module specification

Over the course of your level 6 studies you will reach a point as a practitioner when your practice - and eventually your portfolio - is defined by your own interests, discipline focus and professional ambitions. In the Major Project module you will assimilate your years of prior learning and apply it to a significant body of work. You will define your individual creative identity and situate your practice in the wider context of the professional illustration and/ or animation sector.

In this module you will define, develop, test, iterate and execute an ambitious and  significant project of highly-resolved discipline-specific work. Encompassing project development from problem finding, through idea and concept generation to the application of your practical skills for realisation and presentation in professionally recognised formats, you will use and record your independent project planning and management skills in preparation for your career launch.

A negotiated and approved proposal will confirm your individual project. Using creative exploration and experimentation you will generate, develop, research, conceptualise, visualise, test and model your proposals using material investigation in digital and analogue processes.

Feedback from tutors, visiting professionals and practitioners as well as peers will help you to ensure that your proposal meets a valid need, reaches a professionally-recognised quality standard and achieves the purpose intended. With an emphasis on individual authorship, the module requires that you critique and reflect upon your work in progress and understand its position in the creative sector. The module emphasises self-direction and personal focus whilst acknowledging external and professional trends, expectations and constraints.

During this module you will:

• devise and research a subject-specific project proposal;

• defend the project proposal using your research as evidence;

• exercise project planning, management, research and development skills in an academic and professional context;

• exercise decision making and problem solving showing that you have understood and managed complex and ambitious tasks;

• work independently, self-reflectively and with concern for the ethical issues and principles attached to your project;

• show understanding of your particular strengths, interests and position in the field, and your potential for further development;

• achieve outcomes of a professional standard of realisation and presentation.

Available for Study Abroad? NO

Through a negotiated and agreed individual project, you will gain experience of:

• planning, recording, managing and conducting a process for the production and completion of a researched proposal;

• aligning skills and knowledge in various areas of expertise and endeavour – technical, intellectual, creative, organisational, critical and interpersonal – to the successful conclusion of an integrated project;

• liaison with industry figures in the pursuit of the project;

• professional expectations of styles and quality of presentation;

• critically assessing your work against standards expected in your field.

Scheduled teaching provides the guidance and foundation to ensure that independent study is effective in addressing the module’s learning outcomes and assessment tasks.

In-class activity makes use of varied student-centred approaches such as active, flipped and blended learning, so that a range of learning strategies is deployed, and individual learning styles are accommodated. Information is provided through a range of means and sources to minimise and remove barriers to successful progress through the module. The course team seeks to embed the University’s Education for Social Justice Framework in fostering learning that is enjoyable, accessible, relevant and that takes account of the social and cultural context and capital of its students.

Activities foster peer-to-peer community building and support for learning. Reflective learning is promoted through interim formative feedback points that ask students to reflect on their progress, receive help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, students build a body of work, including written reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-based learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal and career development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading books and journal articles, going to galleries and exhibitions, working on individual and group projects, undertaking preparing project work and presentations, and preparing for deadlines. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and Weblearn and Linkedin Learning, the online learning platform.

On successful completion of the module, to the standard expected at Level 6, you will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. research, realise and present the outcomes of a significant, effective, evidenced  and impactful illustration and/ or animation project demonstrating deep knowledge and understanding of the discipline’s practices and expectations;

Cognitive Intellectual Abilities

2. critically analyse and reflect upon the work of yourself and others, applying the outcomes of your analysis to the development of your work, including consideration of the ethical issues arising;

Transferable Skills

3. demonstrate a robust and effective project planning and management process, working independently, managing complex problems and tasks and showing high levels of attention to detail in all aspects of how work is researched, developed, executed and presented;

Subject Specific Practical Skills

4. evidence a high level of skill and independence in the selection, manipulation and execution of analogue and/or digital tools, techniques and processes;

Professionalism and Values

5. demonstrate personal responsibility, confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity, acting as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners, working according to the expectations of professionals in your discipline.

The module will be assessed through the submission of an academic portfolio of creative and reflective work. Typically this will include a body of development work, finalised physical and/or digital work, sketchbooks, and reflective documents. Precise requirements for submission will be given in project briefs.

A fully professional standard of portfolio organisation, presentation and annotation is required, alongside outcomes produced through recognised sector-specific professional tools and practice, applied to a high standard.

Work must be carefully organised and presented to communicate the development of ideas and the content must be clearly labeled with name, student number, module code and date.

You must attend and engage with all timetabled studio and workshop sessions and tasks set both in-class and as self-study.

http://Link to digital reading list

Journals:
Creative Review
Eye Magazine
Varoom
Printed Pages

Websites:
linkedinlearning.com
eyeondesign.aiga.org
creativereview.co.uk
itsnicethat.com
theaoi.com/varoom
lectureinprogress.com
creativeboom.com/