Campus session 19/10/11

Just a quick summary of the session yesterday for all those that couldn’t make it....

Paula started the session by going over a few general questions which have come up recently:

Q. How does your actual inquiry relate to your plan?

·         There may be changes but it should be similar

·         You can’t change major details now but small circumstantial changes are fine

·         Note what has changed....have you used more resources? Spoken to more or less people?

Q. What are the deadlines for the drafts?

·         They are different for all the advisors so you need to check. Deadline for Paula is 14^th November.

·         You should do several drafts yourself before you send it to your advisor

Q. Why do I need to blog?

·         It is important to post updates of where you are and what you have done

·         It does affect your mark

·         Stay connected to the community

·         Share problems and solutions- don’t be selfish

Possible titles for blogs to write:

·         Commentary on discussions you have had with others

·         Commentary on conversations you have had with professional externals

·         Thoughts about your artefact

·         Summary of your main project findings so far (100 words or less)

·         Critical reflection on your learning so far

·         Thoughts and plans for your oral presentation

Adesola then spoke about the professional artefact that we have to produce. We each discussed whether our inquiry was mainly quantitative or qualitative which may affect the type of artefact we produce. Some of the main points on requirements for the artefact are as follows:

·         Even though we have to produce a critical review as a formal way of presenting our inquiry that is not necessarily always the best way to show what you have learnt.

·         Follow the thread of your inquiry to a natural product

·         The review and the artefact are just two different ways of showing your conclusions

·         The artefact should be a part of it from the start and not an add on

·         It could be a performance (song, dance etc)

·         It could be a document e.g. a new syllabus, a book in the style of....

·         Provide the experience of your conclusions for others

·         It should be specific to your field

·         Something you may be able to use in your professional life after the course

·         Don’t start a whole new project with the artefact- it is the product your project has led you to.

After we had established the role and purpose of the artefact, Paula then talked about the critical review. Some of the main points mentioned are as follows:

·         It should be primarily written but can include illustrations and diagrams where appropriate

·         Can be thought of as a business report as opposed to an essay

Writing advice:

·         Who, what, when , where, how

·         Your writing should be ALIVE, not dull to read

·         Show wisdom and life experience

·         Think critically- i.e. compare what you think to what others have written...don’t always agree with everything.

·         Form cohesive arguments

·         Writing should be concise (often need several drafts to do this)

·         If you use paraphrasing as opposed to actually quoting someone but you are still summarising what they have said, you still need to cite them.

·         A paragraph structure should be; Topic sentence-Key points-Concluding sentence.

·         Read what you have written out loud as it can often come out differently and improve your sentence and paragraph structure.