End of the road...

Hey BAPPERS!!!

How are you all feeling after the presentations??

So it's all done, critical reviews submitted, presentations done, no more word count worry! I can't believe it, can you? 

I have been meaning to blog for a while now but felt the need to get everything done first. Now we can all relax (for a bit anyway) I am going to reflect back on module 3 and will be posting 'reflection' blogs on my inquiry, presentation and artefact in the near future. After module one I have really embraced the whole 'reflecting' thing. 

I would love for the rest of you to blog too?! I know we were desperate to read past BAPPERS' blogs on their experiences and work throughout the course, so maybe we could be of help to future BAPPERS?! Also, I saw many of you at campus sessions and it would be great to see your finished work. How you came to do your inquiry? Maybe you could post links to your artefact and/or presentations of you haven't already? (I'll be posting mine once I've improved it a bit more) 

I really like watching my peers do their presentations and learn from their individual lines of inquiry. It was great to see their work and overall results. 

Wishing you all the best for your futures after uni! 

Now we await results day😳 

Chiara 

HEY!!!

So, it's draft submission time! 

This is more like a 'Diary' blog for me. I feel better when I've typed/written what I've done so far and need to get working on. Anyway, how is everyone doing? How did your inquiry go? Are you surprised by your results? Have you all nearly finished your Critical Reflection???

I finished all my practical investigations a couple of weeks ago and had been spending a lot of time on my literature review as this is a big part of my inquiry. I usually sit down and do big bulks of the Critical Reflection at a time because I can't quite sit down and focus in my breaks or evenings after work. I'm constantly planning to use any spare time off work to do uni work which is hard nearing Christmas, work is busy, shows, class assessments, end of term presentations etc!!! I am now on the analysis part and really hope to get it done by the end of next week so I can send it off to my advisor for feedback and start work on my artefact!

Hope to see some of you at the Campus Session next friday?! 

Stressy Chiara :) 

Campus Session 3

Hello Everyone! 

Apologies for the lack of Blogs! 
This is a quick one just to give those of you who could not make the campus session today some info on what we learnt and discussed. 
The session was with Adesola, discussed the artefact for the end of the inquiry and the Critical Review. 
The other students will also be posting blogs so look out for theirs; the blogspot address' are on Adesola's latest blog. 

The artefact does not display your results from the inquiry, you can use some of your findings but it's basically a different way of presenting your inquiry. You can be creative, the '3000 word' bit in the handbook is just a guide as to how in depth it should be. You do not need to present/submit 3000 words in an information type booklet or leaflet etc, you can make a presentation, write a song, present it in a class like format etc...if you create some sort of installation, take pictures and write a little bit of info on what it is you've done to submit online whilst bringing in the actual artefact to the Oral Presentation day in January. 

The Critical Review - Be sure to not separate all the parts (like it says in the handbook) you want to build bridges so that the whole of Part 1 flows. The Intro, Evaluation of the inquiry process and Analysis of findings should all piece together, they should not be written as the (beginning, middle and end) It shouldn't sound like a story but more of a big explanation of the finished inquiry. It should all be written in the past tense. You will be writing the Critical Review after you have completed the whole inquiry otherwise it won't make sense, you do not need to include all of your findings, just the useful data that may/may not relate to your data and make sure to include your themes throughout. (Establish the underlying themes of your inquiry and mention them throughout) If you are still doing your practical part of your inquiry, look to start analysing what you have already found so you can begin the draft of your Critical Review, there are only a few weeks until you need to  start thinking about sending the rough copy to your advisor. 

The whole critical review is like baking a cake! If you were to tell someone you were baking a cake, set out all of the ingredients but didn't tell them what cake the ingredients would make, it wouldn't make sense. You need to explain what you're making (what you're finding out from the inquiry) explain the whole process first (tools and lit review), then break it down and explain how you get to the finished product. (the findings, overall analysis) Finally, how the cake tastes, was it a good bake?! (critical reflection on how the whole inquiry was and how you will carry your findings and use them in your professional work) 

Campus Session - a few notes

Campus session 1 

10th October 2014

Module 3 - our project

Friday 10th October: Students from Module 3 came along to the campus session with Paula in the Vine building. We discussed parts of the module with Paula and our peers.

Here are some notes I made and answers to some questions we discussed. Please see Paula’s blog for extra notes and info of the campus session, I think she will also be putting up some videos of our questions on MyLearning :) 

If you have had to make any changes to your plan/inquiry, problems in getting permission from your workplace, changes in ethics, ensure to keep in contact with your advisor throughout the module. 

*Module 3 = 50% of the overall grade. 

What are we doing when we carry out our professional inquiry?
Researching and comparing literature to our findings
What do we do with our results?
Share it amongst colleagues, peers
Use our results in our own practical work 
become a better practitioner.

What change are you hoping to do?

The Professional Inquiry 
*structure your thinking
*drafting and editing 
*make your points
*explain your thinking 

• preparation 
• scheduling 
• doing 
• evalutaing 
• reflecting 

Everybody’s work is different, it involves and professional and personal dimension. 
We discussed our aims and plans in partners to help us plan our module 3 work. 
It is advised that we all create a personal timetable with targets for us to reach throughout the term. Plan our term around our work and other commitments; Plot how our inquiry and work will progress, when should we get drafts to our advisors, start working on our artifacts etc...

A bit of reflection...pre-campus sess blog

Hey Guys!! 

So, I'm really looking forward to seeing some of you at the campus session tomorrow October 10th! 
I have been reading people's blogs this week and am so glad to read that I'm not the only one in a bit of a panic and behind on things (already!) 

I've started looking for literature and have lots of books to read and gather data from, I'm referring back to the reader 5 from Module 2 for some help. I also need to start analysing!!! wahhhh It seems like such a long task and I need to start my interviews and class observations asap. I feel as though as soon as I can get all of my literature reviews done, analyse it and gather my data I will feel more positive and look forward to carrying out the rest of my inquiry. 
As for the thousands of words I need to type for Part 1 of 'A Critical Review'  I have about 200, so I'm on my way, slowly but surely; slow progression is better than no progression so they say... 

My artefact ideas: a book or folder to display my results. I am researching teaching methods and investigating how professionals in the industry use their skills when teaching; I don't feel that an audio video or powerpoint presentation would be a great idea because my results will be for future teachers. I think that my collated data of methods, techniques and any added information from professionals that I interview should be clearly printed like an information pack sort of thing?!? All printed out neatly and professionally, tables of my results and extra info pages etc. 
Please comment if you have any other ideas. 

Anyway, on with my literature research because without that I won't get anything done. If only this module was based on blogging eh?! I already have some questions prepared for the campus session tomorrow. I looking forward to seeing Paula, hopefully my advisor Adesola and the rest of Module 3! 

Smiles and positivity 
Chiara x 

Here we gooooo

Hey Bloggers and members of MDX BAPP course!!!

Blogger, so we meet again...I can't believe a whole year has passed, module 1 and 2 completed and accomplished! Who would have thought that we'd make it to the final module?!
I was away for the whole summer period and failed to 'keep blogging' now I need to get back on it and I feel that this term, my blogging will be non stop! (apologies in advance)
So, here we go, the last term of BAPP!
I have arranged to have some days off of work in my week this so that I can dedicate time to my Uni work. Myself and my SIG members on facebook have already been chatting and discussing the work for Module3. After reading the handbook, it seems I/we are very wary, confused and scared! This module is definitely going to be hard work...

Anyway, until the next blog, I'm off to start Task7 :/ ahhhhh

Critical Reflection

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

Starting Module 2 I was apprehensive; after completing Module1 I thought I understood how the rest of the course was going to progress, but then my thoughts changed. Module 2 has been very different and far more challenging than Module 1. The tasks were very different; no more creating new network pages and constant reflecting, which I was thankful for! Though, the thought of planning an inquiry had me very worried; at first I did not know how I was ever going to find a “question” that I could research and plan a whole investigation around. I actually enjoyed working through the tasks however; they kept me distracted and stopped me from panicking about my inquiry, for a while at least. Without noticing I was being lead closer and closer to my final chosen line of inquiry.

Learning about ethics was the most interesting part of Module 2 for me. I felt I learnt the most from the 5^th Reader. I never really understood what ethics were, I also didn’t realise how many ethics I was already using in everyday life and work. I have learnt about the many different types of ethics: personal, professional, organisation and society. I now understand just how important they are and by discussing my ethics with my colleagues at work, they helped me figure out which ones I will need to be aware of and use during my inquiry.

The big learning curve for me during Module 2 apart from studying the Reader5 on ‘ethics’ was creating my final inquiry subject from interacting online with my SIG members. I felt a little strange creating my SIG group at first; using my blog, I found some people who had similar ideas as mine on the subject of teaching, I felt uncomfortable adding people I didn’t know to my Facebook page and asking them for help and advice. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before we were all commenting on each other’s posts and have now created a friendship through the worry that we were all experiencing and all the help that we gave each other.

My SIG members have helped me through my confusion, their advice and answers to my questions guided me all the way to deciding my final line of inquiry. From their answers, I figured that my initial line of inquiry on 'advantages/disadvantages of having teaching qualifications' wasn’t going to make much of an inquiry; I had already found the answer to my question from their responses.

Experiencing this really changed my way of thinking and learning. I changed my questions to more of a 'teaching techniques' theme which actually interested me more and I was getting more of a variety of answers. Interacting with other members on the course proved to me that networking is a great way of learning and on reflection I can understand how I would have never been able to reach my final line of inquiry had it not been for my SIG Group members.

Piloting the tools suggested in the reader also helped me decide which I should use for my inquiry, I realised that by doing face to face interviews and teacher observations, I  would get a better set of results which were reliable because I could judge the situation myself and make my own notes and evaluations.  

Overall, I have enjoyed the Module 2 tasks, I’ve felt eager to do the work this term and really wanted to find something to inquire that interests me and will benefit me. I’m happy to be investigating teaching methods and believe it will guide others and myself in my position wanting to improve their teaching. I am looking forward to starting my inquiry and finding some answers to help me progress my teaching skills and use my findings to help me further my career.