseline assessment has been written by an experienced senior examiner and head of department to fill this assessment gap. Students are given two separate examinations testing different competencies in different ways. The first assessment uses fifty multiple choice questions focusing on media language, media audiences, institutions, representations and media technology. The second assessment gives a creative brief to students, with opportunities to research and prepare their answer in advance. The result is a final percentage that can then be used to build up a clear picture of a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The language and register of the assessment has been designed to make it accessible to all abilities, and it is appropriate for all 14 - 16 year olds. The Baseline Assessment will prove a very useful diagnostic tool for any media department looking to its students’ future progress.