Conversations today…

Today’s morning SKYPE:

We talked about the ‘bigness of ideas’ and how you grapple with writing about them without going off on tangents that leave you with no time or to big a word count! We talked about the ‘I’ in your research and learning and that you can only write from you perspective so rather than thinking you are creating definitive documents on a subject, write openly about where you are with ideas and how and why they are meaningful within the context of what you are doing now. This can include suggesting some ideas ‘feel’ important but you are not sure how they fit at the moment. Or you are aware that some ideas are much more complex than you present them as but you do not want to go down that tangent right now. Rose is going to post on her blog about this.  http://rosepaye3012.blogspot.co.uk

We talked about the ‘evidence’ (or illustration) for Module One and how this is just the same as having figures you refer to (illustrations) in a piece of writing. Sarah is going to post about citations particularly for different types of material to illustrate in writing. http://sarahsulemanji.blogspot.co.uk

We talked about enjoying the learning process and making the most of the task of making the AOLs Maria and Tamzin will write more on this. Aggy is going to write about being reminded that it is a creative process not a ‘court case’ about the value of your work!!

 http://mariaranden.blogspot.no

 http://tamzinhoward.blogspot.co.uk

Mary is going to post in response to a part of the conversation that was about literature and literature reviews. http://www.marymapp.blogspot.co.uk

Jamie is going to post thoughts about the Professional Artefact, after we talked about its role in as a documentation of your inquiry. http://jamiewarburton.blogspot.co.uk

In this evening SKYPE session we talked about important dates

Dec 9^th – to have written a draft by this date

Dec 19^th – last day of classes at Middlesex Uni (Break for winter holidays)

Jan 2^nd – Middlesex starts back

Jan 5^th – Work must handed in on or before this date

Jan 19^th – Module Three Oral presentations – whole MAPP community is invited.

We talked about getting feedback on drafts after Dec19th and how you need to talk to your adviser about this.

During both conversations we talked about Turnitin and the submission of work process. Helen has written a comprehensive blog post about this in response to the conversations today. http://www.helenkindred.blogspot.co.uk

One tip Ainsley talked about was trying out submitting work before the due date to make sure you know how to do it.

We also talked about the practicality of putting the things together that you will be handing-in. Regardless of the module you are on make sure what you hand in makes sense out side of the familiarity you have with it. It was suggested that you give work to a trusted person (who may not be in your profession) and ask them if it makes sense and ‘can they follow it?’. This way you get someone looking at it who has fresh eyes.

Great conversations to be a part of, Thanks
Adesola

Evening Group Skype Session

We had a big group in the evening 15 people! People agreed to write posts about the conversation including on, capturing ideas, what to write on blogs and thoughts about AOL 'evidence' or illustration. Jamie is also going to post a question he hopes people will comment on for his research.

We talked about the importance of commenting on each others blogs and the value of having a learning community so please explore each other's posts and make some comments.

Adesola

Odds and ends from about citation

This week Mary G. asked me a couple of things about citation…Here are some thoughts. Let me know what you all think…

We use the Harvard system. The idea of a citation is that you are letting the Reader know where you got an idea or quote from. It is making sure you recognise the places things come from. It also allows the Reader to go and find out more about that idea or the rest of the quote because they know where it came from. This is how they know you write the name of the person who said it and the date of the publication they said it in just after you mention it (for example (Smith 2012)). If it is a quote you also write the page number (for example Smith, 2012 p.65). Now the Reader has what they need to be a detective.

First they go to the end of your writing to the bibliography. There you will have written the longer version. The name of the person is first (Smith) so they can find the name you had in the text and then they check the date (2012). Smith might have written a number of things that you have quoted at different times so there maybe a (Smith, 2007) as well. Then the rest of the long citation in the bibliography tells us the name of the book and who published. The whole point of all of this is that the Reader can go to the library and get the same book you were looking at. Then they can turn to the page (p.65) and read what you read that led you to write about the idea in your paper. It is all about giving the write information so we can have the same (reading) experience as you.

For example:

James Smith writes about cows in his book ‘I love milk’. Here he is point out that grass is really important.

‘It was green and beautiful and fed the cows very well’ (Smith, 2012 p.65)

More about citation

If you quote someone – even if you have just said something about that person you still have to use a citation at the end of the quote, anyway you need to put the page number as well.

A quote should be on a separate line, in italics and indented. The quote also needs a ‘lead in’ and ‘lead out’ in your text. You cannot just put it there to make a point by itself.

Example:

Dewey’s Pragmatist perspective further develops the research’s understanding of dance as language. Whereas above phenomenological hermeneutics implies dance could be thought of as dealing with the leftovers of verbal language Dewey reverses this idea:

‘language, signs and significance, come into existence not by intent and mind but by over-flow, by-product, in gestures and sounds. The story of language is the story of the use made of these occurrences; a use that is eventual as well as eventful.’  (Dewey 1958, p.175)

Dewey sees verbal language as an adornment to the act of communicating. He sees communication as the drive to share and collaborate meaning. Effort of doing this can lead to verbal language but communication is not brought into existence by verbal language and the effort of communication could just as well lead to a movement language .  – Akinleye, unpublished thesis

The citation (Dewey, 1958, p.175) is linked to the following in the bibliography, which should not be separate, but a part of the same document. That means that when you read the above quote you can turn to the back pages and see which book it is. The citation tells us this: to find the book you go to the bibliography and look for the name Dewey. I may have a number of books by Dewey I have quoted from so then you look for the one published in 1958. Now you can locate the full detail example below. 

If there were two books by Dewey published in 1958 in my bibliography then I would put

(Dewey, 1958a p.175). Then the bibliography I would put 1958a again so you know which one of the two books by him published in 1958 I was talking about. So the bibliography entry will look like this:

Dewey, J. (1958) Experience and nature, New York: Dover Publications.

This citation format is Harvard:

Surname, initcal of first name. (Year the book you are looking at was published), where it was published: who published it

Note the punctuation as well as the content of the text. Using this method means your work is in line with standard citation formats, which means that anyone who is used to doing research can read your work and find the very text you have copied the quote from. Every book published in UK is in the British Library. That means that someone can find the book you are talking about. That is what citation is for. It is not to prove you know the quote was in a book by X.

Also note that the date is the date of the book you are holding in your hand when you look at the quote. So for instance Dewey did not first publish‘Experience and Nature’ in 1958, but that is the date of the book I have, so when I put the page number (…, p.175) you can find the page with the quote on it. In a book published earlier or later the print size maybe different or the size of the book pages etc… this means that that quote is not on page 175 of those books. This is why it is important the date is of the publication you have looked at, otherwise the page number is meaningless.

Citation and quotes from research participants

The idea of a citation for a book etc... is so that when we read your work we can then go and find the book (journal etc...) you had in your hand that you cited from. But the interviews are data you collected and we cannot go and find them somewhere. You are using quotes form interviewees as examples of something you are writing about, so it is a bit different from a citation for book (etc...) which is pointing us towards further reading or bringing to mind a theorised idea by someone else. So assuming you have given an outline of what you research looked like. [ie you interviewed six professional dancers. Billy works in UK, Jamie in Mexico etc... and any other relevant information we need to know about them while respecting their anonymity.] Then when you write about something they said you can write

'it's a long way to go to go to an audition' - Billy

So now a notes about quoting people in terms of the above:

First: the decision to give them names – many people say participant (1) or participant B. This is ok but think about the topic of your research. If it about people's experiences or feelings etc… then it is ok to present them as real people. Not labelled like test-tubes. If it’s a test-tube based data collection process then naming them A, B or C makes more sense. If you use names think about the implication of gender and cultural background a name can give.

Second, as I mention above take a moment  in the overview of the research project in your account to let us know who and where and how you collected the data so we can see any comments in the context of the inquiry. For instance some of my interviewee might be college students and other professional dancers and other teachers.

Third,  DO NOT use the quote to make your point. Make the point and then use the quote to give an example of what you are talking about.

'Most dancers I spoke to talked about the importance of auditions in terms of keeping current with what was going on, but also pointed out that there needed to a balance between the keeping current and the expense of preparing and traveling to an audition. 

'I live in Gistone (small village in the North of England) and most auditions I am interested in are in the South. its a long way to go to travel to an audition.' Billy (professional dancer)

Billy's comment underlined Smiths (2009) theory that dancers in the outside of major cities are disadvantaged when it comes to audition experience. However, Sam the other professional dancer I interviewed from the North of England saw a trip down South for an audition as part of a larger goal. Sam used the time to also meet up with friends and visit museums.

'I try to make going to auditions only part of what i do in a day. That way I feel less pressure in the audition. Otherwise I'm like thinking if I don't get this I've wasted the fare down here and what-not.' - Sam (professional dancer). 

Smith (2009) has said that professional dancers start to see auditions as away of socialisation. It seemed that the professional dancers who lived outside of major cities..... 

Smith quote....'

The quotes from Participants should be indented but I can't see how to do that on the blog post page and my computer keeps crashing, so I'M trying to get this posted before it dies again - but enough of my problems!!!!

Back to the quotes-- as we read more and more quotes we also start to get a sense of the personalities of the participants - that is also why its nice to give them names; it is easier to remember who said what.

As you start to write what you are handing in for assessment in any of the modules start to let go of the drive to make a point (tell the truth) - and think of the actual document you are making as also a work of art. how you write, structure and form the essay is an art too. It is not just about what you are saying because how we understand what you are saying is more subtle then just the idea, it is how the words are put together. I am very aware of this as a dyslexic - and it often seems like a magic trick to even get words together in the first place but every now and then you might read something or see something and think that was really well done. Think about what you think is well written and why. Alan did a post about truth, that was interesting to read. I guess I am saying the same thing. Let's suppose there is more than one 'truth'. What you are thinking about when you write should not be presenting the 'truth' of what you found but capturing the nature of what you found or experienced.   

(Sensitivity to the whole process not just an account of past.)

Rubric

I found this rubric as I was looking though some work. It is a good example of expectations for writing, might be especially useful for those writing their area's of learning although I think it is interesting reading for writing in the context of MAPP and BAPP in general. What do you think?

Example MAPP for blog Assessment Rubric (from 3/12/2008)

	Beginner fail (below level three) 17-2O	Expected pass 9- 16	Developed merit 5-8	Progressing distinction 1-4	Notes
External sources of Knowledge: Aware academic / professional ideas of other and seeing how they fit into your work.	Cite one or no external ideas.	Cite others work  two- three	Cite others work appropriately (examples) four or five Aware of others doing similar work as you	Cite others work effectively – (developed ideas on) more than five
Internal conception of knowledge: Recognising own practise as a source of knowledge.	Telling the story of something that happened that helped you	Realisation: Articulating an event or incident when self practise developed, (without the aid a teacher).	Trust: Articulate a time when you acted on your practice (self knowledge / things you have learnt) without confirmation or direction of someone else.	Giving / Risk: being able to articulate a through-line (show us how it manifests) of your practice in life outside of the arts or work.
Selection and Justification of approaches to tasks	Wrote the work	Work has a number of drafts, final draft could track the development of the drafts (work went through development stages)	Work reflects other forms of thinking used in the process of composing the essay.	Work is a vehicle that summarises a whole process of learning. Almost like a report on the learning that has been done (persons went through development stages)
Ethical Understanding	Know external frameworks.	Work articulates how student can see the impact of themselves and their practice on others. Aware of external frameworks (rules) and apply them.	Articulate how practice is informed by awareness of particular views and experiences, aware of the effect they have on others.  Know external ethical frameworks and incorporate them into this knowledge of their actions.	Articulate a clear understanding of responsibilities: Practice is informed by student’s perceived place in society – student shows a range of ways to engage with others because of the impact research / study might have. Analyse external frameworks and develop them for themselves.
Analysis and synthesis	Ideas are evident.	Can track where ideas have developed and how they have been influenced by experiences.	Show how ideas have linked in the past and the range of ways ideas emerge. Show the different ways in which ideas can be used. (concepts, principles, systems, models)	Articulate the personal process for developing and applying ideas, shows awareness of other peoples’ processes as well.
Self appraisal / reflection on practise	Explain how a teacher has helped their develop	Explain how a past experience has informed the way the student does things now. The Student explains how their impression of their work has differed from a teacher’s.	Explain how past experience has been used to inform a wide range of elements of practice.	Shows how the student has developed their practice through intentional use of self reflection (not instigated by someone or something else). Instances of this.
Action Planning leading to effective and appropriate action (B3)	Table or schedule of events	Evidence of how they plan, including prioritising and setting of aims and objectives.	Showing evidence of having planned for themselves and others. Plan would accommodate a number of people and schedules &/or use existing action planning tool/s.	Shows understanding of ethical implications and the impact of their work has on others. Their work theorises or cites other planning methods.
Evaluation of information (B4)	Student describes information that they think is relevant.	Presents ways that have been used to access information and identify what is important to their personal practice.	Present a range of existing evaluation tools/ formulas that they have found valuable.	Show personally devised ways and systems that are used to evaluate information.
Application of learning in number of contexts	Shows that student learnt stuff.	Learnt something and show how student used it in a different circumstance.	Learnt something and used it in two other contexts (home-life, teaching, technique class, relationships).	Learnt something and used it in more than two contexts, or at a very deep level.
Use of resources will be effective and wide ranging	Has put aside some time each week to study.	Shows understanding of relevant resources and how they would be useful.	Gathered a number of resources (such as people, things, ideas, funding) in support of their work.	Sees impact of their work on others. Can describe the strategic implications of their work as a resource for others.
Effective Communication	Good at story telling.	Uses the standard methods of written and oral presentation for academia. (sentence construction, argumentation and citation)	Articulation of the use of a range of approaches to communication / presentation and some are used.	Successful and clearly decided approaches to support impact of ideas and concepts in their work. Articulation of why this approach was used.
Working and learning autonomously and with others	Evidence of being organised and punctual.	Organised work, with a method of working developed from past experience. Can identify the people they work with ‘best’	Shows strategies for working autonomously and with others. Is willing to take a number of roles within a group (challenge, reflect, support).	Shows knowledge of when to engage with others, is aware of their responses to different group settings. Shows awareness of when and how to challenge and support others. Can articulate personal perspectives in relation to working autonomously and with others.

How do you work?

Hi, well everyone is moving along. Module Ones have all done a first draft of a RoL. Now you have done this and got some feedback you need to think carefully about how you work best.

The one-at-a-time thinker!! - You may want to perfect this RoL because you know you work best doing one thing at a time. But remember there maybe links between RoL’s

The backburner!! – you may want to do some more work on the first RoL while comments from your Advisor are still fresh, but then let it sit on the back-burner and turn to another RoL

The multi-layered approach!! – you might want to start all or a few. Start making notes for all of them adding ideas as one RoL might spark something for another. 

Whatever way you think you work best it is important you remember you have 8 to 10 to do. Don’t get stuck on one.

Also remember you are making a claim for MA level credits, writing about the history of something from when you began it at age 11 maybe useful for context but it is very unlikely you are saying you were doing MA level work at 11 years old.  I think that thinking in terms of themes – points you feel are MA level learning outcomes, is much easier than telling a personal historical narrative.

In each RoL you should have at least two citations and reflection (albeit briefly) to existing theory and published work. It is important you show you are not working in a silo, you are aware of how your learning links to the outside world and other peoples theorizing. It is also important that you show you know how to work in the academic style of the University.

Module Twos – hi Emma(!) have got an initial plan started, now it is about the art of creating an inquiry at acknowledges the type of learning you are hoping to gain from carrying it out. There are many ways to find out the same thing, it is what you consider important, fragile, lost, risky and vital that will inform how you find out. Again look into how other people have used data collection tools, not just in terms of dance research but also in general.

What do you think? How are you working on your RoLs, any tips? Please comment…

Keep up the good work everyone

Adesola

Drafts

This week I am thinking about the usefulness of completing the first draft of something. In some ways you need to think of writing the work you are handing–in  as an experience in itself that will teach you more. Having written it you might find that the experience of writing it completes the activity for you and helps you have a full perspective. At that point you will have a kind of clarity of completion that will in form the whole process and will mean you can go back to what you wrote and improve it in terms of order, or clarity of the points you make or seeing where you have left out something important.

I am not going back on what I am always saying about thinking. I am not saying that thinking is IN the writing but knowing the whole event is helpful for organising understanding of it. The whole event is doing the tasks AND writing about the learning. It is like the way if you are learning a dance sequence even if you don’t know how to do it all yet knowing how it will end helps you to start to internalise the sequence so you can learn and remember it. I always find while I am being taught a sequence it seems really long and overwhelming, but once I know the whole thing where it goes I can start to manage the parts of it much better and it doesn’t seem as long at all.

That is why at this point having a RoL written is in fact a way to inform the process of writing all of them. The experience of doing it, itself is a learning activity that should help clarify the whole task of making a portfolio of RoL.

What have you found?

Adesola