Campus Session 1: Module 2

Everyone attending had a starting point for the future inquiry. Inquiry topics can be driven by various forces including:

Place of work
Career Aspirations
Interest / Passion / Curiousity about topic

Some might find drawing out a mind map of all that is known / unknown about topic useful. With a map, connections and links can be made. What is could be tried out is to consider what would the impact be if one node on the map was removed – what impact would this have on the topic and the angle of it.

One topic that was suggested was about the preparation that vocational schools give to students for finding employment in the performing arts industry – e.g. preparing for auditions. This topic raises a whole lot of other questions such as…

Do vocational courses include preparation for work?
How do producers / directors select performers?
Is there a reputation attached to various schools? (For instance, the graduates of certain colleges tend to find work more than others?)
What if anything is included in these curricula?
Are there any broad similarities between those who find work easily after graduation and those who do not?
Who would know the answer to these?
Do vocational schools gather data / information on the destinations of graduates?
If so, does this data reveal anything?

Asking a range of questions and drilling further down into a topic can be revealing and suggest the focus of the inquiry. Another topic of interest yesterday was on Community Dance organizations. Again this raises a whole raft of deeper questions and should be reflected on to give shape to an inquiry.

Who are the range groups /individuals in a Community Dance organization?
Does one have priority?
Are all groups being catered for equitably / appropriately?
How is this known?
Is there a best model of practice / provision for a Community Dance organization?

These questions can be explored with peers and professional contacts (SIG) in order to help shape the inquiry. This then leads onto the inquiry tools which can be used and how ethical principles will be implemented.

Key points made were:

This module is a huge step up from Module 1
There are 3 readers to support each strand of the module
Networks, both peer and professional are essential to progress on this module
Subject interest groups will help with shaping the inquiry and can be useful in piloting inquiry tools
Reading about topics which may be pursued in an inquiry is essential

Wrestling with ideas for an inquiry

Someone at the campus session mentioned they were having difficulty coming to a topic for inquiry. The ensuing discussion showed that this was quite normal at this stage in the module. Inquiry questions can take quite a while to arrive at and inspiration can come from engaging and collaborating with others on the module via SIGs, blogs, facebook, wikis etc. Professional networks - teachers, mentors, places of employment can be muses as well. Some questions are quite naturally driven by personal purposes which is the motivation for an inquiry. A trick here is to consider de-personalising your inquiry and refocus on it from that deeply personal imperative to one that would have wider professional resonance / meaning.

Personal	De-personalise
How can I change my career path?	What are the challenges to shifting career from performing to teaching. Are existing skills transferable?
How can I expand my business?	What are effective marketing strategies? What are models of franchising? What are the statutory requirements/obligations on arts managers?
How can I overcome injury and stay in the profession?	How is injury dealt with in the profession? Are dance masters / teachers too pushy? How important is a knowledge of physiology and anatomy?
How can I deal with a physically disabled pupil in my class?	How can dance teachers ensure inclusivity? How can dance teachers ensure equity in learning for all?

The literature can shape your inquiry and reading texts and professional journals can help formulate and hone the inquiry.

Every question you ask has, in all likelihood, been asked (and maybe answered) before. But not by you. And not in your professional context, at this time. In considering your inquiry a good question to ask is who will benefit? Clearly you all want to benefit on the one level by using the inquiry towards your degree as well as learning and finding out things for yourself. But is there a wider audience who can benefit? Can your inquiry add anything to the profession? Could it change your professional practice? Could it change the practice of others in the profession? Could it confirm your existing practice? Can you bring the findings and deductions from your inquiry to a perspective employer and say – look – this is what I found out through engaging with a process of inquiry?

In wrestling with your topic for inquiry you should adhere to the following principles:

Make it personally relevant

This is important to as it’s your own idea and question and therefore you will be motivated to sustain momentum throughout the entire process.

Make it doable

Will you be able to access people / resources in conducting the inquiry? Moving onto the final section of the module should clarify this for you. But you should also be talking as early as possible to employers / professional mentors.

Is it ethically beneficial?

How will the world of your professional practice be a better place as a result of completing the inquiry?

Debateable

Is your inquiry capable of being argued both for and against? Is there are range of opinion / evidence for your to build up an argument from? This could be answered from the existing literature on the topic.

BAPP thus far is leading you towards an inquiry based learning project in the context of your professional practice and this module sees settling on the inquiry topic and establishing what will be the best way to conduct it taking on board an ethical perspective.

Some lines on lines of inquiry

I came across a funny greetings card at the weekend. It was a photo of a rather dashing woman and written beside her imposing image was the line, “My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance”. So while I am not dashing in any way, I decided to sweep the blogs with more than a glance in the last few days and was thrilled to see that some fascinating ideas are already emerging, touching on topics worthy of further inquiry. What’s also pleasing to note is that these topics of interest have stimulated much comment in our blogosphere.

From this activity we are beginning to see embryonic professional networks which could in the future form the basis of Subject Interest Groups. Stacey Wilson’s enthusiasm and inspiring curiosity on the topic of how professional practitioners cope with resting periods resonated with others. The use of celebrity, including the reality shows, in the promotion of dance theatre is both timely and relevant as presented by Sandy Moffat. The worthiness of investigating vocal qualities in singing was highlighted effectively by Alana Shirley while Ross Dunning’s blog on the back and spine in dance is clearly of deep personal interest to him. What is of deep personal interest to one professional practitioner would clearly be of interest to other practitioners. Stephanie Montgomery’s suggested topic, which is novel to me personally – the unexpected use of material such as making a dress out of raw meat is certainly pushing the boundaries. What all of these have in common is that they all are of deep personal interest and finding the answers will enhance professional practice. My sweep of the blogs was very rewarding and I look forward to reading more from everyone.

Submission Guidance

The following should all be submitted as your whole assignment. This is taken from the Guidance Notes for the Module which you were sent back in February. The suggested word counts are included. Make sure that your assignment is professionally presented with a clear and helpful layout / structure e.g. Title Page & Table of Contents

SECTION 1

Learning Diary (Blog entries 5 x 200 words) 1000 words
Critical Commentary on learning in this module (Blog) 500 words

SECTION 2

Glossary

Influences on Worker / Researcher

Critique of Research Tool (e.g. Questionnaire)

SECTION 3

3 Project Proposal 2500 words
3 Ethical Issues relating to Project Proposal 500 words
3 Ethics Release Form Form completed by you

SECTION 4

4 Proposal & Rationale for your Award Title 500 words
4 Learning Agreement Cover Sheet Form completed and countersigned (Ignore Parts 1,2,3,4)

Separately Module Feedback Questionnaire (send to Avni) Form to complete

Research Overview

The following slides form part of the Campus Session on 16th March

Research overview

View more presentations from Rosemary McGuinness.

Campus Session 2 - 3rd March

Peter and Paula covered a lot of material in this session. Please check their blogs for the slides they developed and talked to. We also enjoyed a game of definitions where participants had to define various research terms. This was to highlight the need to start compiling the Glossary of Terms which is Activity 1 in the assignment and will be submitted with the rest of the work on 6th May. Check out this short clip from today's session and we look forward to seeing you at Campus Session 3 on 16th March.

Inspire Topic

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Inspire Topic

View more presentations from Rosemary McGuinness.

Still trying to find a research topic?

Paula and Peter have posted more helpful advice on this topic recently in advance of the next Campus Session (March 3rd). I came across this journal which is available from our library. The topics that are covered by the journal are as follows:

Studies of Dancers
Ballet
Choreography
Dance and Movement
Dance and Music
Dance History and Social History
Folk Dance
Injuries, Fitness and Nutrition Studies
Performance Technique
The Sociology of Dance
The Anthropology of Dance

Perhaps looking at these categories could help you focus on a topic you would like to investigate. For instance under the topic - "Sociology of Dance" is there a relation between type of dance e.g. ballet or hip-hop and social class? Or in relation to dance and music - which came first the music or the dance? Or indeed is there a link between nutrition and dance performance?

PS. I found this journal from the Society for Dance Research web page.

Campus Session 1 - 16th Feb 2010

The guidance notes I used at this session are viewable ....

Learning Diary

View more documents from Rosemary McGuinness.

Campus Session 1 - 16th Feb 2010

I facilitated a short session on "Choosing a Research Topic". Here are the slides I used in this session

Choosing A Topic

View more presentations from Rosemary McGuinness.

Paula on the Research Topic

Thinking about a research topic

Research topic ideas

This short slide show might unlock topic ideas ....

Creativity

View more presentations from wirebook11.

Imagining a research project

All projects have a situation. This is located in the workplace / professional practice. One such I came across recently was in a high school in Minnesota. It started with two teachers being curious about the disconnection that students had between what they learned in the studio and their ability to transfer that into performance. The teachers observed that there was greater student voice in dance composition than in dance performance and that feedback was lacking in performance practice. They had a hunch that structuring practice time and encouraging independent learning might help the students. The researchers read what experts had to say about peer learning in order to deepen their own understanding and to enable rigour in their research design as well as providing focus on their research objective. The research question they settled upon was what effect would peer coaching have on performance. The research design led them to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. The methods were:

Initial and final student surveys
Pre & post intervention assessments
Teachers’ journals
Field notes from educators
Student Reflection Sheets

All this data was triangulated and analysed and the findings were that “using peer coaching positively affects final performances, classroom community and the revision process ..”

The research article is easy to read and is the final outcome of what required a great deal of thought and application in planning. It’s available from the Middlesex Library to registered students from the e-journals collection. Here is the reference if you wish to have a look at it.

Harding, M.; Haven, B. (2009) “The effects of peer coaching in the secondary arts classroom: intentional watching in the dance studio”. Journal of Dance Education. Vol. 9 Issue 2, p41-51

The New Learning Period ...

I have just completed reading and assessing a range of research projects at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and it’s clear that the range of topics is as diverse as the individuals we work with. They covered many subjects including learning and teaching, curriculum design, health and nutrition, choreography and method acting. Research design was varied as well and included interviews, experimental design, observation and surveys. Projects necessarily engage with the key literature of the topic and with the research method literature. I look forward to the next Learning Period with my colleagues Paula Nottingham and Peter Bryant with our BA in Professional Practice as you start the module Project Planning and Development (Research Methods) which prepares you for the project itself. I am also looking forward to working with a group of teachers in a particular school in Essex in the coming weeks on the same module.