The Learning Effectiveness of Cross-Discipline Collaboration Within a Media Production BA Project

Abstract

Does cross-course collaboration between BA Scriptwriting, BA Television, and BA Interactive Media Students, improve the learning experience when working on a group-based interactive story-telling project, and what are the implications for assessment of the work? This 2007 case study involved 148 Bournemouth University students in 18 production groups.

This paper considers the learning potential released by teaching to groups across different disciplines within media production. A single six week unit was delivered to eighteen groups of students, each group comprising a mix from BA Television Production, BA Interactive Media Production and BA Scriptwriting for Film and Television, all at level C. Each group of approximately nine students was required to create a DVD programme with an associated website. The paper considers the logistics of organising and delivering the programme and the ways in which staff and students related to the cross-discipline nature of the unit. It also considers the approaches taken to assess the students and their project work.

The investigation involved a mixture of questionnaires and interviews conducted after completion of the unit.