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GAMAR ABDUL AZIZ

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#02-249 Singapore 520816

Student ID: 1639279

Family Name: ABDUL AZIZ Given Name: GAMAR
Course Name: Master of Education
Tutor Name: Dr I Gusti Ngurah Darmawan Tutorial: 2-6 June 2014

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 EDUC 6553NA

Assessment and Evaluation in Education

Master of Education

University of Adelaide

Assignment 4 (40%) (Report, 5000 WORDS)

Due date: 25 August 2014

Name: Gamar Abdul Aziz

Student Number: 1639279

Email: gamar@sp.edu.sg or gamarabdulaziz@gmail.com

Address: Block 816 Tampines Avenue 4 #02-249 Singapore 520816

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Introduction to the ‘A’ word

To the uninitiated, which would include me before I became an Educator, the words

‘Assessment’ and ‘Assignment’ would usually be closely linked to ‘Test’ and ‘Exam’, which

do not contribute to a pleasant experience in learning. In fact, I would go as far as saying that

they strike fear in my heart when I was a student given the stress that they brought about.

While most would understand or be resigned to accept that ‘Assessments’ are a natural or

necessary part of learning, it does not make it any more palatable when they are seen to be

disassociated with the (joy of) learning. I agree that students should realise that assessment

can be an opportunity for learning, rather than just something to be endured and suffered.

(Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013, p151)

I now know that Assessments is any systematic procedure for collecting information that can

be used to make inferences about the characteristics of the students. (Reynolds, Livingston

and Willson, 2009). I also know that they do not have to be so detested if the students’

expectation is well managed. Assessments are important as they are not separate from but are

a crucial part of the entire learning process. Assessments are also about the Educator’s ability

to manage that process instead of just being an indicator of the students’ abilities. In other

words, Assessments are really not an end-of-the-process activity but a part of a cycle or a

system to help students acquire knowledge and think for themselves. Assessments can also

actually be fun.

The context

In this assignment, I will be referring to my work as a Course Chair and Senior Lecturer in

the three-year post-secondary course called the Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New

Media (DTVM) at Singapore Polytechnic (SP), which was introduced in 2009. Students

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enrolled in this niche course would have just completed their Ó’ level examinations. All

would have attained an English grade of B and above because this is a minimum entry

requirement for DTVM. Most would have attained a relatively low cut-off point of 11 for

English and four other relevant subjects, indicating that they are academically stronger than

many others in the same cohort. The students would mostly be aged 17 and above when they

enroll in the course.

Having just completed a largely exam-based system for at least 10 years of their school life,

many of these students would need some time to adjust to the project-based assessments

required in the polytechnic. In designing our assignments, my teaching team would need to

factor in this fact, especially for the Year 1 modules.

We do agree that we need to know more about the nature of the generic skills that contribute

to student success at the tertiary level and we need to explore further how the assessment of

them can be incorporated into the traditional ‘interface assessments’ at the end of secondary

school. (Orpwood & McCurry, 2012)

Television and Online Journalism (Elective)

The assessment I will be analysing comes under the 45-hour module called ‘Television and

Online Journalism (TOJ)’, which is an Elective for Year 3 students. I am the Lecturer and

Module Coordinator for this module which is usually taken by about at least 25 students. The

entire DTVM cohort is about 40 students and that means, more than half would choose TOJ

at the end of Year 2. The fact that the students chose to take this module also means that I

have a group of students who are keen in this area to begin with. I find that this is very useful

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as a Lecturer because I do not need to spend time convincing them why it is important to

learn what they are being taught.

By the time they take TOJ, the students would have completed two other journalism-related

modules in Year 2. These are ‘Newswriting for the Global Audience’ and ‘Total Journalism’

which are relatively more general when compared to TOJ. This means, I do not have to start

from the basics. Again, this is useful for me because I am able to go deeper into the subject

matter, faster.

All TOJ students have to complete three assignments within the 15 weeks of the semester.

The weightage of the assignments are 30%, 40% and 40% respectively. The first Continual

Assessment (CA) is an individual assignment, the second is both an individual and group

assignment while the final is a group project. For a 45-hour module, SP’s rules states that

there should be three CAs and the weightage of each must be at least 20% and not more than

40%. In this essay, I will base my comments on the second assignment.

Background

I designed the assessments using the syllabus that I developed for TOJ (Annex 1). Besides

literary research, I used a lot of my own experience as a former television producer, editor,

reporter, correspondent and online editor, when preparing the syllabus. I wanted to ensure

that with this module, my students would be prepared for a career in the broadcast news

industry. This intention is aligned with the idea that the syllabus must ensure that learners are

able to perform in the industry in future. Given the time constraints of 15 weeks to complete

the module, I need to realistically look at the balance between coverage and depth. I agree

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that the curriculum is not a plateau of topics, all covered to some extent, but a series of hills

and valleys. (Biggs & Tang, 2011, p121)

Alignment

I therefore design authentic assessments which use activities that are inherently meaningful,

interesting, relevant and have long-term value because the students learn within real-world

context. (Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013)

Exposing my students to real workings of a television and online journalist is an approach

that sits well with SP’s Mission “Life Ready. Work Ready. World Ready: A future-ready

institution that prepares our learners to be life ready, work ready and world ready” and Vision

“Inspired Learner. Serve with Mastery. Caring Community: A caring community of inspired

learners committed to serve with mastery. (www.s.edu.sg, n.d.),

Using the syllabus as a guide, I ensured that I aligned my learning outcomes with the

activities and exercises as well as the assessments. I am also aware that high-level

functioning knowledge is not addressed by the learning outcomes of just one module but by

the entire course. This is why, assessments need to address several learning outcomes,

particularly because this is a Year 3 module. (Biggs & Tang, 2011)

For example, the module aims for TOJ state that “This module aims to hone the skills of

journalism students in the field of television and online reporting. Students will learn how write

to pictures, use sound and visuals, as well as make full use of online platforms for broadcast

reporting. Students will develop scripts for soft and hard news and simulate breaking news

situations.“ (School of Communication, Arts and Social Sciences, SP, 2011)

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As such, all learning outcomes for TOJ are written with the above in mind and all activities in

and outside the classroom are conducted to achieve the learning outcomes. For example, one

activity that I do with my students is to encourage them to use the iPad app ’Shadow Puppet’

or ‘Videolicious’ to produce a quick video clip that uses their own voice-over (narrative) and

still photos, to tell a story of their mother when she was their age, as Mothers’ Day

approached in May 2014. To do this, they also had to write a script with an interesting

introduction. This activity was to train them to write to pictures, which is key in television

journalism. Another objective was to train the students to write a quick visual story with a

very strong lead or introduction. This is to prepare them for upcoming lessons and

assessments where they need to deconstruct and later produce a television news report. As

such, the activities lead to the assessments, which all reflect the learning outcomes. Besides

giving the students a choice on how they can produce the clip, this learning task is fun and

encourages students to take a deep approach to learning.

Besides activities that are directly linked to the upcoming tasks, I also invite speakers such as

current journalists who are practicing the trade, to speak to my students. This is another in-

built activity that reinforces what I am teaching. These practicing journalists often share

stories of how they perform their tasks using the tools and practices that we are adopting

during lessons. I believe this helps validate why the students are doing what they are tasked

to do. It also helps to emphasize authenticity and complexity in a holistic, embedded way.

(Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013, p19)

Designing Assessments

As a former television journalist and editor, I had trained many new journalists and have thus

gathered enough experience to identify what the desirable skills are and how to achieve them.

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I therefore use this experience to design the assessments for TOJ. I was also determined to do

away with stereotypical methods of assessments such as written tests, essays and

examinations. I am also sure that my students would appreciate that their memory of siting

behind a desk, furiously writing within a given time, can remain a memory. Personally, I

cannot see how that method alone, while useful for some skills, would ever be needed in the

newsroom, especially an ever-changing newsroom that is struggling to cope with the changes

in technology very quickly.

With my experience, I find that I ask myself ‘what is the most important for my students to

know about television and online journalism and what are the most effective ways they can

learn it?” This forces me to look at constructive alignment such that assessment tasks should

be aligned to what it is intended to be learned, as in criterion referenced assessment. (Biggs &

Tang, 2011, p97)

I feel blessed that as a Lecturer in a polytechnic, I am able to design the curriculum and

assignments myself, instead of relying on a prescribed syllabus or preparing my students for

national exams. Using my professional experience, I find this freedom and flexibility to

prepare my students for the television broadcast industry to be empowering and effective.

This helps me to determine what I should assess because I know the industry well. Like the

other modules in DTVM, my teaching team, who are also previously from the media

industry, can design tasks that are more clearly linked to practice-like situations. (Sambell,

McDowell & Montgomery, 2013, p21)

Fortified by theory

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Before learning the theory of curriculum, I find myself looking what it takes for my students

to have the skills to perform in the newsroom of the now and more importantly, of the future.

With more understanding of how important curriculum is, I believe that I am driven by the

constructivist approach where we learn by fitting new understanding and knowledge into and

with, extending and supplanting, old understanding and knowledge. (Fry, Ketteridge &

Marshall, 2009)

My curriculum philosophy leans more towards a combination of ontology, epistemology and

axiology. This is because I can use ontology to represent abstract views of content

sequencing and course materials. When teaching journalism, not everything is about black

and white, right or wrong. Often, the subjective nature of journalism means the student must

look at the context and the inter-play of policies, culture and politics. This is why we learn

philosophy and use articles as part of the learning materials. When I shift from ‘things’ to

‘relationships’’, I shift the emphasis from epistemology, where I explore the methods by

which my students attain knowledge, to ontology. I also find that when I incorporate social

media, I adopt axiology because the students need to make a judgment call of what is

desirable and what is not, given the context.

I am also inclined towards more of an eclectic curriculum conception. I find that I use

whatever method that works to ensure that my students get what they are supposed to get. At

times, I would need to look at the content first but often, I would need to consider the ability

and attitude of my class. There are also occasions when the society’s values matters a lot and

the technological competency needs to be considered as well.

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For example, I can go deeper into the balance of a news story in TOJ because the students

have already been exposed to the idea of objectivity in writing news in the Year 2 modules.

Also, because this is an elective, the students chose to be in the module and I thus have

students who are already keen on the topic to begin with. Before I design the assessment

where they need to complete a television news story in Section 3, I needed to consider the

fact that the students would have to have had prior filming experience in previous modules,

so I know that they can handle the camera and necessary equipment. In sending out my

students to cover stories among the members of the public, I need to consider if the local

public would be hostile to students with filming equipment.

The whole - a sum of many parts

I also find that the evaluation diamond model works for me because everything is inter-

related. I use this instructional design to improve the quality of my teaching because I find

that it allows me to look at what I am doing more as a learning-centred effort instead of a

teaching-centred initiative. This model forces me to look at my curriculum objectives,

learning experiences, assessments, evaluation standards, industry practices and how they

affect each other. In journalism, the definition, tools and practices are constantly changing,

especially because of social media. This model thus fits my needs best because the topic is so

dynamic.

The cohort of 40 students is split into just two classes. At 40, the cohort size is relatively

small and this means that my teaching team can implement changes rather quickly. We find

that it helps the student see a lot of correlation between modules when we merge the

assignments. With a small cohort, doing this is easier. For example, the students would

produce a script in their scriptwriting module and then turn it into a drama to be filmed in a

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video production module. As such, the students can see that every single task is inter-related

and the next task is built upon the previous one. This is how the media industry works and we

are happy to mimic this in our assignments.

Given the small cohort, it also helps that the Module Coordinator is often the only Lecturer

teaching the module and can thus assess both classes more objectively, when compared to a

module that is co-taught by two or more lecturers who may each have varying standards of

what is good and bad.

The process, not just the product

The small size also ensures that the lecturer can spend more time with individual students

during consultations. This is important for the teaching team because most tasks require the

students to take an idea that needs to be critiqued, before it can be turned into a media

product. This is usually done during oral presentations, pitching sessions and script-reads.

Besides receiving feedback, the students can also give their feedback to us and to each other.

This multi-pronged conversation helps to involve the student a lot more in the learning

process. They know when and how they will receive feedback. Since more parties are

involved in the outcome of the assessments, students are not surprised by the grade they get

at the end of the task. This is because, in the process, they could sense for themselves what is

bad, acceptable, good and great.

This is also one safe way for the students to learn from making mistakes. If they have a sub-

standard product, their peers will tell them so. This feedback does not only come from the

Lecturers. This would encourage the students to put in more effort to improve. Since the tasks

are all part of the process, the students have more opportunities to improve when they move

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on to the next assignment, having learnt what not to do in the previous one. We believe that

this active participation in assessment will lead to increased confidence, responsibility and

competence within and beyond Higher Education. (Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery,

2013, p151)

TOJ Assessments

When I look at the assessments I designed, I realise that I prefer more of a criterion-

referenced method because I use checklists more than rubrics. This helps me to train the

individual student to adopt skills with measurable criteria, which is important in the area that

they are being prepared for. I also find that this allows me to reward effort as well as end-

product, instead of just the latter. I agree that criterion-referenced scores reflect the students’

knowledge and skills in a specific domain. (Reynolds, Livingston & Willson, 2009)

I also want my assessments to be valid, reliable and fair. The students must recognise that

they are being assessed on what they are taught, that the requirements are do-able given the

lessons and activities they have completed and that the reward of marks would indicate the

level of competency and effort they put in. As such, the second CA is designed such that it

builds on the first CA and leads into the third CA. The first CA requires the students to

identify television news segments and the third needs them to produce a television news

report. At each stage, the students will receive feedback from me as well as their classmates,

before they proceed to the next CA.

I believe that this creates a continuum such that students can see why they need to complete

the CA. The assessments are thus not separate from the learning but are part of that process

because it is not about accumulating marks but development of knowledge and skills. This

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type of formative assessment uses evaluation of what students know and can do in planning

future learning activities and to help students improve. (Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery,

2013, p3)

A mentor had reminded me that students must be assessed on what they have been taught and

that marks should be awarded for what they do instead of removing marks for what they did

not do. To me, this means I need to carefully align my assessments to the lessons before and

after that assessment, clearly specify what objectives should be met when completing the

assignment and provide a checklist against which the student can benchmark their work.

This is why, all my assessments are designed such that there is an overview and objectives,

before the instructions. The objectives will be kept to just three points and are phrased such

that there is verb and a noun. (Annex 2) This is a practice I set for all DTVM modules. As a

Course Chair, I am able to put in place this system such that all DTVM CAs are formulated

as such. I believe this consistency helps give both the lecturers and students some focus

because the expectations are explicitly stated.

For example, the objectives listed in the second CA of TOJ (Annex 2) are:

1. Write, film and edit an appropriate and convincing Piece-to-Camera on location

2. Write a feature news article within a given duration and context
3. Write appropriate reactions to a breaking news situation within a given time-frame
and context

These are subjective items because they are open-ended. For Section 1, students need to

record a 30-second clip where they need to tell a story succinctly in front of the camera. For

Section 2, they are taken to an exhibit at a museum and after a guided tour, they need to write

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a feature article within 24 hours. For Section 3, they need to write their responses to a

breaking news situation. The three tasks are spread over several weeks.

These tasks expose my students to the duties of a journalist who needs to prepare stories for

television and online platforms. This is one way for me to show that to prepare to be a

journalist for these platforms, the student needs to apply various types of skills in different

situations and constraints. I designed these tasks so that students can see the value of what

they are being asked to do in an assignment and so perceive its importance to learning.

(Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery)

To complete these tasks, I ensure that the students have a lot of practice. They also receive

feedback from me about how they perform, before and after each task. This is usually in the

form of one-on-one consultations. I also write comments on their written submissions before

returning it to them and discussing the completed assignment, in preparation for the next one.

This is one of the ways I ensure that the students are prepared for the real world, specifically

the television news industry where there is a lot of consultations about a piece of work with

the editor. Often, a story headline, angle, lead and length are determined after a negotiation

between the reporter and editor. Often, there is group critique which means the students

receive feedback from their peers. This is practiced in other modules as well so the students

are used to critique sessions. At times, students also present their work in front of a panel of

industry experts so they would receive feedback from external partners as well.

All DTVM modules are also delivered in tutorials instead of lectures so that students can be

engaged in classroom dialogue. Class activities also often require students to discuss in

groups so that they can learn collaboratively. The students are given opportunities to be

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active participants in the learning because we believe that this will lead to deep learning. To

this end, in DTVM, we practice assessment for learning and we want to develop students as

self-assessors and effective lifelong learners. (Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013)

For example, at the start of each TOJ lesson, I would discuss with the students, the main

stories making news around the world. We would weigh the news values of each story and

discuss why the story is ‘newsy’. Students are encouraged to question and suggest angles to

how the stories develop. This way, we co-create our knowledge of the news. I believe this is

one way to encourage students to look at news as a story that is not just a classroom topic. At

times, the students are grouped into teams of five or six and they discuss a news topic and the

different angles to the topic. To do this, they can google the topic to get more information

before formulating their opinions. The nature of news is such that the students are surrounded

by world happenings and by initiating such discussions in class, I aim to encourage students

to think about these stores beyond the classroom so that they are engaged in meaningful and

worthwhile experiences. Such class discussions also create a comfortable climate for students

to question, suggest and laugh at each other.

Why these tasks

I find that my assessments assess knowledge, skills and attitude. Taken together, assessments

represent what I value in learning and how I evaluate the process. In TOJ, subject content,

skills and attitude are all elements needed as a broadcast journalist. The students learn by

doing. Most times, there is no right or wrong answers but there are good and bad ways to

complete the tasks. There is a lot of ‘self’ in the projects because the students get to choose.

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For Section 1, they choose the topic and location of the Piece-to-Camera. For Section 2, they

choose the lead and angle of the story they need to write. For Section 3, they discuss and use

each other’s ideas to write the answers. The students are thus allowed to make choices and

develop their own interests. For example, after visiting the museum for Section 2, some

students wrote a factual report about the exhibit, others chose to write about the perspective

of the elderly museum guide and another group wrote about their own individual perspective

about visiting a museum.

I find that this allows for some flexibility and this openness in deriving at what they need to

do would prepare our students for what is largely known as the ‘volatile, uncertain, complex,

and ambiguous’ or ‘VUCA’ world. (Kinsinger & Walch, n.d) The assessments would require

the students to use their sense and experience, rather than memorise a set of rules or theory.

The assessments also require students to be flexible and adaptable because they need to be

open to the possibilities that arise at that point in time, in that situation. This way, in

designing my assessments for learning, I would emphasise more on the process of finding the

story instead of the story itself. If the context changes, the students will be able to find

different ways to come up with the story.

I also believe that this dovetails well with the values set by Singapore’s Ministry of

Education (MOE). These include resilience, self-awareness social awareness, responsible

decision-making and inventive thinking. (www.moe.gov.sg, n.d.) If assessments foster the

individual’s own interests and concerns, students will see the value of learning.

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Assessing assessments

In designing my assessments, I find myself wondering if I have established a system that is

just, one that truly recognises and rewards competency as well as effort. This is because, I do

not want my students to complete assessments just because they have to but because they find

that in completing the assignments, they see meaning in applying what they have learnt. The

question is how to I know if I am doing the right thing, at the right time, with the right

audience.

As of this academic year, we have no exams for all our modules. Before this, we only had

one module that required students to sit for exams but after feedback from our External

Examiner and scanning the environment, such as looking at how universities are reducing the

weightage on examinations or removing the altogether, we have done away with the sole

exam component. This sits well with the objectives of a polytechnic which prioritises hands-

on an applied learning. DTVM is thus a 100% in-course assessment course.

All polytechnic students will go for an internship stint. DTVM students go for a semester-

long internship at the end of Year 3 which usually lasts 22 weeks. All students will be posted

to organisations where they will be performing duties related to writing for media products.

Students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learnt and to solve real-world

problems. Students also have a choice of the type of industry they want to be attached to.

During internship, the students keep a log book and this is one of the ways we monitor their

performance.

So far, following the school’s business rules in setting the number of CAs and the weightage

of each CA, has helped provide a good guide on how my team and I plan for the CAs,

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especially when were all new to teaching. Since we are a 100% in-course assessment,

planning the CAs is crucial because the teaching team is forced to work with each other to

ensure that there is no overlap or more importantly, the CAs ride on each other. This means,

for the student, each module, though separate, is not seen as a silo. The modules and

corresponding CAs are designed such that when taken as a whole, students can appreciate

why they need to complete the tasks.

We know this because we monitor the students’ feedback both formally and informally. For

example, we have the Student Feedback Exercise where they take part in a school-

administered survey of what they think about the modules they take each semester. Student

representatives also participate in the annual Student Dialogue Sessions where their opinions

are sought on what and how they learn. In this exercise, their feedback is minuted and

distributed to the teaching team. At such occasions, we are heartened to hear the seniors

explaining to the juniors why they are given the tasks they need to complete. The Lecturers

also speak to the students often, both in casual conversations as well as during consultations,

to get their feedback about their assignments. Another source of information that we take

seriously is the input during internship. We get the feedback from our students’ supervisors

on whether the students can perform the tasks, via an online survey. We also collect feedback

in a similar way from our student-interns. We then share this input with our students. We are

happy to note that our students can perform the skills required by the industry. This is one

indicator that we are preparing our students well.

Another step we are proud of is the practice where we map all the CAs before the start of the

semester, to prevent ‘bunching of CAs’. The students take at least five modules each semester

and that would mean 15 assignments in 15 weeks since there are three CAs in each module.

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This exercise helps us to ensure that the students will have a maximum of just two CAs per

week. Since we are a media course, this also helps us to plan the use of equipment such as

camera and microphones, for students from Year 1 to Year 3.

Despite this effort, we do find that the students are stretched and feel stressed especially

towards the end of the semester. We believe a totally stress-free situation is not quite what we

aim because this would be artificial, especially in the media industry where professionals

often juggle many projects at the same time. We therefore aim for our students to learn to

manage the situation, instead of avoiding it altogether. We believe that this realistic training

would better prepare our students for the industry.

Assessing TOJ

For TOJ, students who completed their internship at newspapers and television news

networks say they are able to fulfill their duties well. In fact, I have arranged for students who

have graduated, to come back to speak to their juniors, about how useful TOJ had been for

them at work. For example, the graduates say the exercise where they need to file a report

quickly after attending an event, was as close as possible, to the actual job of a reporter.

Another graduate told me that he was well prepared for a written test he needed to sit for,

before he got the job as an intern-reporter at a newspaper, courtesy of the journalism

assignments I had set as part of TOJ.

I believe this shows that by making the assessments ‘real’, students are prompted to see that

they are being asked to develop a stance, communicate and explain ideas genuinely master

the subject knowledge, rather than just produce work for someone to mark. (Sambell,

McDowell & Montgomery, 2013, p16)

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Sometimes I ask myself if I am over-preparing the students for the industry. I also wonder

whether I influence the outcome of the assignments too much when they come to me for

consultations. I do not wish for the students to be reliant on me and come to me at every stage

to see whether they are doing the right thing. Other times, I wonder if I need to do even more

or if I had been too restrictive or prescriptive.

If the students produce work which pleases me, I ponder if this is really desirable since this

may be because they were completing a task with my approval in mind instead of meeting the

objectives.

Ideally, I believe the nature and timing of assessments should not be determined by the

limited resources because this is not quite how the real world works. However, when we

work with the end in mind, we work backwards and plot our activities such that we meet the

end requirements. To a large extent, we encourage our students to exercise time and resource

management, which are skills that are really useful when they pursue further studies or start

working.

Although most indicators point to the fact that the CAs I set seem to prepare my students well

for the industry, I still wonder if the tasks I designed were too easy or too difficult. I now

know that there are ways to measure the reliability and validity of assessments. For example,

having been introduced to the different tests, I am inclined to attempt using TAP to analyse

my tests. This will enable me to determine the level of difficulty and reliability of my tests as

I would have an indicator of how well each item discriminates between the more

knowledgeable and less knowledgeable students.

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Conclusion

When I was a student, I remember asking why I needed to sit for exams because I felt that

they did not show how much I had learnt. I also felt that it was unfair that assessments did not

in any way, show my personality. None of my teachers had any answers to my questions

about the need for exams. The closest explanation that I appreciated came from my Physics

teacher who said exams are about training the mind. I was still not satisfied but I did learn a

lot more as an undergraduate. The best assignments I had, in my opinion, came in the form of

presentations and role-play and these were for majors like History which I never thought was

possible.

After six years as an Educator and having gone through some training including the Master of

Education programme, I am now more confident about my decisions in curriculum planning

and assessments. I now make it a point to help my younger colleagues and share as well as

learn from others. I wish that I had more help when I was starting out. At the beginning of my

teaching career, I felt that the guidance was not quite enough, particularly in aligning learning

objectives and assignments. The real world is changing fast and I felt that this was not

considered when assessments were being designed.

This is why my teaching team is continually adjusting our syllabus, activities and

assignments. As a polytechnic, we need to keep up with the changes in the industry and in the

media industry, there are many. While it is not possible to pre-empt these changes, our

assessments can help students prepare for changes and adapt. To do this, I believe that my

team must be in a ‘work-in-progress’ status and be comfortable with it. We discuss with each

other about our plans to seek ideas. We share our experience with colleagues from other

teams and we learn from them, usually about what not to do. This is done both informally as

21
conversations along the corridor, as well as in formal settings such as lunch-time sharing

sessions organized by our school’s Teaching and Learning unit.

We recognise that it is not desirable to look at modules in isolation, especially when we are

looking at the learning experience of the student as a whole. This is why we have to

communicate with each other often, and look at all our efforts in the context of a whole. In

this way, we can align our outcomes, activities and assessments, vis-à-vis other modules.

This will help the students make sense of the learning experience instead of the individual

assignment.

We get better with each semester, we make it a point to attend industry conferences and we

continually seek feedback. We experiment after careful planning and fine-tune our efforts

along the way because in overall terms, the important issue we are addressing is not what the

specific assessment method is, but most critically, what the consequences of using it in a

particular way are in terms of learning. (Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013, p16)

For example, for some modules, reflective commentaries can be used to allow students to

identify their personal connections with a topic but this is not applicable for other modules

which may require students to complete a filming project to achieve the same objective.

To reduce the workload of our students and to streamline the assessments, we have removed

a Year 3 module and kept the elements that worked for that module and incorporated these

into existing modules.

22
This is important for our course because measuring the quality of a media product is not

always as clear as say, performances in Mathematics. The worth of a story is not always

quantifiable but often easily recognised. It takes practice to develop this competency and then

share this ‘measurement’ with our students.

We are pleased that we can find a good distribution when assessing our modules. When I did

a scatterplot of students across the three years, I found that most would fall under the group

that scores As and Bs. What is more rewarding is to see students who started at the bottom of

the class, grow into one of the better ones in their cohort, both in terms of grades and attitude.

We share the results of each assessment with all lecturers in our teaching team and explain

how we arrive at the scores. What we find interesting is that there are students who perform

well in all modules, there are some who do not perform at all in all modules and there are

students who would perform well in some and not as well in others. We monitor all students

closely and put in effort to move as many students as possible into the third group. The

students in the second group usually have many other issues outside of school and after

several attempts, we have to let this group of students take ownership of what they do and do

not do.

We also continually gather and share feedback from our current and former students. This

helps us fine-tune our efforts. Another source of input would be from a Course Review panel

that is made up of academics and industry practitioners. SP’s business rules state that all

courses must undergo this course review once every five years. DTVM has just gone through

that process in May 2014 where the panel looks at all documents, including assessments. The

panel also interviews staff, current and past students. It will then have a dialogue with the

23
teaching team before submitting a report of recommendations to the school’s director. I am

happy to note that DTVM has been lauded for its comprehensive efforts to prepare its

students for further studies and to join the industry. The panel also noted that the team has

quickly implemented changes to improve the teaching and learning, even before it receives

feedback.

We have learnt that not all students will learn in the same way and while we must attempt to

include as many as possible, some students will just not be able to perform, for a variety of

reasons. Sometimes, some students take a longer time to learn and other times, they just have

no interest despite many interventions. For the teaching team, our objective must remain to

make our appraisals more accurate and meaningful. (Reynolds, Livingston & Willson, 2009)

Our students have accomplished so much in our three year course and to have a set of

alphabets represent this experience at the end of the journey, does not seem fair. As such, the

true test of how well our students are assessed should not be measured in the terms of results

but how our assessments remain an integral part of the teaching and learning process.

24
 References

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 4th Ed, McGraw
Hill
Chi Y. L. (2008). Ontology-based Curriculum Content Sequencing System with Semantic
rules
Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957417408008312

Doll, W.E., Fleener, J.M. & St. Julien, J. (eds) (2005). Chaos, Complexity, Curriculum and
Culture: A Conversation
Peter Lang

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. & Marshall, S. (eds) (2009). A Handbook for Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education. 3rd Ed, Routledge

Ministry of Education. Framework for 21st Century Competencies and Student Outcomes
(www.moe.edu.sg)

Mission and Vision of Singapore Polytechnic (www.sp.edu.sg)

Orpwood, G. and McCurry, D. (2013). Assessing Skills for Success in Tertiary Education.
Paper for presentation at the AEA-Europe annual conference, Berlin, November 2012
York University, Canada & Australian Council for Educational Research

Paul Kinsinger, P. and Walch, K. (n.d.). Living and Leading in a VUCA World
Retrieved from http://www.thunderbird.edu/article/living-and-leading-vuca-world

Reynolds, C.R., Livingston, R. B. & Willson, V. (eds) (2009). Measurement and Assessment
in Education. 2nd Ed, Pearson

Sambell, K., McDowell, L. & Montgomery, C. (2013). Assessment for Learning in Higher
Education. Routledge

25
ANNEX 1
SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC
SCHOOL OF COMMUNCIATION, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

TELEVISION AND ONLINE JOURNALISM

(ELECTIVE)

Course(s): Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media

Year / Stage: 3 FT A
Module Code: SC8127
Effective Academic Year: AY11/12

Instructional Hours

Lecture (L): 0
Tutorial (T): 45
Laboratory / Workshop (P): 0
Total: 45
Credit units: 3

Module Aims

This module aims to hone the skills of journalism students in the field of television and online
reporting. Students will learn how write to pictures, use sound and visuals, as well as make full
use of online platforms for broadcast reporting. Students will develop scripts for soft and hard
news and simulate breaking news situations.

Teaching Methods / Learning Tasks

Students will master the skills of writing for television news and online platforms through a
combination of lecture presentations, tutorial work, video critique, projects, master-classes
and class discussions.

26
Means of Assessment

Means of Assessment Abbreviations

Coursework 1 (Written Assessment, Individual) CA1 (30%)
Coursework 2 (Written and Presentation, Group) CA2 (30%)
Coursework 3 (Written and Project, Group) CA10 (40%)

References

1. 1Fiske, John (2011), Television Culture (2nd Edition), Routledge Classics.

.
2. 2Wittkower, D. E., (2010), Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on your mind?, Open
. Court Publishing Company.

3. 2Bogost, Ian, Ferrari Simon, Schwizer Booby, (2010), Newsgames: Journalism at

. Play, The MIT Press.

4. 3Wang, Georgette, (2011), De-Westernizing Communication Research: Altering

. Questions and Changing Frameworks, Routledge Contemporary Asia Series.

5. 4Quinn, Michael J., (2011), Ethics for the information age. (4th Edition), Pearson.
.
6. 6Zelizer, Barbie (2009), The changing faces of journalism: Tabloidization,
. Technology and Truthiness, Routledge

7. 7Rosenthal. Brian A., Stofer, Kathryn T., Schaffer, James R., (2010), Sports
Journalism: An introduction to reporting and writing, Rowman & Littlefield

8. 8Goggin, Gerard, (2011). Global mobile media, Routledge

.
9. 9White, James D. (2005), Global Media: The Television Revolution in Asia.
. Routledge

10. 1Papacharissi Zizi A, (2010), A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age, Polity
0
.
11. 1Nayar, Pramod K. (2010), The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Wiley-
1Blackwell
.

12. 1Lieb, T. (2009), All the News – Writing and Reporting for Convergent Media.
2Pearson Education Inc.
.
13. 1Paterson, C and Domingo, D., (2008), Making Online News – The Ethnography of
3New Media Production. Peter Lang Publishing.
.

27
Special Requirements (if any)

Media rooms that can accommodate up to 50 students and are equipped with facilities such as
projectors, speakers and DVD players so that programmes can be screened for classroom
discussion.

Table of Specifications

Abilities (%)
Total
Topics K C A/HA
(%)

A. Forms of TV and online news 5 5 10 20

B. Broadcast newswriting style 10 10 25 45

C. Piece to Camera 5 5 5 15

D. Live and Breaking News 5 5 10 20

Total 25 25 50 100

*Infusion of SP Core Values: Integrity, responsibility and openness are encouraged

in teamwork during design discussion.

Notes:
1. The letters K, C, A/HA in the table of specifications denote respectively, the
Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application/Higher than Application levels of
Bloom's Taxonomy in the cognitive domain.
2. In the detailed syllabus which follows:
• all objectives should be understood to be prefixed by the words: "At the end of
instruction, the learner should be able to…"
• L: T: P: DLT denotes lecture hours, tutorial hours, practical hours and equivalent
directed learning time respectively.

28
 Detailed Syllabus

Learning Outcomes L : T : P
A IDENTIFY FORMS OF TV AND ONLINE NEWS 0 : 10 : 0
1.1 State the different stages of how broadcast news developed
1.2 Identify the tools used in broadcast news
1.3 Identify the power of broadcast news
1.4 Recognise the different formats and terms of broadcast news

B RECOGNISE BROADCAST NEWSWRITING STYLE

2.1 Recognise the need to use visual for broadcast 0 : 20 : 0
2.2 Recognise the need to use soundbites for broadcast
2.3 Recognise the need to use natural sound for broadcast
2.4 Compose broadcast quality voice-overs
2.5 Apply the skills of writing to pictures

C COMPOSE AN EFFECTIVE PIECE TO CAMERA

3.1 Outline the different types of pieces to camera 0 : 5 : 0
3.2 Recognise the need for the reporter’s presence
3.3 Match the types of pieces to camera to the different broadcast formats
3.4 Prepare an effective piece to camera

D LIVE AND BREAKING NEWS

4.1 Recognise the need for live reporting 0 : 10 : 0
4.2 Recognise a breaking news situation
4.3 Identify the steps involved in the coverage of a breaking news situation
4.4 Evaluate effective coverage of broadcast coverage

Total Running Time: 0 : 45 : 0

29
ANNEX 2
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media

SC8127 TELEVISION AND ONLINE JOURNALISM (TOJ)

2014/2015 Semester 1, Continual Assessment 2
(Individual & Group / Presentation & Written, 30%)

Overview
1. There are three sections in this assignment. You need to complete all three as follows:
Section Task Marks Deadline Remarks
1 Piece-to-Camera 30 30 June To be filmed during OLP trip
(Individual) 2014, 7pm (24-28 June)
2 Online article 50 30 June To be completed after
(Individual) 2014, mystery excursion on 30 June
midnight (2-5pm)
3 Reaction to 20 7 July 2013, In-class written test, after on-
Breaking News during class the-spot exercises
(Group)

2. You will receive separate instructions for the respective sections.

Objectives
In this assignment, you will be tested on your ability to complete the following tasks, within a
restricted period of time and location:
4. Write, film and edit an appropriate and convincing Piece-to-Camera on location
5. Write a feature news article within a given duration and context
6. Write appropriate reactions to a breaking news situation within a given time-frame
and context

30
Section 1: Piece-To-Camera (30 marks) (Individual)
Instructions
1) Decide what you would like to talk about in your Piece-to-Camera (PTC) once you find a
comfortable topic in Lombok.

2) Use the space below to plan your PTC points and script.

3) Film your PTC. Do at least two takes. Keep it to a maximum of 30 seconds.

4) Edit the footage into a clip that contains only the take that you like best.

5) Use the following naming convention to label your clip: ‘PTC (Full Name)’ e.g. PTC
(Marilyn Monroe).

6) Using the template on page 3, email the following items to spgamar@gmail.com by

Monday, 30 June 2014, 7pm:
a) PTC video clip (indicate location and duration)
b) PTC script
c) PTC points

NOTES ON PTC
I) CONTENT
Deciding what to say
 Say something that you can’t show in other footage
 Sum up an argument
 Say what will happen next
 Describe feelings, attitude
 Explain use of a prop

II) PREPARATION
Before you film
 Write your lines
 Summarise them into just three points
 Rehearse and memorise
 Check your background
 Check your appearance
 Discuss with camera-person

III) FILMING YOUR PTC

 Pause before you start
 Pause after you end
 Don’t fidget, look straight at camera
 If you make a mis-take, pause, count 3-2-1, begin again
 Do not swear, curse, move away from your spot
 Sign off with ‘Your Full Name, DTVM, Lombok, Indonesia’
a) Script the complete lines for your 30-second PTC here (10 marks)

31
1st line ___________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2nd line
______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3rd line
______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

b) Write your three points for the PTC here (5 marks)

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________________

c) Filming of PTC (15 marks)

Location : ____________________________________

Duration : ____________________________________

Score : ____________________________________ (to be completed by

Lecturer)

32
 Marking Checklist
Components Criteria Max Score Actual
Assessed Score
Section 1 Script Total: 30 marks
• Valid content 5
Piece to • Lines are short, sharp, conversational 5
Camera
3 points
(30%) • Suitable content chosen 5
(Filmed in Actual PTC
Lombok) • Appropriate appearance 2
• Appropriate background 2
• Smooth delivery 5
• Proper pauses 2
• Good eye contact 2
• Duration not more than 30 seconds 2
Section 2 Total: 50 marks
1. Interesting and appropriate lead and angle 15
Writing an
2. Points arranged in inverted pyramid format 5
online news
article 3. Points flow coherently 5
4. Article contains at least 1 direct quote 5
(50%)
5. Sentences are short and sharp 4
(Completed
6. Sentences do not contain too many details or figures 3
on 30 June)
7. Headline is appropriate 5
8. Article accompanied by at least 1 photograph 5
9. Article is within 500 word limit 3
Section 3 Reaction to Breaking News Total: 20 marks

Breaking • News tip-off 2

News • Confirmation 3
• News development 4
(20%) • Breaking News development 5
• Breaking News situation
(Completed 6
on 7 July)

Total Score 100 marks

33
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media

SC8127 TELEVISION AND ONLINE JOURNALISM (TOJ)

2014/2015 Semester 1, Continual Assessment 2 (Individual, Written)

Section 2: Online Article (50 marks)

Deadline
1 July 2014 (Tuesday), 11.59pm

Overview

You will assume the role of a web journalist. You will be sent on a reporting assignment and
you will need to write an article on the location by midnight, the next day. Your job is to
write an interesting feature article from what would often be regarded as a ‘not-so-
interesting’ event.

Objectives

In this assignment, you will be tested on your ability to:

1. Find and identify a strong news lead in a regular situation
2. Craft a 500-word online article (with headline, byline, photo(s) and caption)
3. Complete the assignment in a specified period of time

Instructions

1. Assemble at T19 foyer on Monday, 30 June 2014, 2,15pm.

• There will be a bus to take you to the National Museum of Singapore at 93 Stamford
Road

• You will be visiting following exhibitions:

a) Balik Pulau: Stories from Singapore’s Islands
b) Masak-Masak: My Childhood
c) We: Defining stories

2. Ask the museum guides enough questions in order to find an interesting news angle.
• You will have till about 4.30pm to find out as much as you can about the exhibitions
• You may interview the guides after the tour
• You may also approach other visitors for voxpops

34
3. Write a 500-word article as a feature news story (soft news) for a website.
• Include the following:
➢ 5Ws and 1H
➢ Headline
➢ Byline
➢ Photograph
➢ Caption
➢ At least one direct quote
➢ Word count

4. Label your document using this naming convention: ‘TOJ Article (Full Name)’.

5. Submit your document via email to spgamar@gmail.com by the deadline.

A) REPORTING

1) When you reach the location:

• Observe your surrounding
• Listen to the explanation given
• Ask questions to clarify
• Take down notes
• Check what you can report/photograph and what is off the record
• Take photographs after you get all the information

2) Before you leave the location:

• Get at least one direct quote
• Confirm the full name, age and designation of your interviewee(s)
• Take at least one photograph to accompany your article

3) After you leave the location:

• Decide if you want to conduct more research online about your topic
• Use your research as reference
• Do NOT plagiarise

B) WRITING

1) Ask yourself what would you tell your mother?

• This should help you identify your headline and angle

2) Include all the basic information (5Ws and 1H)

3) Choose a headline that represents your article

• Do not exceed 10 words

4) Write your full name as your byline

35
 5) Choose an attractive photo that represents your article.
• Write a caption that explains what is being captured by the photo

6) Do not exceed 500 words

Penalty

Late submission after the deadline will result in TWO (2) marks being deducted for every
hour (or part thereof) after the deadline, up to a maximum of TEN (10) marks.

A student is deemed to have failed the CA if the assignment is submitted 24 hours (or more)
after the deadline.

Plagiarism

You are reminded that plagiarism is a serious offence. Penalty will be imposed on those who
reproduce another person’s work and opinions as their own without proper acknowledgement.

Answers bearing striking similarities to material from textbooks/reports or answers from

students in other groups will be investigated and an appropriate penalty imposed on the
students concerned.

If you are found guilty of plagiarism in one module, you could fail all your modules in the
semester, or even be liable for expulsion.

36
 Marking Checklist for SC8127 CA2, Section 2

Components Descriptors Max Score Actual

Assessed Score
Total: 50
Writing an marks
online news 1. Interesting and appropriate lead and angle 15
article
2. Points arranged in inverted pyramid format 5
(50%) 3. Points flow coherently 5
5
4. Article contains at least 1 direct quote
4
5. Sentences are short and sharp
3
6. Sentences do not contain too many details or figures
5
7. Headline is appropriate
5
8. Article contains least 1 photograph and accompanying caption
9. Article is within 500 word limit
3

Total for Section 2 50

37
SC8127 TELEVISION AND ONLINE JOURNALISM (TOJ)
2014/2015 Semester 1, Continual Assessment 2 (Section 3)
(Group, Written Test, 20 marks)

In-class test date

7 July 2014, Monday, 2pm

SECTION 3: REACTION TO BREAKING NEWS

Name : ________________________________________
Class : ________________________________________
Admin no. : ________________________________________

Overview
You will be required to assume the role of an editorial team that is based in a newsroom. You
will be given a breaking news situation and you will need to react by planning what to do and
what to write.

Objectives
In this assignment, you will be tested on your ability to:
7. React to a breaking news situation
8. Craft appropriate news updates within a restricted period of time
9. Craft convincing Piece-to-Camera within a restricted period of time

Instructions
1. Get into your assigned teams of 4 or 5 members.
2. Discuss the step by step reaction to the ‘breaking news’ scenario.
3. Write your answers in the space provided.

38
Scenario
You are working for The Singapore News Network (SNN). You are based in a television
newsroom. You also write for the SNN news website, twitter account and facebook page.

1a) News tip-off (2 marks)

You receive a hotline call that there someone in Jurong could smell smoke and suspect
it’s a fire.

What do you do?

Why do you take this step?

39
1b) Confirmation (3 marks)

The authorities confirm they have received a few such calls from those living in the
western part of Singapore, including Clementi.

What do you do next?

Why?

40
 2) News development (4 marks)

The authorities confirm thick smoke emitted from a Tuas chemical plant. Your reporter
on the ground says there are many fire engines and ambulances deployed to the scene.

What do you do now?

Why?

Possible line for crawler/twitter/fb:

41
 3) Breaking news development (5 marks)

More information comes in indicating that one man is badly hurt by the fire and reports
of injuries are increasing. The people in what the police term as ‘dangerous buildings’
are being evacuated.

What is your next step now?

Why?

Possible line for crawler/twitter/fb:

Possible points for live phoner:

42
 4) Breaking news situation (6 marks)

There is at least one casualty from the fire. Many others are injured, some of them are
badly hurt. More residents in different parts of the island say the smell of smoke is
overwhelming. Police have asked everyone living or working within 1km of the affected
area to leave immediately. Transport is arranged to take residents out of the area and to
the school halls that have been just opened up, outside the affected area.

What do you do now?

Why?

Possible line for crawler/twitter/fb:

Possible lines for ‘live’ PTC:

43