#DE4401 research methodologies

[izzybubs24]

Representing Ecological Crises in Children’s Media: An Analysis of The Lorax and Wall-E - Page Bookmarks

'In children’s media, anthropomorphism is commonly used to engender a sense of sympathy with animal characters.' - pg 691

'The Lorax does this by ascribing human facial expressions and emotions to the animals living in the Truffala tree forest – the Brown Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans, and Hum- ming-Fish. When these forest dwelling creatures are forced to flee their homes, the audience is encouraged to identify with their plight.' - pg 691

'In contrast, the 2012 adaptation of The Lorax frames the classic Dr. Seuss story as an individualised narrative of personal agency, rather than as a critique of the system that condemned the citizens of Thneedville to live in a barren wasteland.' - pg 692

'The book effectively conveyed the deleterious impacts of economic activity on the natural world through an innovative use of color'. (Wolfe, 2008). - pg 692

'The Truffala forest is full of vibrant color, but as the Once-ler scales up his industrial operations, the pages of the book change to more muted colors. In this way, the landscape is malleable, allowing Dr. Seuss to represent ecological impacts that might otherwise be too slow to observe in the physical world. And though the film adaptation acknowledges the impacts of the Once-ler’s operations on the surrounding environment, it does not deliver a full and reasonable depiction of the implications of unrestrained economic activity on the landscape.' - pg 692

'Anthropomorphism is likewise a fundamental element of Wall-E, but in this case, it is technology rather than nature that is personified.' - pg 691

'In truth, the technology of Wall-E exhibits more humanity than the actual humans, creating an emotional tie between audiences and technology. Wall-E’s anthropocentrism is also evidenced by the film’s failure to represent humanity’s impact on other species, focusing instead on the relationship between humans and technology.' - pg 691

'Ultimately, Wall-E fails to contend with the larger implications of technological development under capitalism.' - pg 691

While Wall-E deserves credit for its provocative illustration of ecological crisis resulting from unrestrained economic activity, the film nevertheless falls flat in its representation of the relationship between humans, economic activity, technological development and the natural world. - pg 692

'In this sense, The Lorax and Wall-E are essentially the same story – unrestrained economic activity resulting in the ruination of the natural world, resolved through a technologically mediated replenishment and renewal of natural resources.' - pg 694

[rjtempest9900]

Blog for 2023 MA animation

here is my new Blog for my masters in animation 2023

[emilydaisymasters]

Outlining the Course, Deadlines and Briefs

This post will mainly serve as a marker for myself to refer back to, containing a whittled down version of the course and what is expected, the briefs for the various modules and their respective deadlines. All are written below:

Course

Part Time, 2 years, conduct research on a topic of choice in order to produce a sound final product.

Intended Outcome - Short Film

Briefs

1. DE4401: Research Methodologies - 20 Credits

Identify research methods and apply them to my own project

Lectures teaching the various ways to define and conduct research, and in what circumstances those types of research will be applicable

Outcome - Essay, 2500 Words, 10% allowance, Contextual and Literature Review

Research into essay question should inform my intended practical outcome

Research existing works in order to inform myself on what already exists, and to formulate an original idea and outcome

Use books, journals, magazines, essays, papers, etc.

DEADLINE - 15th December 2023

2. DE4403: Reflective Practice

Body Of Work:

50% of module mark

Develop preliminary ideas, exploring themes through sketchbooks, workshops, reflective diaries, create a portfolio

Choose an original, and more importantly interesting topic

Identify the type of research i.e. problem, exploration, creative study

Identify skills and subject matter that may be important to the development of the project

Reflective Diary and Learning Agreement:

50% of module mark

Create an ongoing learning agreement that is subject to change as the project develops, can create multiple, an informal contract between tutor and student

Reflective diary can be a blog, sketchbook or both

Present all work, ongoing or finished, and use to document ongoing issues and the steps to rectify them, should be an informative and consistent documentation of thoughts during the project

From the Brief:

• Your feelings about your practice

• Things you find difficult: challenges

• Changes in your attitude or motivation

• How to tackle tasks – your strategies

• Things you find out about yourself

• Thoughts you have about your practice

• Ideas that arise from your practice

• How different areas of study link up

• How your studies relate to industrial practice

• Critical appraisal of other creative practice.

DEADLINE - 19th April 2024, 12 Noon

With these briefs written down (this post is subject to updates as further briefs are introduced), I am hoping I will be able to keep a good hold on my projects and what is expected of me per module.

[joshartblog]

Current learning agreement

Name 

 Joshua Hoole

MA Course 

 DE4401- Research Methodologies

Date 

 9/11/2022

Version Number 

 03

Brief Explanation / Outline of Project/what?  

My project explores various aspects of a person’s depression, namely my own. Furthermore, I will also explore various concepts of healing mental illnesses via the outlet of video games and social interaction.

Context / Rationale/why? 

For the past few years of my life, I have experienced different forms of mental illness, namely anxiety and depression. I would then avoid these issues by helping others with their problems and to slowly heal via playing games. Once I had finished my BA course last year, I then went on face my mental illness with the help of one of my closest friends and family.

By choosing this project I intend to explore various methods of expression of mental illness, and it turn self-healing, as well as expressing my own mental health issues.

Key Areas of Research/How 

 I will create an animation that depicts a character struggling with their mental health whilst being inside a game. He will be in a pixelated “Sonic-esc” side scroller in which he faces multiple levels to leave the game and escape his mental health.

Following this side-scroller theme, this project animation will be drawn via the pixel-art software, “Aseprite”. By doing this I will be able to authentically provide visuals that will not only convey the message clearly; but also provide a sense of nostalgia to the viewer via said visuals.

Whilst pondering the question, “How can Gaming with Friends affect the healing of mental health?”. I researched numerous academic sources that describe the pros and cons to video games and its ties with metal illness.

Referring back to the academic source “Journal of Health Psychology: Volume 9, issues 3” includes an article titled, “Can Videogames be Good for Your Health?” (Griffiths, 2004). In said article, the writer reviews, and debates both sides of the argument on whether gaming is beneficial or a detriment to an individual’s health, both mental and physical. After going through the negative effects of videogames, Griffiths then went on to elaborate on the positive effects, namely how videogames can and have been used for a range of psychotherapeutic and medical contexts. In this article, Griffith states, “Gardner (1991) claimed that the use of videogames in his psychotherapy sessions provided common ground between himself and his child clients and provided excellent behavioural observation opportunities.” (Griffiths, 2004). Gardner then mentions four case studies where videogames were used in therapy, along with story-telling-drawing and other games. This then resulted in Gardner finding that videogames proved to be the most effective.

Despite the fact that Griffith never comes to a final conclusion for his paper, he does state that “It is clear that in the right context, videogames can have a positive health benefit to a large range of different sub-groups.” (Griffiths, 2004). But how does this relate to the topic of this paper? This source goes on to explain how effective videogames are as a form of pain relief towards physical and mental illnesses and injuries.

Through further exploration, another academic source, “Defeating dragons and demons: consumer’s perspectives on mental health recovery in role-playing games” (Francesco Causo, 2021). The objective of this paper was to investigate what themes can emerge, in role playing games like dungeons and dragons, from the stories of players present in recovery from mental health. This was performed via interviews with 13 players on their experience with the game in terms of how they recovered from mental health questions. The results were as follows:

Hanz stated:

“I’ve found I can overcome a lot of my anxiety and put aside my difficulties with my mental health issues.” He added “I might have had a day where I’m particularly down, or particularly low on energy to deal with the world. But I will still have energy to put into a game, and it means that even at my lowest ebb, I can get something out of having social contact, and having mental activity. And being engaged with something constructive. That ability to put myself aside and take on a different persona for a while really kind of lets me put aside a lot of the effects of my mental health problems for a while” (Francesco Causo, 2021).

Another player, Brian, also stated:

“it’s very much an idyllic world” and “You don’t have to have all those elements of racism and homophobia and transphobia in your games, you can just be in this fantasy world where everything’s

perfect, and you can have conflicts with your character that’s not.

related to those kinds of key points.” (Francesco Causo, 2021).

By exploring these and other academic sources, I was able to find a common denominator between each source. Though video games are effective in terms of affecting a person’s mental health, the concept acts more as a catalyst to provide an effective method of social interaction between people suffering from mental illness and their friends.

Intended Outcomes of Project/Results 

In regard to the outcome of this project, I have considered various means of disseminating this film. In terms of my primary method of sharing my work, I will mainly distribute to film festivals and social media. I will also contribute to mental health awareness months and other mediums to promote mental health awareness, by screening my film where I can.

Communicate the research through social media with a view to promote conversation with like minded people who might find this promotes awareness of this.     

Student signature 

 J.Hoole

[asreaserch2022]

Feedback and reflection - 18/01/2023

Following semester 1 I have received feedback for the two major modules DE4401 and DE4403. Here is my reflection on the feedback I have received and how I will adapt and modify my future work in response to it.

DE4401

My research methodology was effective for this essay, utilising a range of sources from academic papers to museums to articles. I feel this was useful to further research I do as I have more experience in how to locate sources as well as how I can utilise practical experience visiting and requesting primary sources.

The next time I undertake research of this form I intend to attempt to arrange more formalised interviews with experts in the relative fields as well as expanding the range in which I compare practical examples of contemporary subjects, not just localised to the north of England. It would also be useful for me to undertake more quantative research for the museums, comparing aspects such as the budget of the museum, annual footfall, and visitor profile to further elaborate on the practicalities of using animation in this field.

DE4403

My research and development of Horace has so far proven effective, however I intend to take this further. During this semester I will try to contact the Harris Museum regarding my project and ascertain their interest in the work as well as get more information regarding the locations of Horace’s injuries. Furthermore I intend to refine his textures more and add the missing components, namely his antlers and the inside of his mouth. However before that stage I intend to get his present rig fully operational. Achieving true photorealism is extremely tricky and time consuming, so I am prioritising making Horace feel like a believable animal to the audience, a key factor of which is how he moves. I have recently corrected several flaws in his rig that my first motion test brought to light, but this will be elaborated on in a later post.

I additionally need to research several factors in animating the attack on Horace, namely how is best to break an antler from the rig and lodge spears in Horace’s side and have them then stay there after being formerly disconnected from the rig.

My reflective diary remains on track and I intend to continue posting regular updates.

The major mistake I have made for this module was with the hand in. I handed in 23+ iterations of Horace showing his development but I failed to hand in the work I had done before I changed my focus to Horace. I do not intend to make this mistake again.

Additionally it would be useful for me to add more detail into my learning agreements, however I find this tricky and will discuss with Sarah on how best to approach this.

[izzybubs24]

Lecture 3 Notes - Semiotics

Semiotics - is a study of signs, and how they work to produce meanings, or the study of how things come to have significance.

Semantics - the study of meaning;

"the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form".

the meaning, or an interpretation of the meaning, of a word, sign, sentence, etc.

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE (1857-1913)

French linguist who pioneered the semiotic study of language as a system of signs, organised in a study of signs written in ‘codes’ and ‘structures’.

‘STRUCTURALISM’

Key social structures that define, shape and influence our lives:

Religion

Family

Politics

Media

Semiotics in Action:

? - Question Mark

! - Exclamation Mark

;-) - Winky Face

Representation

Process by which cultural meaning is produced through signs and language.

System by which signs communicate = arbitrary

Arbitrary – arising from accident, rather than from rule; not bound by rules.

Meaning - Constructed by the system of representation

Colours have their own semiotics by Convention or Association

Ferdinand de Saussure

signifier and signified

Marking of differences in language produces meaning

Understanding signifier and signified.

How to interpret signs?

< Syntagmatic axis (links, chain-like) >

SUSHI - BAR

FISH - AND CHIP SHOP

SEAFOOD - RESTAURANT

^

Paradigmatic axis (the axis of choice)

v

Syntagmatic axis / Paradigmatic axis

The syntagmatic analysis describes the relationship of a visual text such as posters, photographs, or the setting of a film.

The paradigmatic axis looks at the way words are grouped together into categories.

CODES:

Codes are read partly by the expectations we have of conventions

Collections of signs in specific forms, (e.g.: language, writing, pictures, acting, graphic layout)

Are defined by their conventions, how they are used, and how the code hangs together.

Primary codes = writing, visuals, sound

Secondary codes = smaller codes within these systems: dress, body language (termed code of expression), visual colour, picture composition, lighting, mise-en-scène, written text, typeface etc.

THREE CATEGORIES OF CODES USED IN TEXTS

TECHNICAL: LIGHTING, CAMERA ANGLES, LENS USED, FRAMING, COMPOSITION, MATERIAL, CLAY, FIRING, MATERIAL,

SYMBOLIC: OBJECTS, SETTING, BODY LANGUAGE, CLOTHING, COLOUR, SHAPES

WRITTEN: HEADLINES, TEXT, CAPTIONS, SPEECH BUBBLES, STYLE, TYPEFACE.

THREE TYPES OF SIGN (CHARLES PEIRCE’S MODEL):

ICON: ICONS LOOK LIKE THE THING (PHOTOGRAPHS, TOILET SIGNS)

INDEX: INDEXICAL SIGNS INDICATE A FURTHER OR ADDITIONAL MEANING TO THE ONE ALREADY SIGNIFIED. (SMOKE = AN INDEX OF FIRE)

SYMBOL: THE SIGNIFIER DOES NOT RESEMBLE OR CAUSE THE SIGNIFIED BUT IS RELATED TO IT BY CONTRACT OR CONVENTION (E.G. ROSE REPRESENTS ROMANCE)

DENOTATION and CONNOTATION

Example;

SIGNIFIER

Denotes - Moon

Connotes - Femininity, Intuition, mystery, change, cycles, the passage of time, Spiritualism.

Typefaces - Typefaces have their own semiotics

MULTIMODALITY: The combination of different semiotic modes – for example, language and music

Music and sound can be used semiotically or semiology

HOW MIGHT YOU USE SEMIOTICS?

Season/Lighting to depict mood

Character's clothing/appearance

The tone of music used

Setting - Where/When

[izzybubs24]

Research Methods

Why research?

Ensures that your practical work is informed and current

Ensures that your arguments are believable with creditable arguments

Give you inspiration

Broadens your understanding of your specialism

ensures that you are building on existing knowledge to create new knowledge

Defining ethics

How can I find a topic in my subject specialism to research?

What is the nature of your current practice? Establish your interests within that.

What else do you want to know?

What do you want to achieve through this MA? How do you intend to achieve this?

What do I need to know to achieve this?

What are other people making in relation to this question/subject?

MAIN RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES FOR THE ARTS AND MEDIA?

Qualitative

Qualitative refers to the knowledge of the quality of the work as evidenced through opinion either in the books, papers, journals, magazines. Interviews, observations, and ethnographic study

Quantitative

Quantitative is a more mathematical look at research by collecting data from questionnaires using a structured interview or a systematic approach to the analysis of a wider variety of documents. Statistics are often the result and these can be generated by particular software.

Practice Research

The product or practice itself is a form of research and contributes to the research question.

Mixed Methodologies

A very pragmatic approach that considers multiple research strategies.

WHERE?

Internet

Library – books, periodicals, archives, papers

Exhibitions

Film and Animation Festivals Networking

Conferences

Interviews Newspapers Social Media

GOOD PLACES TO START ON THE INTERNET?

https://www.researchprofessional.com/sso/login?service=https://www.researchprofessio nal.com/0/

https://www.uclan.ac.uk/students/library-it/library/index.php https://patthomson.net

[izzybubs24]

Essay Academic Article Links

Representation of Landscape and Ecological Vision in Miyazaki’s Filmography

Representing Ecological Crises in Children’s Media: An Analysis of The Lorax and Wall-E

LANDSCAPES OF THE ANTHROPOCENE IN THE LORAX BY DR. SEUSS

That's All Folks?: Ecocritical Readings of American Animated Features

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uclan-ebooks/reader.action?docID=915035

Once upon a Dystopian Time… the Portrayal and Perception of Environmentalism in Pixar’s Finding Nemo and WALL-E

The Ecological Jeremiad, the American Myth, and The Vivid Force of Colour in Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax

[izzybubs24]

Adjusted Essay Question

Upon creating my new brief, I then needed to alter the essay question I would be answering to more closely relate to the theme of my animation practice that is now based on the preservation of nature within an ever-changing world affected by human advancement.

Question:

How can animation be used to open-up discussions on sustainability and the delicate balance between human-nature relationships and the natural world?

[izzybubs24]

Finalised Essay Question

How does the natural world influence creative design when creating characters for new worlds in Animation?

[izzybubs24]

Group Tutorial

In my group tutorial on Thursday, my tutor gave me some links to helpful articles that I could use for my research on understanding the conventions (rules) used when creating characters for specific environments.

Suggested Links:

[izzybubs24]

New Essay Question Idea

What conventions (rules) to use when creating characters for specific environments in Animation?

To produce convincing creatures in a new world, there are also quite a few factors I need to take into consideration such as what conventions to use when creating my characters for a specific environment. 

For example:

Where/when is my fantasy woodland set?  (Will it be set in the past, present, or future?)

What kind of animals live there?

Eco-system?

How do they survive?

What time of year is it? (are there seasons?)

What is the weather like? (Is it tropical, dry, hot, or cold?)

What kinds of plants exist there? 

Are any of the plants carnivorous?

What do my characters eat? 

How do they catch their food/ how do they hunt?  

Other factors to think about are:

Am I going to consider the environment?  How have things changed? Issues to think about could be sustainability, how the world has changed, or how it could change?

[izzybubs24]

Notes from 'Using Sources and Referencing' WISER Workshop

Aims:

To look at how referencing can support your argument

To recap Harvard referencing and how to cite unusual resources

To look at how to use sources an apply the TEEEL structure to writing paragraph

Essay Writing Framework:

Common problems

• The solipsistic voice – based on opinion and not backed up with proven data

• Unaverred voice - provides a ‘patchwork’ of summaries but the student doesn't give their own views

• Unattributed voice – uses other people’s ideas as if they were their own

Step 1: Research

Read widely about your subject. Identify different perspectives and potentially use these alternatives views to structure your essay/argument.

Academic arguments are developed with reference to the existing literature about your subject.

Consider/address what others say before putting forward your own viewpoint.

Reading doesn’t involve absorbing all of the facts but trying to identify an author’s position or argument. Look carefully at the abstract, introduction, and conclusion.

Step 2: Identify Themes

As you read, consider patterns or themes in the writing and arguments made by different authors, and Identify the topics or ideas that often appear. You might ask:

What are the main arguments on the topic?

Is there agreement or disagreement on the subject or parts of the subject?

Are some arguments common or fashionable?

What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the major arguments you encounter?

Do you agree or disagree with the arguments you encounter?

Step 3: Build an Argument

Summarise the argument quickly in a couple of sentences – this will be the base of the introduction and conclusion.

Reflect on the difference between fact and opinion. Arguments are not simply a list of facts on the topic but tend to involve a writer introducing their own perspective/s.

Be precise. It is usually better to intervene with or address a single aspect of the question rather than trying to address everything.

Referencing and using sources

Evaluating sources

Critical reading involves being active, not passive, readers need to consider their ability to ask questions about the texts and resources they read.

When reading a text, consider:

Who

What

Where

When

How

Why

Consider: How does this text relate to my question, task, or case study?

Referencing: How do we do it?

Direct quotation Use the original words from the text and use quotation marks

Here you take the words and ideas of another, directly, to support your own argument.

Paraphrase Re-phrase the words/ideas of others in your own words

Here you take the words and ideas of another, indirectly, to support your own argument.

Summary Represent the words/ideas of others in your own words in a shorter, summarised version

A paraphrase/summary reference should not...

Copy the original text word for word

Use words/phrases from the original text

Copy the sentence structure of the original text

Use synonyms that change the original meaning

Steps to take when paraphrasing...

Read the source

Understand the source

Put away the source

Make a simple list of the main points you remember from the source

Re-read the source quickly to make sure you have included all the important points

Put away the source again

Join together the points from your list into full sentences, using suitable grammar to make a continuous piece of writing

Re-read your paraphrase, correcting the grammar and organisation if necessary.

Check your paraphrase against the source. Is it a good paraphrase?

Reference list:

Only reference sources that you have used in the main body of the essay

Present the references in alphabetical order *See Cite Them Right

Additional info:

(n.d.) = no date

(Anon) = No author

(et al.) = and other authors. Used when referring a source with more than three authors in the main body of the essay, e.g. (Smith et al., 2000)

(cf.) = compare (main body of the essay, only)

When referring to more than one work by a given author and the sources share the same year of publication: (Smith 2000a), (Smith 2000b)

‘... = ellipsis (used at the beginning of the quotation or the end)

[...] = used to signify that you have changed part of the quotation, or have added your own words

Structure and using sources

Critical Writing

Descriptive writing: Says what happened; reports on findings; explains a theory or idea; gives information; lists details; notes methods used; provides a chronology or timeline of key events; outlines the main points of the key studies.

Analytical Writing: Applies ideas to a different setting; evaluates strengths and weaknesses; draws conclusions; determines the validity of different parts of a study; identifies significance; advances ideas/hypotheses; justifies a selection of different options.

Synthesising

This means bringing together different ideas from the literature along with your own evaluation.

Avoid:

Reproducing and just summarising.

Providing evidence with no evaluation

Listing all the books/articles you have read and writing a bit about each one

Making the same points

Writing Paragraphs (TEEEL)

1. Topic sentence:

Expresses the main idea for that paragraph

2. Explain or define any abstract or problematic terms/theories/models:

Clarifies the topic sentence

3. Show your Evidence:

Supports the main idea or argument in the topic sentence

4. Evaluate the evidence:

Shows how it supports or develops the main idea. (If appropriate), mention other evidence (examples/studies/experiments/interpretations) to widen the discussion

5. Link and Conclude:

Explains the consequences or implications

Show the development of the argument

Links to the main idea in the next paragraph

Shows the link with the title or section (in the first and last paragraphs of an essay)

Building an argument in your own writing

What is your argument/Stance?

Essay Question - Argument - Topic Sentence - Sources

Steps 3 and 4 may be repeated within the paragraph

[izzybubs24]

Revised Topic for Research Essay

After discussing my initial idea in my group tutorial today, my Tutor thought that perhaps my idea was too broad of a topic and that I should focus on a more technical aspect of Animation that also linked to my main 3D project.

One of the ideas that he suggested was that I research the uncanny valley of the look of people in early animated films/shorts and at what point the "Uncanny" look disappeared.

Another idea my tutor suggested which could also link to the idea above is to research how different studios perceive human characters in their animated films as Dreamworks and Illumination are more about the design and cartoon look of characters than striving for realism compared to some films by Walt Disney.

Some of the research I could do for this topic is to look at Pixar's first animated short to include a human as well as their first 3D feature film "Toy Story" and talk about the "Uncanny" look that their characters had back then compared to what Pixar's characters are like now. I will also look at the work of other studios and compare the differences in how they perceive people in their character design.

Here are some other films I could base my research on:

Ice Age - Disney/Blue Sky

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Sony

Despicable Me - Illumination

How to Train Your Dragon - Dreamworks

The Polar express

[izzybubs24]

Initial Topic for Research Essay

For my research methodologies essay, I am thinking about basing my essay on why some Disney films are banned in certain countries due to their cultural law differences when it comes to diversity/the reasons against LGBTQ+ characters, and whether or not it is right that they should be banned.

I feel this would be a great area for Animation to research, as there is a lot of stigma against diversity inclusion in Disney films.

[izzybubs24]

Research Methodologies - Lecture 1

The 5 phases

What? - problem/Question

Why? - Context/rationale

How? - Methodology

What? (again) - Analysis of outcomes

Where? - Dissemination/where am I going to show it

THEORETICAL RESEARCH UNDERPINS YOUR PRACTICE

The aim of this MA program is to develop knowledge of research skills; identify a line of inquiry or project; and develop the position of your practice in a wider arena socially, politically, and culturally. This research should underpin and inform your practice work as well as your academic writing.

Contextual Review

Context is looking at work of other practitioners in your field to give you inspiration and to help you understand where you work is placed. This is the physical and tangible work created by other designers and artists.

Shows you have an in-depth grasp of your subject; and where your own research fits into and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge.

In creative arts research, the contextual review should also involve an awareness of other related practice and practitioners within your field of study.

Literature Review

The basis for research in every academic field

A search and evaluation of available literature in your given subject or chosen topic area should document the ‘state of the art’ of the topic you are exploring.

Shows you have an in-depth grasp of your subject; and where your own research fits into and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge.

In creative arts research, the literature review should also involve an awareness of other related practices and practitioners within your field of study.

HOW DO I EVIDENCE MY RESEARCH?

Theory

Assignments: Research Modules

Practical

Practical work: Practice Modules

Reflection

Assignment: Research Modules Learning Agreements: Practice Modules Poster Presentation: Practice Modules Reflective Diary: Practice Modules

Section Breakdown for Essay

Introduction (450 words)

Contextual Review (800 words)

Literature Review (800 words)

Conclusion (450 words)

INTRODUCTION

An introductory section that sets the context for the reader. You need to evidence that your academic research underpins your practical work or line of inquiry.

Example:

‘THE STIGMA SURROUNDING EATING DISORDERS IN MALES.’

This literature review will evaluate a number of texts in how they tackle some of the contributory factors towards the stigma that surrounds eating disorders (EDs) in males.

CONTEXTUAL REVIEW

This part requires you to research more practice-based work e.g. events, film screenings, exhibitions, performances.  You must critically compare and contrast the work with your own aims or practice.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This part requires research in the form of reading to evidence that you are aware of the literature written about your line of enquiry and promote a critical and enquiring debate around your subject.  Select text from one book article, one journal article and one web-based article.

CONCLUSION

Sum up your findings and evidence how the research undertaken has influenced your work.

Layout for your Essay

THE UCLAN COVER PAGE

YOUR NAME, MODULE CODE, THE TITLE/QUESTION  OF YOUR ESSAY,  YOUR NAME, YOUR TUTORS NAME, SUBJECT SPECIALISM.  

A CONTENTS PAGE WHICH CONTAINS THE NAME OF EACH SECTION AND THE WORD COUNT.

BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH AT LEAST  5 X BOOKS, 5  X JOURNALS AND 5 X WEB SOURCES AND 5  X NON TEXTSOURCES

THE WORD COUNT APPLIES TO THE BODY OF THE TEXT ONLY

THERE IS A 10% ALLOWANCE ON THE WORD COUNT SO BETWEEN  2250 AND 2750 in total.