Alys May-James BA Professional Practice Blog

It was lovely getting to see everyone on the group meeting, people who are new and people who are returning, like me. Can’t believe I am at the start of module 3- where has the time gone! It was great to refresh myself with some of the key points for this course. For those of you starting module 1 and 2 these points below really helped me through the modules. Handbooks- re-read these as many times as you need and mark certain pages that have important information on, so you can find them easily. Highlight and make notes on them as you need. You can also use the bibliography on the back to help guide you to more literature to read. Google Scholar is an amazing place to find literature- there is a link on the Unihub page to it. Blogs- use these in a way that is useful to you personally. Write about what resonates with you from the course. For instance, you could write about things you have found, or things that you have questions about. Also, go and check other people blogs who hav...

This week I attended a skype session with guest speaker, Peter Thomas. The main focus of the meeting was to explore academic writing. 'writing is utter solitude, the decent into the cold abyss of oneself.' Franz Kafka  Firstly, he got us to experience ‘free writing’. This is where you write continuously about a specific topic for a set amount of time. This method has a number of components to remember; ·          Write in sentences ·          Don’t stop writing in the time period as this helps generate a flow of thought ·          If you don’t know what to write, you can write ‘I don’t know what to write,’ until something comes into your head that is relevant to the topic. ·          Correct language isn’t important ·          Don’t read what you have written until the end. ...

On Friday we had a skype session with a module 2 focus. We spoke about how the conversation and discussion is an art form. It is not about reaching a final destination but about mapping and linking together different ideas. Nimble Thinking Module 2 is focused on creating an inquiry proposal. We were reminded that we are researching how to research. This means it isn’t just about ‘what’ we are going to research (topic) but ‘how’ we are going to research it (methodology). We spoke about mapping both of these ideas separately but how they work in harmony with each other. Adesola mentioned the idea of ‘Nimble thinking’ where you have more than one idea going on at once. This got me thinking about when I’ve taken a ballet class. To get the correct posture and technique there are many different things to think about; turnout, core engaged, arm positioning, shoulders down, back not arched, head position, pulling up your legs, not rolling your ankles, pointed toes…the list goes on. But all...

This week I attended a skype discussion group for modules 1, 2 and 3. It was great getting to talk to everyone and discuss where everyone is at with the course and general learning and development. There were 2 main points that I picked up on from our discussion. Questions Reflection Questions I am becoming more aware of how important it is to question yourself, not only for this course but in life. By questioning things, it means you don’t just accept what is. Questioning isn’t always about finding an answer, but about gaining more information. Things are constantly changing and we do not have the capacity to know everything. There is too much information in the world for it to be accessed by everyone. This is why when we question, we never get a full answer because it’s impossible- hence why we gain knowledge to develop on, not an end point. As George Siemens talks about in 'Knowing Knowledge' (2006), we should look at ‘knowledge as a river, not reservoir.’ Page 53. H...

On Wednesday 1 st April we had our second skype for all modules. We covered a range of topics in the meeting, including- finding your own voice, interviewing and integration. Below I have bullet pointed some of the main points we covered in each topic. Finding our own voice  How can we write in a way that isn’t too casual but without losing yourself? How writing on social media is different to writing an essay- How do we write blogs in comparison to essays? Keeping core intensions clear Having different documents open to write down different ideas. Write all your ideas down and then go about moving it around and breaking bits up. The process is messy; things don’t always go in a straight line. Interviewing Why do we interview? What is the point? What are we trying to achieve/gain? How interviewing in person is different from over the phone/ skype Silences are ok- what do the silences tell you Its not all about what people say, how do they say it, what do...

Last night I attended my first discussion Skype for all modules. I found it very insightful listening to other people and their experiences. One of the parts I have been struggling with is the ‘diagram’ or ‘artefact’, so I went with the intention of trying to get some clarity and inspiration! The information from others was invaluable. It became clear to me, from many of the now module two people, that the essay and artefact go hand in hand. They compliment each other and should work in harmony. When discussing which one should be done first, I realised that to get the best results they should be done together and so become fluid. Yes, they are different pieces of work, but they work together and each enhance the other. It is also important to make a decision and commit to it. 12 weeks will go fast, so if you have an idea, go for it! What’s different about the artefact, is that it can be what you want it to be. Some of the suggestions included videos, spider diagrams and pic...