Monday 7 October 2013

Some early thoughts on the professional artefact

Yesterday, whilst looking through some literature online I came across something in the Trinity Laban Report, Passions, Pathways and Potential in Dance, which can be accessed here, that piqued my interest regarding the professional artefact.
N.B. Several examples can be seen throughout this report but the first one that I came across, and which started my mental ball rolling, is on page 27 of the report.

The reason it caught my eye is that, although I don't know what my 'findings' are going to be yet, the page clearly sets out the theory/ concept alongside the practical application or possible strategy for achieving the desired outcome.

This linked in my mind to a conversation I had, back in the summer holidays, with two teacher friends of mine, on the topic of how to present information in a useful way. One friend suggested a CD-Rom that she had, which gave practical advice but also had links to more academic literature so that there was the opportunity to delve deeper if so desired. The other teacher friend was reminded of a set of 'flashcards' that she had, which compartmentalised information on a particular topic area into smaller, more manageable chunks - something that she found useful because she could easily just pick out the most relevant card rather than wading through masses of data.

Both teachers suggest that having small amounts of information at their fingertips was helpful on a day-to-day basis but that being able to look deeper or wider into topics, when time or particular interest arose, was also important. So, perhaps this is something to bear in mind when creating my professional artefact.

Food for thought, again.

Let me know what you feel might be a useful tool for practical purposes so that I can add it to the suggestions above. Perhaps you feel a visual representation of some kind might work better for you? Or a combination of pictures and text?

S

References

Redding, E., Nordin-Bates, S. and Walker, I. 2011. Passion, pathways and potential in dance. An interdisciplinary longitudinal study into dance talent development.. [report].
Available at: http://www.dancexchange.org.uk/uploads/news/trinity_laban_cat_report.pdf [Accessed 7 Oct 2013]

2 comments:

  1. Hi Sarah,

    Picking up on your question of what other methods could be used for the purposes of referencing small pieces of information in the future (and / or your artefact) but dependent on how easy and affordable this would be for you...Looking at the way things are rapidly changing, videos appear to be incredibly useful. People are so busy nowadays to read lots of words and jargon to find the exact answer they are looking for. Videoing snippets of information, either as verbal (some one talking to the screen) or visual (someone demonstrating on screen) or images that could be of words of pictures to convey the information could be a useful source of information for teachers. I guess it would depend on what you are trying to achieve with your artefact - does the production of your artefact require you to have your "findings" or could it be open ended, as work in progress for future information to be inserted?

    I hope this helps Sarah.
    Best Wishes,
    Jo

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  2. Hi Jo,
    Thank-you for your great comment.
    I have also been wondering about a more visual form of artefact, particularly after seeing Luke Bohanna's brilliant film clip on his blog Done!! (Link here: http://tmcofliam.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/done.html). I
    I am, myself, a very visual learning and find charts, pictures, film clips, and in fact anything that breaks up text or replaces it, much easier to assimilate.
    I am also drawn to thinking about your point regarding 'work in progress' or finished article. I have no real idea where my data, and subsequent analysis, will take me yet but I will certainly bear in mind that nothing is ever really coompleted or final, it's just another step along the way.
    Thanks again for your insight,
    S

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