module specification

This module enables postgraduate students to develop and extend practical arts and/or media experience and expertise in a professional environment.  Students will work with and be mentored by selected arts and/or media practitioners.  The placement will be co-conducted by the student, the practitioner(s) (who will act as, or nominate a member of staff to act as, the workplace mentor to the students) and the module convenor.

This module is primarily for postgraduate students studying and/or planning to work in arts, media, journalism and creative industries areas. It will give them the opportunity to work in a relevant environment and the chance to learn from professionals who are experienced in fields related to their study. The AWBL module will allow students to consolidate and apply knowledge and skills acquired in other postgraduate modules and to acquire and nurture new talents through practical and professional work.

Students will collaborate with, or assist, practitioners working in an appropriate professional environment.  They will either work on a specific project or work for a specified period of time.

Work will take place in a community arts, media or creative industries context.  It might involve creative production, production management, administration, organisation, marketing, financing and/or shadowing, or assisting with any of these or any other creative professional practice. It is normally expected that students will be responsible for identifying their own AWBL opportunities with assistance from the module-convenor where appropriate.

Students will be prepared for AWBL by staff-led tutorials.  These will take place prior to the workplace experience.

The tutorials will focus on developing the student's ability to act, communicate and undertake work in a manner appropriate to the particular professional context that the placement will occur in. They will also relate to the learning outcomes specified for this module.

The initial stages of the AWBL module will involve drawing up a tripartite learning contract that is agreed between the module convenor, the student undertaking the AWBL and the workplace mentor. The contract will identify  the learning outcomes to be derived from the experience and specific tasks that the student will undertake.

The student will then normally undertake his / her placement within the remaining 10 weeks of teaching. They will normally be visited on placement by the module convenor. Students will also have individual tutorials during the semester with the module convenor to discuss their progress. The module convenor will be available, either physically or virtually, to liaise with the workplace supervisor/student during the process as required.

By the end of the module, the student should be able:

1. to have met the particular individual criteria set out in the Learning Contract agreed by employer, student and tutor.
2. to understand and show the association between university studies and the work-place environment
3. to accurately describe and analyse one or more artistic, media, journalistic or creative practice and to communicate an understanding of such practices.
4. to effectively research and engage with facts and processes active in the arts, media, journalism and creative industries.
5. to successfully present their knowledge and experience of such facts and processes in both professional and academic environments.
6. to meet relevant professional and academic deadlines.
7. to communicate in professional media and arts environments.
8. to collaborate as part of a team that includes professional practitioners.
9. to use a balanced combination of intellectual, creative and technological skills relevant to the arts, media and creative industries.
10. The achievement of all of the above should have been demonstrated to a level commensurate with postgraduate study.

This module has a pass on aggregate requirement
Coursework consists of:

A. A 15 minute presentation about the placement experience and the learning achieved. This will take the form of an in-class presentation in front of the module-leader 20%.
B. Portfolio in which the student will collate materials produced during the placement. The portfolio will also include a work-place diary kept by the student during the AWBL experience. 40%
C. Report (3000 words), where the student will reflect on his / her achievement of the learning outcomes stipulated in the learning contract, specific work-place skills, acquired professional expertise, and ability to act and communicate effectively and appropriately in the workplace. 40%

Brennan J and Little J (1996) A Review of Work-Based Learning, DfEE/QSC
Caves, R.E. Creative Industries: Contracts Between Art and Commerce (Harvard, 2002)
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2001) Career Tracking 2001: Graduate Workplace Attitudes
Hesmondhalgh, D. The Cultural Industries (Sage 2002)
Specific literature produced by the University’s Placement Office
Other bibliographical items will be appropriate to the focus of the module and its placements at any given time.