Advanced Project

On successful completion of this course a student will be able to:

1. Apply a range of research methodologies to support the acquisition of detailed knowledge in an agreed area of enquiry.
2. Understand the processes of supervised project-based study.
3. Understand the implications of working together as a team towards a common goal.
4. Understand and be able to work with the main theoretical concerns in the selected area of practice.
5. Expand knowledge of work/practice-based skills, including, writing a proposal, assessing health & safety and ethical implications of the study, group working arrangements (where appropriate), time and project management.
6. The ability to communicate complex ideas to a wider audience through mediated forms. The course leads to the following outputs:

At the beginning of the course, the student is required to submit a proposal for either a group or solo project, depending on the subject area. A significant feature of the course is that once the student’s proposed area of activity has been agreed, they are mentored in working towards their goal through regular focused supervisory sessions with a staff member who has experience in that area. They are also assisted in this by a programme of weekly extended (2hr) lectures on a range of themes designed to support and inform the maintenance and understanding of professional creative practice across the spectrum of disciplines represented by the department. In addition, workshops across the range of techniques covered by the course are offered, which can be availed of as needed.

Deliverables

1. The creation of a distinctive end product – for presentation.
2. Detailed records of the process of research, development and production of the final work.
3. An in-depth reflective written examination of the working process that also demonstrates the student’s individual working process and/or their contribution to a group endeavour, specific to the final project outcome.

• Aims

  Students are supported in finding and employing practice-based responses to self-directed, researched study, leading to the production of outcomes for publication, exhibition or display across the range of media supervised by appropriately qualified staff. While the course builds on both practice and theory-based approaches established in the first two years of study, it also introduces students to project-based methodologies that have widespread application across the Creative Industries and, as such, provides a meaningful bridge to post degree-level practices in Media Arts and related subjects, whether encountered in the workplace or postgraduate study.

  Commitment to independent and collaborative student-centred learning and the continued acquisition of transferable skills is at the heart of Advanced Projects. The course requires students to build on and develop the skills, both technical and creative, learnt in the first two years of study, and to apply these skills to a supervised researched project, culminating in the creation of a distinctive end product. This final piece will be arrived at through supervision with assigned tutors and through peer-group tutorials and "crits". It can take a number of forms and, as a result, can be displayed in a variety of ways from on-line presentations through to gallery or theatre based presentation, but all projects will be submitted as part of a portfolio that will be beneficial to the student after University.

  During the course, the student has the opportunity to take technical workshops tailored to meet the varying individual requirements, while the learning process throughout is supported by a series of lectures examining the nature of creative practice, relationships between research and practice and practice-based methodologies.