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Thursday 31 December 2009

New Year's Eve Looking at Blogs on 31.12.09

Right I am making a final swing through on comments - glad to see so many up at last. I have had a few queries by email to look at certain blogs so I am doing that and putting comments up... Comment on this post if you have any questions that might be useful to others on the course in this final stage - I am back in the office on 4th January 0208 411 5087.

Over the holiday, I have been doing my doctoral research on the topic of work based learning in Higher Education - doing some of the interview transcripts (long overdue!) with people talking about their interpretation of work-based learning and how they facilitate this form learning. It is really interesting stuff and relates a great deal to what we are doing on the BAPP programme. I get a lot of help from my Supervisor who also does WBL at Birkbeck.

I have also been trying to help final term BAPP students with feedback and info about their final BAPP project reports (the ones that are done in the 3rd module of BAPPS). Because of the schedules that arts professionals have over the holidays, what would be a holiday for many types of work is actually a busy season as you all well know. However, I am looking forward to seeing the final reports in January as people have chosen some good topics that relate to what that do in their workplace.

Paula

Monday 14 December 2009

Blogsites to check out

Here are some blogsites you may want to visit that have conversations mixed in. REMEMBER - the peer comments are for your to use as you wish for your Final Task D - some people might say something about your piece that has not quite convinced you... so use only the comments you think are useful.

http://lauraquin87.blogspot.com/

http://alysspencer.blogspot.com/

http://laura-bethhill.blogspot.com/

http://mshevket.blogspot.com/

I will add to this Blog - Laura-Beth and I are discussing some clarifications but she is 8 hours behind us in California - so I will put them up when I speak to her.

I am actually on officially on holiday this week and the University closes on Friday the 18th December - it opens 4th January... I know we are not onsite doing this BUT for those who have not posted Task D and/or Task E time is running out. I strongly advise everyone to put something up ASAP - it might be linked to the issue of professionalism - how do you work professionally to meet deadlines? Do you work as a team to do this or individually?

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help...

Campus session video + list of blogsites

Go to my mobile me site to see a digital video of the movement exercise and a list of all the Blogs HERE. The blogsite starts with DRAFT in the title and the other starts with Campus Session. Please let me know if you can access ok?

Thursday 10 December 2009

Arts Council project at Middlesex University

Under news - this successful dance bid came up:

Digital artist and lecturer Nic Sandiland of Middlesex University’s Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts has been awarded a grant of picalmost £100,000 by the Arts Council for a collaborative dance and technology project. The grant will help to fund a new multi-media collaboration including dance events, taking place in the south-east over the next 18 months.

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Check out Adesola's Blog for first half of the workshop

Adesola has put up a good post about the first half of the campus workshop that you have seen in pictures - the pictures are actually read with the meeting up in the circle first - and then the movement! find the Blog here http://adesolaa.blogspot.com/

I also added a comment on Adesola's site - it is repeated here...

In response to Laura-Beth's question.

What Adesola and I did to link this 'kinesthetic' or movement process of conversation to the Tasks was to move into a discussion about the 3 learning styles of visual, audio, and kinesthetic - to using the conventions of academic conversation to think about and respond to the 3 writing styles in Task D... the academic structure is similar to the rules that the Movement exercise provided BUT people need to engage in the process for it to work... in Task E the job is to look at the styles of writing - pick out key points that discuss the content and structure of the Task D - and say something about the piece of writing in the COMMENT BOX that might help the writer clarify certain passages or be clearer in order to communicate ideas.

We did discuss the conventions of academic writing a bit - and luckily the group had really good questions about the process. For example, if 2 or 3 references are used in the writing to explain, back-up or expand upon a point of view, then use the Harvard method to cite these sources... the Harvard method is in the back of the Handbook. Check out http://paulanottingham.blogspot.com/ for more explanation of the 2nd half of the workshop.

Tuesday 8 December 2009

photos of Adesola's creative conversations 7.12.09 campus workshop




Co-workers

I am still seeing (that is a visual learner trait) who contacts me about the Helping your co-workers... see previous Blog on the 3rd December. ALSO can you (the reader of this BLOG) encourage and/or help someone who has not posted Task D to put their writing up if you are able to do this? Everyone needs 3 comments/conversations for Task E - so this helps you as well... see Alan's new post on http://adurrant.blogspot.com/.

Visual auditory and kinesthetic learning

Language is just another way of communication and learning - like the visual audio and kinesthetic that we talked about yesterday.
Here is the web source for the visual, auditory, kinesthetic learning style I talked about yesterday - VAK. I'm sure there are others. Many people learn in all three styles , but it is just an awareness to whatever works for you.
We also discussed briefly, as Adesola mentioned in the Induction to the course, that many people in the creative and cultural industries have learning conditions which affect reading and writing, such as dyslexia. There is support at the university. Also the more time you can give to completing the Tasks would be helpful, starting early is important.

Monday 7 December 2009

Creative Conversations using the Academic style

Creative Conversations using the Academic style

Here are some terms we used as discussion points on Monday 7th December with Adesola's presentation using conversational dance as a kinesthetic learning experience.

Writing in an academic style - uses recognised conventions of relative neutrality and referencing (rules of engagement) to exchange ideas, comment and critique statements about scientific and social phenomena.

Academic arguments “are sets of ideas which are expressed… Making an argument … involves working out how to construct, communicate, support and substantiate….” (Mason 2003)

An academic style of writing informs and directs a point of view; when applied, it can structure an argument – and different academic disciplines interpret concepts and theories differently (Anita Walsh 2008). For example, a Health professional might be trained to understand practice in a clinical setting while a creative and cultural arts professional might be trained to develop technical expertise, expressive capacity and creative innovation.

Academic arguments can use existing concepts and theories to state points of view.

Concept – an idea - “a unit of thought or element of knowledge that allows us to organize experience” (Janet Gail Donald 2001)

Theory –a rationale or justification based on ideas or evidence… - “a system of ideas intended to explain a phenomenon especially a system based on general principles and therefore independent of the target phenomenon” (Brewerton and Millward 2001) - theories can be used to relate to more than one ‘problem’ being examined or explored in the field (first hand phenomena)

Critical thinking is process that is used to think about topics and issues.

Glaser (influenced by Dewey) said “Critical thinking calls for a persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (extract from Fisher 2001).

“Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do” (Norris and Ennis, 1989,extracts from Fisher 2001).

Stella Cottrell (The Study Skills Handbook 3rd ed., 1999) says that Glaser emphasises 3 main points about critical thinking: 1. persistence 2. evidence 3. implications

You use critical reasoning to:

• Identify elements of a reasoned case
• Identify and evaluate assumptions
• Clarify and interpret expressions and ideas
• Judge the acceptability and credibility of the claims
• Evaluate the arguments of different kinds
• Analyse, evaluate and produce explanations
• Analyse, evaluate and make decisions
• Draw inferences
• Produce arguments (Fisher 2001)

Cottrell also suggests applying analytical thinking - being able to do things like
• “ looking for possible flaws in the reasoning of evidence, or the way in which the conclusions were drawn”
• “comparing the same issue from the point of view of other theorists or writers” and “checking for hidden assumptions” (Cottrell 1999).

These ideas are linked to what I call critical curiosity, your ability to want to know about something using a framework that is wider than what you already know…(Nottingham, 2009). This means extending your knowledge and understanding to learning that includes sources that go beyond the self to peers, professional networks and academic-related literature.

Campus Workshop 7th December

Thanks for all those who attended - Adesola's workshop was very interesting. See itinerary below - the Piccadilly line was down so it meant that we started late...

Part 1 Campus workshop about creative conversations using language and interactive movement: P’s, Q’s and R’s - Adesola

Part 2 of the Campus Workshop: Paula

Discuss Task D and Task E: (15 minutes with Question time) focus on Task E comments and critiques process using the academic style.

Form groups (random groups using 1 & 2 counting method).

Exercise 1: (10 minutes) Take the concepts from Part 1 interactive dance – use the 1. see, 2. notice and 3. wonder post-its to begin a verbal conversation in your group using a more academic style.

Discuss the concepts, critical thinking and critical curiosity elements that relate to the idea of self, peer and professional spheres of influence.

Write down any important points of the conversation for yourself – noting group and individual authorship points of the discussion …listen, write and review

Exercise 2: (15 minutes)

In the same group, use a given topic (a visit to a grocery store in Britain) and discuss this topic using critical thinking. Negotiate within the group a point of view about the topic – developing the academic argument from self, peers and professionals, and using national or international sources (some of these might be invented for the task…) that can inform a short piece of writing. Refer to the Peter’s rubric for academic writing to see if you understand how his suggestions can be applied… the following questions might be good starting points:

What argument are you trying to make about the topic – the visit to the grocery store?
Are you talking about the topic in a relatively neutral or objective manner?
What evidence are you using to convince the reader of your argument?
Can your statements be backed up with ‘research’ or ‘evidence’? What are these?
How can you reference your sources?
What types of sources would be good to use?

Collectively write up this piece of academic writing… approximately 500 words (or whatever time allows) on a piece of A4 writing.

Exercise 3: (10 minutes)

HAND this writing to another group to comment on the piece of writing. Critique the piece in order to help the 1st group with points they might have missed or have not been fully explained… Give the comments back to the group for a quick recap on what they might have missed or could add to the writing…

Plenary (5 minutes)

Thursday 3 December 2009

Helping Co-workers to get Task D up on the Blog!

Writing Task D should now be going up - please help your co-workers to remind them to do this - Task E will be hard to do unless everyone is up and participating... I would note that Abbi has commented on a number of Blogs - Murat, Alys and Laura-Beth are up and running...we are now just making sure we have a complete list for everyone's Blogs... As an experiment - leave your name in a comment if you have read this Blog!
Paula

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Japanese Dance event at MDX

Japanese Contemporary Dance Today

A Talk by Akiko Tachiki

Interest in Japanese contemporary dance has boomed in the past few years
but it is not always easy for those outside Japan to grasp what is going on and
to know who is emerging as the next artist with international impact.

Akiko Tachiki, one of Japan's most active dance journalists and critics,
will lead this special event, identifying current trends in
Japanese contemporary dance and revealing what the future is likely to hold.

This event offers a rare opportunity to find out about the most recent
developments in Japanese contemporary dance, to view video of the work of current practitioners
and to take part in a discussion with one of Japan's most eminent dance experts.



Date: 16 December 2009 from 6.00pm
Venue: Lecture Room The Place, 17 Duke's Road, London WC1H 9PY


This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email: event@jpf.org.uk, giving your name and those of any guests.
This event is co-organised by: the Japan Foundation, London; ResCen, Middlesex University; The Place.
Apologies for Cross Postings.
--
Prof Chris Bannerman
Head of ResCen, Centre for Research into Creation in the Performing Arts
www.rescen.net
C.Bannerman@mdx.ac.uk or bannerman.chris@gmail.com

Friday 27 November 2009

London Theatre Blog - talking about social networking sites

Have a look at the London Theatre Blog site.
Scroll down and there are some very interesting articles about blogging such as why
and how others are using Blogs in the sector.

Monday 23 November 2009

Avni email about due dates fro Tasks D and E

Dear Student,

The deadline date for Task D & E is Wednesday 6th January 2010 by 4pm.

Hard copies should be handed in to the Cat Hill Student Office or posted to me (please see address below). If you are posting, it is advisable to send your work via recorded delivery.

I have attached a receipt for your work, please complete and send in with your work, I will then send you confirmation of receipt of your work.

I also attach the module feedback form, please complete this form and send to me electronically. Please note, any feedback is kept confidential and is used to improve the quality of the programme and University services.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or your adviser should you have any queries.

Kind Regards

Avni Shah

GET STARTED SOON on Tasks D and E

Everyone- now is the time to write and post your Task D 'Finding your voice' and Task E 'Sharing comments'

Task D (3 x 500 words = 1500 words) is about learning to write in different styles - marketing, descriptive and academic. You can choose one thing to write about, something like an event, and write about it using the 3 styles... or you can use 3 different events... but like the Task C Kolb cycle - doing the same event might make it more straightforward to SEE... Avni has just sent you new directions to send this in by 6th January 2010... this gives you more time but my best advice is to GET STARTED. It is advisable to do the 3 different writing styles in 3 different Blogs.

Now - the game. The 1st 500 words of Task D using each style of writing should be posted in a Blog without your saying what kind of writing it is... people have already started so look around. Other professional practioners in BAPP can comment on which style they think you are using - and leave comments to help you refine the writing. After the first couple of comments it should be obvious what style it is - and your comments might be after this has been revealed - that is ok - then turn in the FINAL VERSION of the 3 Task D writing units for assessment - the ones you have edited because of comments.

Task E 'Sharing comments' is about collecting the comments/conversations you have had with people to help refine their 3 styles of writing. Conversations with peers are a part of any professional's routine, and most of us also work in teams that we rely on to steer what we do. These include critiques that point out what works and what doesn't - a form of feedback.

For Task E you use your own 3-5 critiques/comments about other people's Blog entries (written in an academic style) AND submit the BEST 3 comments/conversations that you have written as a part of this process for Task E (3 x 100 word). These are the ones that you remember - these are the conversations that made a difference... you need to make choices in this process...

Its a bit tricky but has direct links to professional practice. Sometimes we have to wordsmith our own marketing, sometimes we have to describe events, and writing academically is a skill that is worth having for artists and performers. The 7th December Campus Workshop at the Chickenshed is also there to help with this work - Adesola is planning an interactive piece abpout conversations... and I will be talking about this as it relates to writing.

Most of this is the programme handbook by the way. Get in touch with your Advisor if you need to get a grip on what you are supposed to do - and help each other - that is the name of the game... it is beginning to flow on the Blogs. Let's try to help everyone - and make sure everyone knows your Blog address...

Good Luck

Paula

The Gala- pics from the Circle



Avni email you should have gotten!

Dear Student,

The above campus session will be taking place at the Chickenshed Theatre from 1pm - 4pm. (WBS 3002)

Please meet at the reception bar area at Chickenshed.

The session will be run by Paula Nottingham and Adesola Akinleye and we expect Alan Durrant as well, students who have different advisors should also attend.

In this session, we will be covering the next assignment.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further queries.

Kind Regards

Avni Shah

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Congratulations for the Chickenshed GALA!!!

I went to the Chickenshed Gala last night at the Royal Albert Hall, and was really impressed by the show. I was up in the Circle level with mainly family members, but it looked great from up there. I have written a descriptive piece about the experience and hope to put it up soon... please let us know your side of the story on your Blogs!

Well done everyone!

Paula

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Marketing site for Rock Choir

This website might be good to look at for marketing...http://www.rockchoir.com/

Word-smithing

When I have worked as a learning consultant - I refer to writing as word-smithing because I sometimes have to work with my own and other people's writing in different styles - like in Task D. Abbi has started on thinking about the writing task - check it out.

Monday 16 November 2009

Teachers TV - a resource and an idea source

http://www.teachers.tv/search?q=dance

If you have not become a fan of Teachers TV - this is your chance - it films good practice in schools... but some of the ideas are transferable outside of that specific context. See what you think and comment please... I have connected to dance but they have lots of different subject areas. The scenarios are filmed professionally, but some of this practice might give you some ideas for project work OR documenting project work (media work can take longer than you think to plan, resource and implement).


Paula

Apologies & reminder about using my Middlesex email

Everyone

I just had the opportunity to go over a mass of unread emails from my home email... I apologise if I missed any of your correspondence in all this, but one or two may have slipped through unnoticed. I found ping-backs in the Junk email etc. Even though I mentioned the MDX email before - some folks still have the home one on their systems. Assessments should have gone to Avni anyway...

Please note... I am now primarily checking my Middlesex email for your correspondence - P.Nottingham@mdx.ac.uk

I will try to answer your emails asap - but don't be concerned if it takes a couple of days if I am at meetings or am doing other work. This would be the same I would think for the MDX staff. Some people left the Tasks A, B and C quite late so there was a bit of a rush at the end that actually made it harder to get back to people.

My new MDX office phone is 0208 411 5087.

Thanks
Paula

New Blog to follow from Danielle

New blog to follow is http://danielle-eller.blogspot.com/
Also Peter has stuff up about the 9/11/09 campus workshop - take a look http://peterbryant.smegradio.com/

Paula

Saturday 14 November 2009

Rubric for Tasks D and E

I have now stuck up Peter's Rubric and advice for Tasks D and E on my public folder And Alan's itinerary for the day...

A reminder that Adesola and I will also be having a campus session on 7th December - related to artistic conversations....

Paula

Friday 13 November 2009

Campus Session 9/11/09 audio and pics

Until I get a better system up -- I have started a .live account that should hold large files... you can download the audio of the campus workshop on 9/11/09 from http://public.me.com/paulanottingham THERE ARE 2 CHOICES - CHOOSE THE STLOUD+ FILES if you are on a standard PC - I have really upped the volume so that you can now hear it better... however if you are ok in iTunes - they might give you an unwelcome audio blast - take care.They are large fies and might take some time to download - I have not had time to edit them at this point... so they should come up in iTunes or Quicktime AND others... Please comment on the blog if you can - and I will also work on the .live (Microsoft) site.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Campus Session 9/11/09

Campus session went well - I am working on getting blogs of the intro and plenary (conclusion) up but need to work out technical issues at MDX.

Friday 6 November 2009

Monday 9/11/09 Workshop + considering Task D

Considering Task D,

Alan and Peter are doing a workshop Monday 9/11/09 at Cat Hill G147 about TASK D and MORE! (1-4pm) ... so we should be putting more stuff up on Blog next week about the Task D. You may want to wait to get started until after you have seen the Monday workshop that is presenting materials on writing styes and professionalism. Adesola and I will also be there (Avni sent you an email about this). Adesola and I are doing a workshop related to Task E 7/12/09 (Cat Hill G147 1-4pm).

The WBS3002 Handbook , p. 23 says you can write about anything you want to - might be easier to keep to the same topic as you can then see the writing style differences readily. There is an example about why a Theatre company chose a particular play during a particular time period and at a particular venue. The it is written up using 3 different writing styles. It might be an idea to brainstorm several examples to do and then make choices. The episode, event or experience should have enough content in it to give you a lot of detail to write about. It does not say they have to come from your career, but it would make sense to use examples that you would use in your workplace environment - whatever that is. I'm sure we will have discussions about this on Monday. You should also be keeping up with your learning diary during this time.

PLEASE COME TO THE CAMPUS SESSIONS IF POSSIBLE. We will put up materials from the sessions on our Blogs after they occur.

Paula

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Considering Kolb - Peter's Blog

Peter's blog about Kolb and learning from experience is worth a look. Kolb's book Experiential Learning 1984 goes into detail about his cycle and learning- with links to Piaget (you might have heard of him from working with children), Lewin and Dewey. Dewey did a lot of writing about learning from experience, putting the 'doing' or practice at the same level as learning 'theory' - he also gave us the Dewey decimal system for the library!

Tuesday 3 November 2009

MY Teachers lineage can look like a family tree...

The My Teachers lineage diagram, if you are doing one, can look like a family tree... anyone want to put up an example for others?
Paula

Avni's letter you should have gotten

Dear Student,

The deadline date for Task A, B, C is FRIDAY 6TH NOVEMBER 2009 by 4PM.

The deadline date for Tasks D & E is Wednesday 6th January 2010 by 4pm.

Hard copies should be handed in or posted. It is advisable to send your work via recorded delivery.

Due to postal issues, please send me electronic copies (via email attachment) as well. In this instance, if we only receive electronic copies of your work you will not be penalised.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or your advisor should you have any queries.

Kind Regards

Avni Shah
Work Based Learning Administrator (School of Arts & Education)
Cat Hill Campus
Barnet
Herts
EN4 8HT
020 8411 4129
a.shah@mdx.ac.uk

PS: Print this email only if necessary - Think Green

Monday 2 November 2009

FEEDBACK 5 ON BLOG

FEEDBACK 5 ON BLOG

Amal Salim: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. good pictures and fluid motion of a blog – lots of colour – personal and professional – bibliographies a nice touch
1. CV – yes – media/digital makes sense
2. Top 5 resources –yes – links work as well
3. 3 people you admire – yes - effective
4. links of interest – yes digital painting
B. My Teachers no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle no, not up yet

Murat Shevrat: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. incomplete? Good start need to finish
1. CV- yes
2. Top 5 resources - yes
3. 3 people you admire – yes – Tina works well – all over the top but that gives a certain style to presentation
4. links of interest- ? is this here -
B. My Teachers no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle– no - Kolb workshop up but need OWN Kolb cycle experience

Alys Spencer: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. complete and flows like a blog – personal and professional elements
1. CV- yes
2. Top 5 resources- yes
3. 3 people you admire- yes
4. links of interest – yes
B. My Teachers yes- drafts sent in
C. Kolb cycle – yes good


Donna Wilkinson: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. looks like a lot of work went into this presentation
1. CV- acting – professional - + summaries (these work well) longer bullets run together a bit + photos
2. Top 5 resources- yes
3. 3 people you admire – yes – a lot there
4. links of interest- yes music – with video links to performances
B. My Teachers no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle no, not up yet

FEEDBACK 4 ON BLOG

FEEDBACK 4 ON BLOG

Joseph Pegram: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. Looks good – 2 more short entries on admired people
1. CV- yes – written in conversational style in text – works well for Blog
2. Top 5 resources – yes described well
3. 3 people you admire – yes well described… but is there only 1? Andy Blankenbuehler
4. links of interest -
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle- no, not up yet

Rosea Pickering: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. good description and appearance on web
1. CV-yes – looks like it was done for a professional audience
2. Top 5 resources – yes - descriptions
3. 3 people you admire- yes - descriptions
4. links of interest - yes- descriptions
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle– no - Kolb workshop up but need OWN Kolb cycle experience

Laura Quin: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. complete
1. CV – yes – professional entries – maybe break up a bit on the blog for readability
2. Top 5 resources – yes – descriptions helpful
3. 3 people you admire – yes – lots there! Written in blocks – longish but work as units
4. links of interest - yes
B. My Teachers– no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle- no, not up yet

FEEDBACK 3 ON BLOG

FEEDBACK 3 ON BLOG
Zoe Kennedy Feedback on Tasks A,B C: NEEDS TO HAVE A BLOG – seeing Paula 2/11/09
A.
1. CV
2. Top 5 resources
3. 3 people you admire
4. links of interest
B. My Teachers
C. Kolb cycle

Klara Kalelage Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. incomplete A what you have is ok – need to complete Tasks
1. CV- yes – what positions and job roles are you using the CV for?
2. Top 5 resources – no not up yet
3. 3 people you admire– no not up yet
4. links of interest – personal statement
B. My Teachers– no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle– no, not up yet

Danyle Morris: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A.
1. CV – yes – what job are you looking for – experience sestion tell s a bit more – maybe put this first – What future work would you like your Blog CV to talk about…
2. Top 5 resources- yes with helpful descriptions
3. 3 people you admire - no , not up yet
4. links of interest – yes
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle – no - Kolb workshop up but need OWN Kolb cycle experience

Nancy Osbaldston: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A.
1. CV – yes –professional work to the fore to clear work identity
2. Top 5 resources – yes – described
3. 3 people you admire - yes lots of description and analysis
4. links of interest – more? A short paragraph (3 sentences)
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle- no, not up yet

FEEDBACK 2 ON BLOG

FEEDBACK 2 ON BLOG

Amanda Doyle Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. incomplete for Task A
1. CV – yes – straightforward easy to read
2. Top 5 resources –yes good – maybe a bit of explanation?
3. 3 people you admire - no
4. links of interest - no
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle – no, not up on Blog

Stephanie Dye: Feedback on Tasks A,B C: need to complete – good start but… need to do by this week.
A. Incomplete
1. CV- no
2. Top 5 resources - no
3. 3 people you admire - no
4. links of interest – there is one entry about Chickenshed its this your interest?
B. My Teachers – no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle - no, not up on Blog

Michael Gavas Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. incomplete
1. CV - no
2. Top 5 resources - no
3. 3 people you admire- no
4. links of interest entry about getting to know you – needs more
B. My Teachers– no, have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle- no, not up on Blog

Laura-Beth Hill Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. good descriptions
1. CV – yes maybe a statement of purpose?
2. Top 5 resources - yes
3. 3 people you admire – yes – loads and interesting
4. links of interest - yes
B. My Teachers – yes draft done
C. Kolb cycle – needs to be posted on Blog

Feedback 1

Lauren Cambridge : Feedback on Tasks A,B C
A. CV Looking at the other CVs on the blogs - would you change anything? For example - professionals might put their working experience and/or performance information first...
Your 3 people you admire are ok... links of interest are they the photos you sent? - but what do they mean to you? Where are the top 5 resources?
B. I do not have your My Teachers Task B in draft form.
C. I could not open Task C - Kolb need to send in .doc + put on Blog – don’t have Blog address yet

Ellie Connoly: Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A.1. yes CV yes ok, what professional work are you looking for? you have a number of different skills… maybe clarify the Personal statement a bit more to show this.
2. 5 top resources yes good – maybe give links to these on your blog,
3. 3 people you admire – yes lots of analysis here, your links on interest
4. Your links of interest? yes Other entries interesting to see.
B. MyTeachers – no have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle – not up on Blog

Sarah Connoly Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. all well described
1. CV yes
2. Top 5 resources yes
3. 3 people you admire yes
4. links of interest yes interesting
B. My Teachers – no have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle – yes good descriptions – would inserting the different stages of the Kolb Cycle make it easier to see how the descriptions fit in with the 4 stages

Laura Davitt Feedback on Tasks A,B C:
A. good well described
1. CV – yes – maybe a personal statement to bring information together?
2. Top 5 resources – yes – well explained
3. 3 people you admire - yes
4. links of interest - yes
B. My Teachers– no have not seen draft
C. Kolb cycle – had campus session BUT NEED OWN kolb cycle – one of your experiences

Feedback today

Please see feedback for my Advisees, if you have not had it already, on Tasks A and C on my Blog, and My Teachers via your home email... also look at Alan's , Adesola's and Peter's for their feedback as you might be albe to relatatre it to yours.
Paula

Friday 30 October 2009

My Teachers

Everyone: This is from the Handbook p. 11... I have just looked at two good ones, please get them to me asap for comment on Monday. Peter said he had received most of his...
Paula

Summary: Part one, task b
You have been asked to write a short essay entitled ‘My Teachers’. This essay
must include:
  • two or three of your teachers
  • the genre they work in
  • who their teachers or influences
  • where and how you fit into the picture (ie where and for how long did they
  • teach you).
You have been asked to use 1,000 words but also to illustrate your lineage
through a diagram or picture.
Keep a learning diary as you work.

Thursday 29 October 2009

Paula's My Teachers - waxing while I wait

Today, while waiting for people to send me their draft versions of My Teachers... I began to think of my own today... please send tyour drafts in as I am sure they will be interesting.

I had several important ones for fine art - a painter and a printmaker Bumgardner is connected with Hofmann of push-pull fame. Freed goes back to Hayter (viscosity printing) and Lasansky + (more art) in print and So both learning in Europe and European events influenced American art and how it was taught.

Paula

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Blog followers make sure everyone knows your blog address

Blog followers

Please make sure your academic advisors have your blogs because we are giving feedback - I am not sure about Lauren? Michael is giving me his... Sarah? Zoe? Rosea? Sorry if I am asking this for a second time... If I am not down as one of your followers send me the address again.

We are trying to comment online this week in our blogs with some individual comments - please you start commenting on other people's blogs as well... Tasks A, B and C need to be done by the 6th November - with paper copies to Avni and emails backups to your Academic Advisors!

Please email me P.Nottingham@mdx.ac.uk

Paula

My Teachers

Everyone

I am beginning to have a good look at the blogs for comment... but I am finding many have the Kolb Task C missing - and have you sent in your My Teachers Task B to me at P.Nottingham@mdx.co.uk ?

Paula

Kolb's cycle Explained - use for Task C

Kolb’s Cycle (200 words approximately on each stage)

Concrete Experience (Feeling) Concerned with something that has happened to you or that you have done. Concerned with adopting your new ideas into practice.
Reflective Observation (Watching) Concerned with reviewing the event or experience in your mind and exploring what you did and how you, and others, felt about it.
Abstract Conceptualisation (Thinking) Concerned with developing an understanding of what happened by seeking more information and forming new ideas about ways of doing things in the future.
Active Experimentation/Observation (Doing) concerned with trying out the new ideas as a result of the learning from earlier experience and reflection.

(descriptions sourced from Allin & Turnock 2007)

image of cycle

image sourced from www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/.../images/kolb_cycle.gif

Monday 26 October 2009

Task C - Kolb's Cycle - example

Alys Spencer has a nice Kolb Task C up - note that she has 'anonymised' it by eliminating the names of the people and organisations she is referring to. This is a standard way to ensure confidentiality and is shows ethical practice in talking about real things that have happened. Take a look!
Paula

Friday 23 October 2009

FREE Middlesex event for students

Dear all

This talk next Thursday is open, so please encourage any students who might be interested to come along

---
DON'T PANIC

A talk on media and work by Joe Wade
THURSDAY 29 OCTOBER 2009
2-3pm
Mansion Room 4, Trent Park

Joe Wade is founder and director of Don’t Panic, a free media pack distributed through independent shops, bars, universities, alternative music events and art spaces around the world. The Don’t Panic pack combines promotional media and information about city life with features on design, contemporary issues and the future of the planet. Its associated website has spawned a number of controversial videos taken up by mainstream news outlets, including an investigation of the new Young Conservatives and stunts drawing attention to the Royal Bank of Scotland's financial policies and the restaurant Nobu’s use of blue fin tuna.

Joe will be talking about his job, how he got into it, his experience of working with online and offline media and the question of how to do interesting work.

http://www.dontpaniconline.com

Drawing Event at the South Bank Centre - ex EVENT

A friend just sent me this - anybody else have any events that they want to share - any performances etc.? Here is the link and web address Event

http://www.campaignfordrawing.org/flyers/bankside.htm

A rundown on the 13/10/09 activities (Alan and Paula) for those who were not there

Campus Session REVISED for BLOG (times might have varied a bit on the day)

Cat Hill Campus – meet in reception at 1.00pm

1.00pm Welcome and Introduction – about the session, the nature of enquiry, and the advantage of using a model like Kolb

1.10pm Kolb’s Cycle – The Theory explained

1.20pm in pairs or groups explore the Blog sample in print version, exploring and describing its qualities i.e. elements of Kolb that are evident.
Either cut and paste, or rewrite selected bits of the Blog, and paste / write on the A4 sheets with Kolb’s cycle on them. You should end up with most or all the text pasted onto the cycle. Note that some parts may seem to float between locations on the cycle.

1.45pm Break

2.15pm Identify one easy, and one difficult piece of text to place i.e. was there any bits that were difficult to place on the cycle. Talk the group through your decisions, and take on board comments from the group.

View the sheets;
1. And ask yourself questions, do the texts address the particular part of the cycle, e.g. abstract conceptualisation – is there a model or idea really represented. Description vs. analysis.
2. Are there any gaps? If so, what text might have appeared there?
3. Was the example a good choice to represent learning?

3.15pm in the computer lab, and sitting next to your partner, Create a new Blog that describes your thinking on the text and the process you have just engaged with. You should focus on what you have found out, and support this with quotes from the text. Also, reflect on the process and record your observations.

We are available to help you with any technical issues about the Blog.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

READ this - comments on sending in work

Everyone

Just a reminder - read all the staff blogs for generic comments Tasks A and C are on the blogs so that you can fine tune. Read the staff blogs and comment on colleague's blogs. A great many of the blogs and My Teacher assignments are shaping up really well!

I am getting some people's My Teacher assignments - send the rest to my Middlesex email P.Nottingham@mdx.ac.uk . Please put your name, My Teacher and 3002 in the title of the attachment... and send all 3 at once or it will get confusing. ALSO do this for your other assignments when you email me backups - it is just easier to keep track of your work.

I will try to feedback as soon as possible. For those who have not sent in - we were hoping for drafts by Friday - the end of Week 4 - this is to give us time to look at them and feedback. I have tried to acknolwedge receipt of the emails... but it might take a few days to feedback.

ALSO keep looking at colleague's blogs - which one's do you like most? WHY...this is a professional statment about certain aspects of yourself... does it highlight important aspects of your career and training, is it inviting for the reader... have you addressed the assignment and then edited to be in your style?

NOW you are making the blog has all of its elements and fine tuning.

Cheers

Paula

Sunday 18 October 2009

Update on posted information for 13.10.09

Everyone

I am posting information about the on-campus 13/10/09 session on my blog. We had only handout, and that was one showing the Kolb cycle (similar to the one in your handbook) and example text from individuals’ blogs for folks to try to ‘place’ them onto the cycle in terms of the experience. Students have described this exercise in their blogs. These were more specific descriptions of the Kolb cycle steps and some students copied them and put them into their blog descriptions. I will try to type these up again in my blog on Monday.

Have a look on the blogs. You should have blog addresses for the other students... If you do not let me know.

Paula

Photos of groups 10.13.09 on-campus session







Thursday 15 October 2009

Reflection on learning - Keeping a diary

The link I discussed in the 13/10/09 session was written for work experience diaries, but some of it might be helpful... see what you think. I will add other entries on this. LINK
Paula

New MDX email and Office Telephone Number

My new office telephone number is 0208 411 5087 (updated April 2010) and my new MDX email is P.Nottingham@mdx.ac.uk.

I can still be contacted on the other account and mobile if needed - especially at the weekend.

Paula

Logging on

Folks

Avni said that the compputer systems sometimes freezes people out when they put in numbers that are not right more thatn 3 times... if this happens seek assistance at the Computer desk... or call the helpdesk... that is her best advice... if you have enrolled - then use your student number to log in and then use your date of birth info... here is a link to the information. Avni checked the names that were given to me but siad they should be ok.

Paula

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Feedback from 13.10.09 On-Campus Session

Everyone – this is some generic information that I am posting…

You should know who your Academic Advisor is by now… it will be myself (Paula), Adesola, Peter or Alan. If you do not know… get in touch with Avni or any one of us…

The printed Handbooks (both 3002 and the Professional Practice Programme Handbook) are now in the office if you need a printed copy…

Student finance has been a late for a number of the other students on the course. While it is not in the University’s hands, this is the first year it is being processed by Student Finance England instead of the local Councils. Alan suggested looking up ptg1 on Google and it goes to the site of Student Finance England – I have looked at updates and found the following link... http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/DG_179679 . In the first instance, I would phone the number given there. The university is aware that there have been delays so we have been told to carry on with the coursework at this point.

Campus Session 13/10/09

We met as a group yesterday and it was a very good session with 28 attending. I took notes and the groups blogged about the Task C Kolb cycle exercise that we did. I will put my notes up today + check out people’s blogs for what we did. At the workshop we gave some more advice on the reflective diaries as they are connected to the Kolb Task C. Adesola had brought in some of her own for the Induction sessions. I will put up some links about reflective diaries.

Task B about the Teachers – look in the Handbook as it does explain what you need to do. It is about you heritage as an artist/practitioner but also with a bit more ‘critical thinking’ flavour... for example, were some of the experiences not difficult but you learned a lot from them?

Alan and I did go over some of the other basics about due dates – here are the highlights:

NOW is when you need to get your blogs up. Some people are having problems cutting and pasting… are you using the EDIT button? Keep working and ask fellow students for tech advice as well as sending problems to us. Task A and Task C should go up on the blogs. Refer to your 3002 Handbook for specifics. Peter did a Summary sheet (this is the same criteria as in the Handbook just stated a bit more clearly. In the people you admire section… 3-5 is fine – 3 was in the original Handbook directions. The word counts are approximated so that you won’t write too much or too little, so don’t worry to much with these Tasks – these are ‘indicative word counts (get close but we are not going to be counting the words when we mark). You should now also be writing comments on other people’s blogs. Comments can help fine tune content, say how to work on the clarity of the information (did you not understand a particular passage?), or work on the appearance of the blog so that it displays the style of the person. Refer to your Handbook and look at other people’s blogs for inspiration.

Basically between weeks 4-6 (starting next week) we will make more comments straight onto the blogs for Task A and Task C - we have been doing a bit before this but it has more ad hoc. The comments for Task A and Task C will be somewhat generic as we are aware they are in the public domain (again – specific concerns come straight to your Academic Advisor via email). Task B (about ‘My Teachers’ is via email – send this to your Academic Advisor – and you will get feedback before it is due.

Marking for Task A, B, C will happen in Week 6 – the end day being Nov 6th by 4pm. Send in hard copies of your work to Avni Shah our Administrator (see p. 16 in your 3002 Handbook).

Avni Shah, WBL Operations Administrator
(Arts-based programmes)
Middlesex University, Cat Hill Campus
Cat Hill, Barnet, Herts
EN4 8HT
Tel +44 (0) 20 8411 4129
Email wbl.arts@mdx.ac.uk

You may want to send your work by recorded post to make sure it gets to us (ALSO you might want to send back up copies via email your Academic Advisor just to make sure – if I am your AA please do this). Copies of work can be in Word – don’t forget to send in pictures either separately or zapped into Word. It should just mean cutting and pasting from you blog (from Word to the blog or from the blog to Word)– not rewriting.

If you have any other questions – send them to your Academic Advisor and they will do their best to help you.

Paula Nottingham 14/10/09

Thursday 1 October 2009

Emails out

I have sent emails out and am hoping that they have all gotten through - if you are on my Academic Advisor list, please get in touch to confirm the contact address. Cheers!

Sunday 27 September 2009

Sunday post

The first two sessions at Middlesex were a blast... I now need to get materials for my blog like images or bits of writing and links. I already have a number of them on my home computer, but I need to choose which ones to go up for this exercise. Like... I just remembered looking at the map of northern London that I saw my sister-in-law in Abigail's Party which was the last play in the old Hampstead Theatre. It will be interesting thinking about other sources.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Blog test


Hello this is a test for my new blog for MDX 24 September 2009.

This is a picture of the Blueridge mountains as a test image.