Theoretical Perspectives Companion for A Level Media Studies
Get to grips with the challenging world of Media Theory!
Strengthen understanding with these detailed and accessible notes and activities specifically designed for
A Level Media Studies.
- Covers media theories for all four frameworks: Language, Representation, Industry and Audience.
- Enhances learning with varied activities, including extension tasks and further reading suggestions for high achievers.
- Plus exam advice and annotated sample essay answers equip students with the tools they need to integrate media theory into their exam answers and NEA assignments to achieve top marks.
Also included…
- Timeline of Media Theory
- Key terms glossary
- Answers to all activities
- Original illustrations
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What do teachers say about this resource? (11128)
I really liked this resource. It was detailed and very well thought out. I thought this was very useful and can see my students really engaging with this resource. I liked the detailed analysis of the theorists work and how it was simplified to make it easy for students to understand. I think this has a lot of educational value and this is very detailed and brilliantly laid out. Every theorist has been thoroughly thought out and made it easy to understand as there are quite a lot to go through. Definitely it adheres to the AQA specification for the amount of theorists that we have to go through.
I really like this resource as it is detailed and is clearly organised into sections that suit the course. The information pages at the beginning are clear in terms of what a teacher can expect to use it as a teaching resource and what students can expect as a work booklet resource. It is detailed and provides not only details for each theory but also recall and understanding tasks relating to each theory. I also like the inclusion of the sample answers using theory and how to develop this form of inclusion using the information from earlier in the resource. It offers opportunities for students to go away and further their own knowledge and application of the theory with extension tasks and further reading - providing scholarship opportunities within their subject learning. It also allows teachers to set activities as measurable tasks to check understanding of each of the theories. The overview of each key concept and how the theories in that aspect relate will help develop student understanding. Additionally seeing generic responses (as in its not related to a specific case study for a certain exam board) of varying levels will be useful to help students understand how to apply theory in their own responses in an appropriate manner. I like the organisation and standard form of layout for the information pages with contextual information about the theorist(s) before it breaks apart the theory and how it can be applied. The pages are not overloaded the information is appropriately spaced out. It is also useful to have a consistent layout expectation for each theory page to have a glossary box that students can find linked to the emboldened terms within the text. The ordering of each section is logical and easy to follow; having sections with sample answers and then suggested answers for the activity tasks at the end make it easy to separate out into sections you would want to give to students and which a sections a teacher would want to keep. As this resource is suited across board based on the theories that are to be applied to different case studies, I feel it is a useful teaching tool, covering the necessary theorists in an manner that can be used to help plan lessons or to give students to reflect on. Covers the key theories in detail but in a manner that is easy to engage with and supports different levels of ability and learner.
A very comprehensive resource which covers all the required AL theories in depth. There is useful contextual information on the theorists which allows the students to understand the theorists area of expertise and their role in critical perspectives. Each theory includes useful activities for in-class discussion and extension tasks. This is a well differentiated resource. The theories are really well explained and offer enough depth to challenge the high able but enough clear scaffolding to offer a new perspective to lower able students. The further reading section enables higher-attaining students to go beyond the requirement of the theory however the resource arguably already offers an in-depth explanation of each theory, certainly well above the requirements for the A Level courses. The three essay questions and corresponding answers are good at showing how to 'apply' the theory - this is something really interesting I will take more into my own teaching. Fantastic resource - have already told colleagues at work to look out for it when it gets released!
Keywords
- A Level AQA Media Studies (7572)
- A Level Eduqas Media Studies (a680)
- A Level OCR Media Studies (H409)
- A Level WJEC Media Studies (1680)
- A Level Course Companion
- A Level Media Studies Course Companion
- Theoretical Perspectives
- Saussure
- Sanders Peirce
- Barthes
- Todorov
- Propp
- Lévi-Strauss
- Neale
- Hall
- Buckingham
- Mulvey
- Bandura
- Lasswell
- Blumler
- Katz
- Baudrillard
- Gauntlett
- van Zoonen
- bell hooks
- Butler
- Gilroy
- Curran and Seaton
- Livingstone and Lunt
- Hesmondhalgh
- Gerbner
- Jenkins
- Shirky