I think my research skills have developed during this module, I feel more confident reading and understanding texts and picking out information. I feel I have adopted a more sophisticated approach to how I interpret texts but I still need to work on my analysis of relevancy to my topic. I often found myself with a really interesting point that I wanted to write about but it just wasn't working towards answering my question.
I think my final publication has been a success, personally I am really pleased with the outcome as I feel it does its job of making the reader ask questions about what it means to be British and challenges preconceptions people may have. I think the concept of it looking like a passport works well with the idea of challenging perceptions and making people question what it presented to them. Although the survey I did was only small, it had a really strong impact on the content of my publication. The publication felt much more informed and valid knowing that the information inside had stemmed from real people’s responses. I feel that my sketchbook work that I had done alongside writing my essay sort of got left behind in the process of making my publication, this is one regret I have. I could have worked harder to embed the concept deeper into the making of my book through more subtle imagery alongside the current content.
Time management has been an issue for me during this module, also organisation. I should have realised a lot earlier on that being organised with the work I bring to sessions and crits directly impacts the quality of feedback I get. I did find the sessions challenging and interesting and I feel I contributed well to them.
I think my major downfall during the module was my confidence in my own ideas. I found myself constantly seeking approval that I was on the right track and not being able to trust my own instincts. Analysing texts and writing is not something I am overly confident with but it was primarily the publication concept that I found myself struggling with. I was not trusting myself to go ahead with an idea meaning that I had numerous idea changes and rethinks which consequently hindered the progress and flow of the project. However, having to battle with the process of choosing an idea for my publication resulted in me landing on something I am really happy with and I feel the whole process has been well informed by my continual research which ran parallel between my visual and written work.
I am happy with the standard of my essay, especially the improvements made since the interim submission. I did lose my enthusiasm for the subject quite early on in the module and I think this shows in my writing. I concluded that the overall answer to the question would differ on an individual basis but because of this, it sounds like my conclusion is lacking any real resolution. The structure was something I struggled with and my feedback from the interim submission suggested that it needed reordering. I worked hard to get the paragraphs to flow and for the argument to make sense. I feel this has worked and the exploration of the topic is clearer to understand now.
I must admit my motivation for this module had its peaks and troughs. Even when my motivation was at its lowest, I still completed the tasks and lecture notes in order to not fall behind. It was definitely the pressure of the deadline that drove me to increase my productivity which led to me being quite last minute with making my publication and adding the final touches to my essay. My attitude to the module has not been the best and I aim to improve this for next year. I am hoping to find a research question that I can maintain an interest in throughout the module, I think this will be the key to making it a success for me.
Looking ahead to my dissertation, it will be crucial for me to get a lot of research done over the summer. I do enjoy the research process once I get going with it but I need to try and force myself to be efficient with it and not get sidetracked by other interesting topics outside my area of research. Next year I am going to aim to have clear questions to ask at crits and tutorials, I think it is the best way to get the most out of them. I am also going to remember to blog all of the information I looked at so I don’t forget where quotes have come from or where I have read certain things. I realised during when writing my essay that I had been making notes about concepts and potential arguments but not writing down where I had read the information that sparked the ideas.
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