Boy’s Dance Lab

This article discusses the media through which I submitted work for a ‘Praxis’ project as part of my Masters degree in Contemporary Arts. This MA course engages students within a framework of ‘practice as research’ whereby more significance is placed upon the process of art creation as opposed to product. Although ‘products’ such as performances, films or writing for example will inevitably form due to the nature of a creative process, as students and artists, we are encouraged to document our journey with the aim of offering insight and illumination for the viewer into our artistic process. The term ‘praxis’ refers to a mode of research where the student engages with their work from two perspectives; from the inside, or subjective position of being the artist creating, and additionally from the outside, or objective position. When submitting work for assessment, we devise our own criteria outlining the way in which we would like tutors to assess our work, thus providing flexibility across the range of arts disciplines explored on the MA

Is it fair to assess group work for students on undergraduate programmes of study? Narrative reflections on a collaborative project at Level 5.

Undergraduate students on the Foundation Degree in Learning and Teaching study a compulsory module exploring issues relating to \u27Inclusion\u27. Assessment is through a group small-scale research project undertaken in their own workplaces and a personal diary with reflective statement. Concern arose relating to students not working equitably during the group project. This prompted a review of the module assessment strategy and its ability to support a grade which fairly represented the achievement of individuals. Tutor guidance was recognised as a major contributor to high student achievement but with concern whether this high input further exacerbated some student non-engagement – were students being led rather than empowered?. To explore equitability summative research was undertaken to discover if the consequences of assessment weightings had any positive effect on the inter-personal dynamics and motivation within the groups. The research established that the new assessment weightings and the level of Tutor input made a positive impact on fair task sharing, within the group(s), ownership of the project and understanding of the assessment process. However, their existing professional experience as Teaching Assistants in schools engaging in group working, proved to have a far more significant impact on the successful outcomes of their assessed group work project. The exploration of this factor led the researchers generating some key questions on the validity of assessed group working with students who do not have this level of professional experience