CRIM12009 - Crime, Media and Power

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In a pluralist society, criminal justice policy is heavily influenced by public perception of crime and in particular fear of crime. In this unit you will explore the media’s role in constructing an image of crime and critique the ways in which forms of power control this process. You will discuss different representations of crime from the early print news media through to the growth of social media and the rise of ‘fake news’. This unit discusses the forms of media regulation that seek to govern the way truth is presented particularly within news media. You will apply this knowledge by developing an organisational media response to a complex issue.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 93.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student evaluations, in class feedback and via email.
Feedback
Continue separating Workbook assessment into two submissions so students can respond and apply feedback in the same unit.
Recommendation
UC will continue to separate workbook assessment into two parts, with part one covering foundational content knowledge and part two providing more choice of modules for students.
Action Taken
The workbook task continued in the refreshed unit and there were two submission points.
Source: Student evaluations, in class feedback and via email.
Feedback
Video recordings of criteria and assessent overviews were helpful.
Recommendation
UC will continue to employ contemporary methodological assessment practices and record two different videos for each assessment task. One outlining the task with scaffolded sentence structure suggestions as well as research tips and connections to ALC workshops. The second goes through the rubric criteria in more detail with samples and examples of how to meet the criteria as well as some common mistakes for students to avoid. To reduce overloading information for students, these are uploaded on different days and at least two weeks before task due dates, which will be continued per student feedback.
Action Taken
Several recordings were provided about the assessment tasks. This included information about the task requirements, expectations and the marking scheme.
Source: Student evaluations, in class feedback and via email.
Feedback
Students found the Unit content engaging and interesting
Recommendation
The contemporary methodological topics will be reviewed and updated where necessary to maintain the engaging content of the Unit.
Action Taken
The content was reviewed and refreshed to align with contemporary criminological literature and issues. The new content was well received by students, as reflected in the utility of course content scores.
Source: Student evaluations, in class feedback and via email.
Feedback
Students were very satisfied with the learning support received during the unit
Recommendation
The unit modules contain learning resources and challenge tasks. These will be developed into a third iteration which will include additional information and learning resources in order to maintain currency and a contemporary unit, as well as adapt for each cohort interest and skill needs. The UC will continue to be available via Zoom and email for additional tutorials/meetings. Additional video recordings and scaffolded assesment guides will continue to be evaluated and utilised in each unit.
Action Taken
Extensive support was provided to students regarding each assessment item, including instructional recordings and workshop activities dedicated to working through the tasks. This was particularly the case with the final major assessment item. Students could contact the UC outside of workshops to discuss their learning needs. This resulted in several students receiving extensions on assessments, which enabled them to successfully complete the unit. Students appeared satisfied with these provisions based on the unit feedback.
Source: Student evaluations, in class feedback and via email.
Feedback
Students appreciated the choice available in the Critical Case Study assessment task.
Recommendation
While options for the Critical Case Study assessment may change, UC will continue to provide a range of case study topics for student selection, including a mix of contemporary and emerging criminology areas. This will continue to be supproted with brief overviews and suggested Podcast introductions to assist student choice.
Action Taken
The range of options for the case study assessment was retained. Students appeared to enjoy this autonomy, as did the previous cohort.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Relevance of learning material to Criminology
Recommendation
Continue to embed content from 'Media Criminology' to capture the intersection of media students and criminological inquiry. Materials should continue to relate to real-world crime events to allow students to connect theory to actual crime events.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Consistency of workbook assessment with other CRIM units
Recommendation
Students remarked that the expectations for the workbook task within this course differed from other CRIM courses. In particular, the work limit of responses and the type of activities/questions that students were asked to complete. Consideration should be given to the nature of the workbook assessment in other courses, ensuring the workbook tasks align and do not confuse students regarding expectations. The multiple submission points for the task should also be retained as this appears to contribute to better grade outcomes as students can distribute the workload across the term.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.