DN6044 - Professional Practice 2 (2025/26)
Module specification | Module approved to run in 2025/26 | ||||||||||
Module title | Professional Practice 2 | ||||||||||
Module level | Honours (06) | ||||||||||
Credit rating for module | 30 | ||||||||||
School | School of Art, Architecture and Design | ||||||||||
Total study hours | 300 | ||||||||||
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Assessment components |
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Running in 2025/26(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
By the end of this module you will have a detailed plan and materials ready for the launch of your career, whether that be in employment, self-employment or further study.
You will be set tasks to research in detail how designers and practitioners in your sector (your future competitors) build their professional and creative profiles and businesses and achieve success. There will also be a focus on how to identify opportunities such as competitions, exhibitions and notice of commissioned work being available. How to achieve effective and cost-effective promotion of your practice will be demonstrated, using the full range of traditional and newly-available communication channels and strategies as appropriate for your practice.
You will be asked to identify what is distinctive about your practice and approach, so that you can make an offer to the market that is attractive and unique. This will require fully professional and sophisticated visual presentation of your work in formats that are recognised by your professional peers and potential clients or employers.
You will continue to research the various roles and employment opportunities that are available to you, understanding how those roles interact and what the skillset requirements for them are, so that you can evaluate and select from the widest range of career openings.
Your final submission should represent a fully rounded, professional and appealing creative profile ready for presentation to potential employers and clients.
Prior learning requirements
Pre-requisite: N/A
Available for Study Abroad? NO
Syllabus
The module will develop knowledge and experience of sector practice through case study research, professional networking and carrying out your studies in a professional manner and context. You will practise professional communication and dissemination skills, understanding the potential of the various publications and platforms available, and prepare materials for those which are most appropriate for your practice and aspirations. The module will illustrate subject-specific curatorial strategies for exhibition, commission and competition concept development and you will have the opportunity to explore public exhibition management, costing, planning and publicising.
You will rehearse negotiation, collaboration and enterprise development through group activities and regular presentations of your portfolio development, progress and findings.
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
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.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, to the standard expected at Level 6, you will be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding
1. Know who your competitors are and evidence your understanding of what makes your work different from theirs, identifying your probable clients or employers;
Cognitive Intellectual Abilities
2. Show that you understand which promotional strategies will work best for you and your practice through considered reflection in your journal;
Transferable Skills
3. Research into professional opportunities, know how client work is commissioned and understand exhibition and competition practice in your field;
Subject Specific Practical Skills
4. Put competition, exhibition, or commission-seeking skills into practice, finding employment or commission opportunities while developing effective proposals for the publication and dissemination of your work;
Professionalism and values
5. Write an ethical statement about your practice, reflecting on issues of fairness, inclusivity, equality and sustainability.