Context of Practice 3: Lecture 3

The last lecture of this year was taken today by Richard Miles and it was so helpful for the Context of Practice module and it will really help when it comes to getting further on with the written side of this module. Academic conventions are like an institutional framework for your work. They structure and standardise. They aspire to academic honesty.

You are expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical knowledge of practice
- Apply theory to practice
- Analysis relevant material
- Evaluate theory and evidence within the context of study
- Reflect - critique and critically reflecting on your learning and using this to improve practice

Below we can see the original Blooms (1956) vs the newer version by Anderson and Pohl (1990ish-2000)

When thinking about starting to write the dissertation you should avoid the surface approach when you are writing as it means that you are not going deeper into the theory or the research, you should opt for a deep approach which will use the skills here:
- Independent engagement with material
- Critical and thoughtful about ideas and information
- Relates ideas to own previous experiences and knowledge
- See's the bigger picture
- Relates evidence to conclusions
- Examines logic of arguments
- Interested in wider reading and thinking
- Ongoing preparation and reflection

If there is any uncertainty about a particular point use caution and use words such as 'may, might, could, potentially'. Avoid repeating words, abbreviations and contradictions, slang words and phrases and conversational and vague terms. In many academic disciplines, writing in the first person is not acceptable as it is believed to be too subjective and personal.

Example Structure:
Here is an example structure that we can use to base our written work on and this is so helpful, especially for someone like me who really struggles to get going with the written aspect and finds it hard to keep on track with it.

Preliminaries - Title/Acknowledgements/Contents/List of Illustrations

Introduction - The Abstract/Statement of the Problem/Methodological Approach

Main Body - Review of the Literature/Logically Developed Argument/Chapters/Result of Investigation/Case Study

Conclusion - Discussion and Conclusion/Summery of Conclusions

Extras - Bibliography/Appendices

Getting Stuck?
The next part of the lecture was also really helpful and looked at what happens if you get stuck. This is brilliant as I find that I am in this situation a lot and these steps will really help me to understand what to do to get back on track.
Ask yourself why are you really stuck?
Avoid negativity.
Picture what being 'unstuck' would look like.

Becoming Unstuck
This is how I feel about being stuck
>>>
This is what I am stuck with
>>>
Being 'unstuck' would look like this
>>>
What actions could be taken to get there?
>>>
In what timescale?
>>>
Do the action!

Project Self Assessment:
- Write down the major aims of the project
- Give a brief summery of the work so far
- Comment on your time management
- Do you know what the final project will look like?
- What steps will you take to ensure it gets there?
- What areas of the project are you worried about?
- What 'risk management' plans do you have?
- How are you going to use the remaining time?

What I really wanted to do was then answer these questions from today as I do feel that I am behind on my project at the moment, and feel by answering this I will help understand where I am up to, what work I have done so far and also why I am behind and what I need to do to get moving again.

Write down the major aims of the project
- Create a finished game level that is playable and able to be finished as a level
- Create a piece of writing that links to perspective and how colour and lighting can effect it
- Successfully synthesis these two elements together to create a link between the two

Give a brief summery of the work so far
So far I have planned out what I am going to be doing for the practical and I am moving on to looking at creating the concept art, doing some more testing and then looking at creating a mock up of the level or the final one pretty much straight away. In regards to my essay, this hasn't really gone anywhere and I haven't even created a structure for it yet.

Comment on your time management
So far I believe my time management has not been good. Along with having all summer to think of a project, dissertation subject and then also a practical project to link with it, I have also had two months back at college. This is a lot of time and I feel that I have so far not used my time correctly, even though I made myself a well detailed schedule. I had become very distracted over the entirety of October with one thing or another and then in November so far it has been the same along with having to attend a lot of events this month as well which has made me see how little time I have left to complete this project.

Do you know what the final project will look like?
Yes, this is something that I do now know. I have got most of the practical element planned out and have a great idea of how I want it to look, its just a case of figuring out the last few things, getting it planned out on paper and then created in 3D so that it can be played. In terms of the written side, its a bit hit and miss at the moment. I know what I would like to create but a lot more research is necessary over the Christmas month to get it finished in time.

What steps will you take to ensure it gets there?
From now on I am really going to be cracking on with work. I have now got all the time that I need for the next 50 days to put in a lot of time and effort into this module, and plan on getting my practical finished by the 12th December so that I can then put the last month solely into the written side and any last researching that I need to do.

What areas of the project are you worried about?
At the moment I am not worried about any aspects, I believe that if I continue at this pace that I am now going at I will have everything completed in time for the hand in date in January.

What 'risk management' plans do you have?
The only plans that I do have really just concern the practical and that if I cannot get mechanics to work in the game space as I want. But I feel that with the time that I have left on this project I can work around any problems that I may run into over the course of creating the final level. If I am really really running into trouble I will not include an outside to my game level and concentrate solely on the inside environment and the mechanics that are involved in finishing the level.

How are you going to use the remaining time? 
This has pretty much already been explained above, and it is just going to be the case of getting on with everything and catching up over the next couple of weeks to get everything done in time for the deadlines.

I found the lecture today so very helpful in aiding me in this final push towards the deadline and I really want to strive to do my best in this project despite the large amount of procrastination that I have already put into the module. I am definitely going to be getting a move on starting tomorrow and can definitely start looking at creating the environment for my final piece next week if everything goes to plan.