Good Practice Exchange: Working with the BBC

To watch the film on Youtube click here

Madga Bober, Lecturer in Information Communications, leads a unit called ‘Technology, Audiences and Globalisation’ for final year students on the Information & Communications and Digital Media & Commmunications programmes

The core feature of this unit is the involvement of industry partners, BBC Research and Development (R&D), who provide research briefs on different themes each year. Beyond this, though, BBC R&D representatives are involved in giving a guest lecture, providing feedback at formative assessment and are present for the summative assessment presentations. This year, the assessment was held in the Shed as a student conference where students presented the findings of their research in groups. Through the conference, the students also have the opportunity to network with professionals and develop their own professional communication.

In feedback from students on the BBC projects, they said that the most rewarding aspects of the unit were:

• "It felt like we were employed by the BBC, it gave me an insight of what's it like working within the BBC and the type of work they do. And the feedback we received from the BBC at the end showed us they actually valued what we found."
• "The chance to speak to industry professionals and gain valuable research experience."
• "Getting real life responses and feedback, taking a step away from university."
• "We were given feedback from the "client" and were conducting research for a real organisation rather than a fictional scenario."
• "Being able to be involved with the BBC opens opportunities."

These responses suggest, as Magda explains in her film, that students appreciate the meaningfulness of the projects and that it improves their confidence at a crucial time in their university career.

Watch the film here: https://youtu.be/63W5ir6rh4A

This video is part of the MMU Good Practice Exchange.