End of Module Evaluation

1.  What skills have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I think the main skill I’ve developed this module is how to properly, and to an organised degree, research a subject, choose appropriate material and form an opinion on it. Writing a properly referenced and researched essay isn’t something I would say I felt particularly confident doing, however I feel through this module I’ve gained a lot of experience in and feel much more equipt to doing in the future.

Using drawing as tool for understand research and fighting through problems is also something I feel I’ve developed and has been very beneficial and crucial in the development of my visual diagram and organisation and appropriation of my research.


2. Which approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes

The seamlessly simple act of choosing what material is appropriate and relevant has been something I’ve really had to learn from in this module. Often I would get side-tracked and it was easy to feel at times overwhelmed by the research when I wasn’t choosing what was appropriate. Also, being able to take a body of work such as a theoretical book and skim to find the relevant parts was also a skill I’ve learnt through this module; it’s much easier to look at the contents or index and find a relevant chapter than try and read a whole book.

Again, using drawing as a form of understanding and making sense of research was something new to me, but inevitably became an integral part of forming links within all the research I had conducted.


3. What strengths can you identify with your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

I think the presentation of my work is something I’ve taken pride in, I’ve really tried to make my essay, pecha kucha, and diagram as clear and concise as possible; trying to get across my ideas in an accessible way particularly with the pecha kucha and visual diagram.

Although at the start of the module my skills at research, I feel, were quite poor, I believe they have improved vastly through the module. I also feel that the research I conducted in response to SB2 helped me when revising my draft of an essay in SB1. This wider understanding of my subject allowed me to analyse what I was saying in my essay with greater depth and understanding.

4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I do feel as though my essay still could have been better researched. I could have drawn upon more visual references to make my points as well as looking at more psychological and sociology theories and writers. Although I feel my essay was informed, I feel as though I lacked a real opinion on the matter and felt a little overwhelmed. I think writing about something I can really get interested and invested in next time would help with this as I feel it impacted in the form of a lack of motivation.

I also worry that some people may misinterpret the visual diagram as something too literal and think I’m playing a sort of ‘blame game’ which was not my intent, though it’s hard to gage the reaction people will have to the diagram until after the crit.


5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during the next years Context of Practice module?

- I think just the overall experience of going through COP will help me next time; understanding how it works, how to blog, research, and write and with intent.
- The skills I’ve developed in research will really help me with next years COP. Towards the end of the module I felt as though I really got to grips with research and got interested in it, as opposed to earlier on in the year where I felt as though I didn’t really know what I was doing or how to tackle something as large as research.
- The act of choosing APPROPRIATE research will also be very useful next year. Taking the time to really understand what you’re interesting in researching, what aspects of it you want to look at ect can really save time later on. Early on this year I took out a lot of books that turned out to be rather useless to me because they weren’t really relevant to what I wanted to research; having a clear direction from the start is key.
- Knowing that the research will also be turned into other forms of communication (pecha kucha, diagram) as opposed to just an essay is also useful knowledge, not only as it allows me to prepare to take the research in a new direction, but it also allows me to look at research in a new light.
- Looking at sources other than text based books and websites can also be useful. I gained knowledge during the development of my visual diagram through watching documentaries as well as reading. Looking into podcasts, online news stories and documentaries could also be useful next year during this module.