Module 2 overview - Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Talking to Jo today about moving on from the ethics in Part 5 (2 main parts professional ethics and the ethics you will need to carry out your practitioner research) - yes you will have to leave this section - scan as needed - lots of good material that you can come back to as it relates to what you are planning to do. Remember this year there are 2 forms only - download these from the Libguide under Module 2 - I have also posted up the outline for your plan

I thought I would review tips for thinking about Module 2 work.

1. This first one is an overview of what Module 2 is supposed to do.

revisited from the 10/4/12

Module 2 - Thinking about the plan

Module 2 is about taking some of the experiences from Module 1

• the ideas behind communicating publicly, privately, and with peer discussion
• the use of critical thinking and using theories to support your ideas 
• and beginning to think about what questions you have about what you do 

and leading them into Module 2 - here are some pointers for the Parts 

• Part 4 is about learning more about professional practice and disciplinary knowledge so that you can better identify the elements of your practice (dance, graphic design, teaching, acting, etc. ) that relate to your topic - the  topic on which to base your final inquiry. the final inquiry topic will contain both the philosophical (ideas)  and practical elements (related to what you do as paid or unpaid work). In this module you need to identify your award title and the way you can discuss your topic with others in your special interest groups. The inquiry will become more focused as you go along, you will have aims and objectives about what you specifically want to accomplish and the practitioner research element will be guided by one or several inquiry questions - what is is that you are exploring? What do you want to find out?

• Part 5 Identifying the professional ethics which you use and learning how to carry out an inquiry using ethical practice (p. 18 on Reader 5) - this relates to you being able to explain (in your plan)  the ethical practice you will be using in your inquiry - so you need to fill out the ethical Form and the Employer support form - the Employer support forms lets us know you have the permission of your employer to carry out the inquiry at work - if you do not have an employer as such choose a professional colleague who can comment on and advise you about working in your sector.

• Part 6 is about using literature to inform you about your topic - using 3 sample pieces - and carry out some trial tools with friends and the BAPP network so that you can see what happens when you try to interview someone, or carry out a questionnaire. You can then use this experience in your plan to decide how you want to gather data for the practitioner research part of your inquiry. 

The plan will have the basic outline of what is is you want to accomplish with the inquiry, the critical reflection portfolio will sum up the learning you have done during this process (this is done on the blogs but a copy of this is in the appendix of your plan).

Work with your academic adviser before the end of the study term.

You may want to visit Adesola's blog - see the link- has also talked about the messy quality of this time - but also the creative experience of planning can be liberating. Also for Modules 2 and 3 Peter's blog about creative work in a digital age.

2.  The next is about Responses to Questions about the Inquiry - REVISITED ON 16/11/12 AFTER 11/4/11

1. what is literature - this is explained in your Reader - but basically it can be a variety of materials that have been written or communicated about various topics - you literature might include an academic article downloaded form the Middlesex library (because you know that academic literature 'argues' points of view in a balanced way with rules that govern their use of evidence to make their points), articles form trade periodicals (like Stage), or web articles that come form reliable sources - like a professional organisation such as Dance UK. Your literature might also include some books about inquiry, research, or learning theory that you have found ( I liked Researching Dance by Franleigh and Hanstein). These could also be policy papers you need to read for education if you teach or aspire to teaching.

So three sources that talk about your topic - reviewed - what did they say and what did they mean? Have they changed your mind about something or inspired you to do further searching? Did they challenge what others have said about the issues? Did they have ideas or theories that others have been able to see and use?

2. research ethics - there are two main issues covered in Part 5 

1. ethical practice as it relates to codes of practice in the workplace 

2. inquiry ethics - how you are going to ensure that you have followed certain protocols while carrying out your inquiry. 

Middlesex Uni (and your advisors) need to ensure that you carry out good practice when in comes to inquiry on human subjects, so you need to think through how you are going to interview etc. the people who will participate in your inquiry - this is directly related to the 1. Awards title and Ethics Form that tasks you to explain the ethical practice you will use in Module 3. and 2. the Employer Support form - that ensures that your directors/managers/head etc know that you will be carrying out supervised practitioner research for the course in your workplace. Use a peer professional for you signatory if you do not have a person in this position to call upon to sign.

3. the plan - You need to submit a plan for your inquiry - this is a lot like project planning. What research questions are your explaining and how are you intending to carry out this inquiry? This also relates to discussions in Reader 6 about how others have carried out practitioner research (we are calling this process this inquiry). PLAN OUTLINE NOW UP UNDER THE MODULE 2 TAB ON THE LIBGUIDE

4. using the tools - 1. observation - in you workplace or if nothing comes up - from a video event (Emma you were right to think of it ass an option!) of something similar to your topic 2. interview - have you considered skype or telephone interviews with BAPP members - you can put skype addresses up and connect with people that are on the course (at the uni, because of data protection, we do not give out contact details except with permission), focus groups - again this is a trial - so with friends on a topic that everyone could talk about - i.e. how media presents the arts? 4. survey/questionnaire - why not try SurveyMonkey to see how the online device works - a number of BAPP members have surveys up - so support the home team and try them... These ARE NOT for your inquiry - that is in the next module when you have explained and obtained Middlesex University ethical approval - so this is just to try out how the 'inquiry tools' operate in an informal way so that when you use them in your inquiry in the next module you will be somewhat familiar with them
Hope that helps.... COMMENT on the blog anything else that might help!!!