ATS2790 - Feature writing - 2018

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Journalism

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Fay Anderson

Coordinator(s)

Dr Nick Richardson

Unit guides

Offered

Caulfield

  • First semester 2018 (On-campus)

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units. It is highly recommended that students only take this unit after they have completed two first-year level units in Journalism.

Prohibitions

ATS1331

Synopsis

The unit provides the essential tools and learnings required to research and write in a variety of feature styles. Students will be taught to identify and use multiple literary devices to produce compelling print and online feature journalism.

The unit critically considers the implications for journalists of ethical and legal issues and different modes of audience engagement and authorial positioning. Contact the unit coordinator for details.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. demonstrate an ability to identify and research a story, conduct interviews and gather appropriate research and audio-visual ancillary material in the print feature genre
  2. demonstrate an ability to report in a clear, concise, accurate and engaging way using a variety of narrative conventions with audio-visual support in a coherent package
  3. identify, observe key ethical and legal obligations associated with feature journalism, and reflect critically on their own and others' performance in this regard
  4. work independently and collaboratively in learning and production processes, including online forums, to produce feature reports
  5. demonstrate an ability to set and meet deadlines, and report under pressure
  6. demonstrate an awareness of local, national and international people and events relevant to current issues and media issues
  7. demonstrate a critical awareness of the capacities, limitations and socio-professional implications of journalistic practices in the textual medium.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study