Course specification and structure
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UDDIGMDA - BA Digital Media

Course Specification


Validation status Validated
Highest award Bachelor of Arts Level Honours
Possible interim awards Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Higher Education, Certificate of Higher Education, Bachelor of Arts
Total credits for course 360
Awarding institution London Metropolitan University
Teaching institutions London Metropolitan University
School School of Computing and Digital Media
Subject Area Creative Technologies and Digital Media
Attendance options
Option Minimum duration Maximum duration
Full-time 3 YEARS  
Part-time 4 YEARS  
Course leader  

About the course and its strategy towards teaching and learning and towards blended learning/e-learning

The teaching and learning strategies of the course are informed by an understanding of learning as a process of enquiry positioned within a specific subject-based context. Students occupy an active role in the learning processes. Teaching methods intend to assist students in this role and help them to take charge of their learning that includes making use of meaningā€making, knowledge generation and production practices in digital media.

The course is taught with innovative and engaging teaching methods, fostering problem-based and inquiry-based learning. Such active learning is supported by a combination of lectures, workshops, seminars, tutorials and specially prepared online resources. Visits to exhibitions and digital media industry-related events form an essential part of the curriculum. Development of employability and professional practice lies in the heart of the curriculum that relies on work-related teaching and learning approaches. Students are encouraged to self-reflect on their learning process, preparing for knowledge creation, life-long learning and leadership.

A blended learning strategy is employed to enhance the learning experience, facilitate communication between students and tutors and develop collaboration among students.
The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be used as a platform to support online activities,facilitate formative assessment and related feedback, as well as a tool to integrate useful online learning materials provided by research institutions, academic publications, professional organisations and other relevant sources.

Course aims

The BA in Digital Media is dedicated to the education of a new generation of media professionals able to develop a comprehensive understanding of digital communications. The course does this by providing opportunities for students to develop expertise in a wide range of digital media technologies and forms of communication from a theoretical, practical, creative, critical and technical perspectives.

The programme aims to:

- Enable students to work in a dynamic job market, by helping them to develop skills in independent study, research and synthesis for a major new media production and a range of transferable skills such as communication, problem solving, decision making and information seeking

- Provide students with a comprehensive foundation in a wide range of digital media technologies

- Provide students with an in depth understanding of the structure and practices of the digital media industries

- Provide students with an understanding of the theoretical foundations of digital media

- Provide students with an understanding of the relationship between design, concept development and a range of theoretical approaches to digital media

- Provide an opportunity for students to develop a particular specialism within the field of digital media

Course learning outcomes

The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on systematic understanding of the key aspects of the knowledge base of Digital Media, including a coherent and detailed knowledge of some specialist areas in depth.

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

deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within digital media;;

devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of digital media;

describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in digital media, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;

manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to digital media);

apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;

critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;

communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;

exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;

undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

Course learning outcomes / Module cross reference

- Deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within digital media:

(I) SM4004New Media Technologies and
Cultures
(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5002 Design for Internet and Mobile
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6001 Digital Play

- Devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of digital media:

(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(I) SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging
(P) SM5002 Design for Internet and Mobile
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6001 Digital Play
(A) SM6P00 Digital project

- Describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in digital media, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge:

(I) SM4004New Media Technologies and
Cultures
(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5002 Design for Internet and Mobile
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(P) SM5006 Television Studies: Theory and
Practice
(P) SM5051 Crime and the Media
(P) SM5052 Youth, Culture and the Media
(P) SM5054 Media Audiences
(A) SM6005 World Cinema: Hollywood and
Beyond
(A) SM6052 Media Power and Politics
(A) SM6054 Analysing Popular Music
(A) SM6P00 Digital project
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise

- Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be
incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem:

(I) SM4004New Media Technologies and
Cultures
(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(I) SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5002 Design for Internet and Mobile
(A) SM6P00 Digital project
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6001 Digital Play

- Communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences:

(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(I) SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(P) SM5002 Design for Internet and Mobile
(A) SM6P00 Digital project
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6001 Digital Play

- Exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts:

(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6001 Digital Play

- Undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature:

(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(P) SM6001 Digital Play
(A) SM6P00 Digital project

- Manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to digital media):

(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(A) SM6000 Digital Management and
Enterprise
(A) SM6P00 Digital project

- Apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects:

(I) SM4005Principles of Media Design
(I) SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging
(I) SM4008 Theory and Practice of Interaction
Design
(P) SM5000 Animation: Principles & Practice
(P) SM5003 Digital Video & Sound
(A) SM6001 Digital Play
(A) SM6P00 Digital project

Principle QAA benchmark statements

Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies

- Art and Design

Assessment strategy

The course makes use of formative and summative assessment strategies. Self-assessment and reflection on the process of learning are part of the modules’ assessment strategies.

Assessments for each module are determined by the aims of the module and its learning outcomes. This is a course aimed at developing students’ competencies and abilities in digital media, it is therefore proposed that the assessment of core modules is coursework based and project based. Participants are expected to produce a mixture of written, visual and oral work and are required to demonstrate working within a team, working with different media and with multidisciplinary concepts.

Organised work experience, work based learning, sandwich year or year abroad

Work-based learning in a fictional company is offered in an honours level module Digital Media Management and Enterprise. On the module, students are given work tasks to complete. Such tasks may include identifying skills that are required for the production of the project, building a team, and managing various stages of the production process.

Students can also take the work placement module at level 6.

Students are encouraged to participate in the Study Abroad programme.

Course specific regulations

N/A

Modules required for interim awards

SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging
SM4004 New Media, Technologies and Cultures
SM4014 Digital Video and Sound Design
SM4015 Designing and Scripting Interactive Media
SM5000 Animation: Principles and Practice
SM5015 Responsive Web Design
SM5014 Digital Innovation & Content Creation
SM6000 Digital Management and Enterprise
SM6001 Digital Play
SM6P07 Digital Media Project

Arrangements for promoting reflective learning and personal development

Reflective learning and personal development planning is core to this course. A variety of learning, teaching and assessment methodologies are deployed in order to assist the student in her self-reflected personal development.

In the course of their study, students are asked to engage with practice-based and theory-based material, oscillating between the two. To effectively do that, students reflect on theory in their practice, and apply practice to theory, at the same time analysing and documenting their work in progress. Working on projects, they actively construct their learning process by coming up with conceptual frameworks to then continue on to the material production, while supported by their tutors. In many modules, project diaries and reports form a part of the assessment, together with self- and peer-assessment exercises. Presentations and group critiques help the students to reflect critically on their work and achievement. Portfolio-based learning, teaching and assessment is another main characteristic of the course. Group work and group projects invite peer-led teaching and assessment and contribute to the development of a wide range of reflective learning practices. Graduating with a portfolio of work, the students produce a documentary history of their personal development throughout the course of their study.

Arrangements on the course for careers education, information and guidance

Career guidance and industry contextualisation is embedded throughout the programme. A series of visiting lectures from leading members of the digital media industry is arranged each year. Alumni lecturers are also organised regularly. Members of staff maintain strong links with the industry and receive requests for candidates for the volunteer or junior positions in industry which are then passed on to the students.

Part of the course involves working in an industry-like environment, which strengthens careers education element of the course. Students take on roles of the employees as well as employers, receiving and providing guidance as supported by the tutor who makes sure that the process follows marketplace arrangements closely.

Another part of the course is concerned with making available to students the means to create their own website where they can promote themselves in the employment marketplace. Upon graduation, the students can advertise their skills to the potential employer with a portfolio of work.

Other external links providing expertise and experience

There are speakers from the industry regularly invited to give lectures within specific modules.

Career opportunities

Our Digital Media BA degree has an excellent record of employment after graduation. You’ll have a wide choice of careers within the commercial and public sectors. Multimedia production, game and web design, social media, web content management, filmmaking, video post-production, 3D animation and project management are just a few of the paths open to you after graduation.

Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

  • 280 UCAS points from three or more A levels (eg BBC) or
  • 320 UCAS points from a BTEC National (eg DDM)

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

Official use and codes

Approved to run from 2013/14 Specification version 1 Specification status Validated
Original validation date 01 Sep 2013 Last validation date 01 Sep 2013  
Sources of funding HE FUNDING COUNCIL FOR ENGLAND
JACS codes P304 (Electronic Media Studies): 100%
Route code DIGMDA

Course Structure

Stage 1 Level 04 September start Offered

Code Module title Info Type Credits Location Period Day Time
SJ4030 Approaches to Film and Television Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR MON AM
SJ4046 Moving Image and Sound Practice Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR FRI AM
          NORTH AUT+SPR FRI PM
SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging Core 30 NORTH SPR+SUM TUE PM
          NORTH AUT+SPR TUE PM
SM4001 Media Genres Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR MON AM
SM4015 Designing and Scripting Interactive Media Core 30 NORTH SPR+SUM TUE AM
          NORTH AUT+SPR TUE AM
SM4050 Introduction to Digital Media Core 15 NORTH AUT FRI PM
          NORTH SUM FRI PM
SM4051 Developing Your Career Core 15        

Stage 1 Level 04 January start Offered

Code Module title Info Type Credits Location Period Day Time
SJ4030 Approaches to Film and Television Core 30        
SJ4046 Moving Image and Sound Practice Core 30        
SM4000 Creative Digital Imaging Core 30 NORTH SPR+SUM TUE PM
SM4001 Media Genres Core 30        
SM4015 Designing and Scripting Interactive Media Core 30 NORTH SPR+SUM TUE AM
SM4050 Introduction to Digital Media Core 15 NORTH SUM FRI PM
SM4051 Developing Your Career Core 15        

Stage 2 Level 05 September start Offered

Code Module title Info Type Credits Location Period Day Time
FC5W52 Work Related Learning for Media 1 Core 15        
SM5015 Responsive Web Design Core 30        
SM5018 Digital Media Practice Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR TUE PM
SM5063 Social Media Strategies Core 15 NORTH AUT THU AM
SM5055 Installation and Site Option 15        
SM5062 Digital Humanities Option 15        
SM5064 3D Animation: Principles and Practice Option 15        
SM5066 Documentary Photography and Photography Journalism Option 15        
SM5067 Television Studio Practice Option 15 NORTH SPR FRI PM
          NORTH SPR FRI AM
OL0000 Open Language Programme Module Option 15 NORTH SPR NA  
          NORTH AUT NA  

Stage 3 Level 06 September start Offered

Code Module title Info Type Credits Location Period Day Time
FC6W52 Work Related Learning for Media 2 Core 15        
SM6000 Digital Management and Enterprise Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR THU PM
SM6062 Game Design Core 15        
SM6P07 Digital Media Project Core 30 NORTH AUT+SPR MON PM
SJ6060 Documentary Filmmaking Option 15 NORTH SPR MON AM
SM6050 3-D Character Animation and Effects Option 15        
SM6053 Digital Video Post-Production Option 15 NORTH AUT THU AM
SM6054 Analysing Popular Music Option 15 NORTH AUT WED AM
SM6063 E-Learning: Development and Design Option 15        
OL0000 Open Language Programme Module Option 15 NORTH SPR NA  
          NORTH AUT NA