Brief

PROJECT BRIEF

Project Title	How to survive and prosper	Project Value	10 Credits
Unit Title	Industry and Professional Practice	Unit Code	CCU102
Level/Term	Level 1 Terms 1 and 2	Date of Issue	September 2010
Submission Date	Formative: 31 January 2011 Summative: 18 April 2011
Unit Leader	Susan Lee
Project Leader and Other Staff	Susan Lee, Libby Anson, Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Yvonne Halloran, Pauline Taylor, Laura Bell, Sally Spinks
Unit Introduction	This unit will support and focus on the development of learners’ self-awareness, and approaches to lifelong learning, and their study, organisation, self-management and communication skills. The unit also enables students to research their chosen industry, prepares them for work experience (or equivalent) and encourages them to plan and review their educational and professional development in relation to potential roles related to their course. -

Project Brief	How to survive and prosper in a volatile world This unit will help you acquire the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to operate in professional practice. It includes: - detailed research on your industry, so that you can understand it in the broadest possible context before making career choices later in your course - how people operate in teams, which not only will prepare you for work but will enable you to work effectively in teams throughout your course and beyond - best practice in constructing CVs to help you gain a placement or work experience - the different ways of learning required at university level and for your future employment, including how to reflect on what you learn. These days the world is changing so fast on technological, economic, social and political fronts that whole industries or specialist job roles can die or be born virtually overnight. Just think of what happened to hot metal typesetters when desktop publishing arrived; or film editors when editing suites were replaced by cheap off the shelf software packages; or the London post production specialists, now that the Chinese can deliver special effects work so much cheaper than the UK. The bottom line is that if we don’t want to become irrelevant, we all need to a) be aware of what is going on in the wider world, in our industry and intended job role b) reflect on what that means for us and how we need to adapt c) learn new skills throughout our lifetime to keep us resilient to change and able to maximize our personal prosperity d) be able to communicate effectively about our thinking and practice. To start you off on the path of awareness, reflection and independent lifelong learning - ie the Path to Survival and Prosperity - you are required to keep a Learning Blog - from day 1 till the very end of your course. The Learning Blog is your personal visual, written and, possibly, even aural record (using the blog technology provided) of your progress throughout all of your studies. You should use your Learning Blog to: - keep a record of your course lectures, research, readings, practical exercises, insights and influences, describing what you have learnt, what you think about what you have learnt and why - show and comment on examples of your practical/creative work, describing how in the process of developing your work you have integrated your learning or generated new learning - record your personal thinking and reflections on all of the above as well as relevant activities outside your course. - record the specialist and transferable skills you are building. Your Learning Blog should be kept on the Mahara blogging tool and can incorporate movies, images and sound as well as text – it is up to you to be imaginative as well as informative. For Summative assessment you will need to write an 800 word Written Summary of your Learning Blog which should, among other things, include the following elements: · The 3 most interesting things you have learned about your industry, why you find them interesting and how you intend to apply this knowledge · Reflections on your experience of working in a team on your course. Utilise what you have learned about some of the theories of team working to help illustrate your example · Looking back on what you’ve learned across the whole of your course so far, reflect on some of the key learning points and how you have applied, or intend to apply, them. Identify goals for further development. By keeping a regular record of the above in your Learning Blog (reflective practice) you will have built, by the end of the year, solid evidence of your capabilities, experience and point of view, which you can use to help you get work and so Survive and Prosper as a professional.
Teaching and Learning Strategies and E-Learning	A series of timetabled events (classes, practical workshops and contact with industry) will be supported by online activities. Please note that you must complete the online activities in order to gain sufficient information to complete this unit. For project updates you are required to check regularly your emails and unit specific content in Moodle.
Learning Outcomes	A1 Develop a broad awareness of the industry and relevant professional roles. C1 Ability to reflect on course progress and development goals D1 Recognise the benefits of working collaboratively and understand the value of different team roles E1 Ability to communicate to peers and tutors using appropriate methods
Assessment Criteria	Level of awareness of industry and relevant professional roles; (A1) Explanation of the benefits of working collaboratively and roles within in teams; (B1) Demonstrates application of learning and identification of areas for development; (C1) Clear communication of ideas and evidence of use of appropriate research methods. (E1)
Assessable Elements and Submission Requirements	Submissions for assessment For final assessment, at the end of term 2 you are required to submit by 18 April 2011: a) an 800 word Written Summary of the key insights and reflections recorded in your Learning Blog. b) your Learning Blog. Together, these items should provide evidence of your learning and how you have integrated and applied it in your work/creative practice. The 800 word Written Summary should include the following elements: · The 3 most interesting things you have learned about your industry, why you find them interesting and how you intend to apply this knowledge · Reflections on your experience of working in a team on your course. Utilise what you have learned about some of the theories of team working to help illustrate your example · Looking back on what you’ve learned across the whole of your course so far, reflect on some of the key learning points and how you have applied, or intend to apply, them and identify goals for further development. A first draft of your Written Summary should be submitted for Formative Assessment January 31 2011. You will receive feedback on this Formative stage and it is important that you ensure you understand the feedback that is given to you, so that you can use it to enhance your final submission. Assessable Elements Percentage of Final Grade Formative assessment 0% Summative assessment 100%
Key Dates	Formative assessment submission: 31 January 2011 Summative assessment submission: 18 April 2011 Students must refer to the detailed timetable for times regarding sessions and lectures. Formative Assessment: Submission of first draft 800 word Written Summary of Learning Blog January 31 2011. Summative Assessment: Submission of Learning Blog and 800 word Written Summary 18 April 2011.
Extensions and Mitigating Circumstances	If you have any other unforeseen and serious difficulties during this unit you may apply for an extension, or mitigating circumstances. Full details of how to do this are available from the Registry intranet site at http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/registry/docs/MITCIRCSFAQ.pdf
Grading and Marking	All projects at Ravensbourne College are assessed against the College Grading Descriptors. (http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/quality/a_to_z.htm)
Reading List	Reading list Core texts Buzan, T. (2001) Use your Head. BBC Books. Chapter 6, 7 and 8 ‘mind-mapping’. Chambers, E and Northedge, A. (1997) The Arts Good Study Guide. The Open University. Chapter 1: sections 4 and 5, Chapter 2, 4, 5 and chapter 7: sections 3-8. Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook (Second Edition), Palgrave Macmillan. Use this as a reference book – look up relevant pages in the very full contents list. Particularly relevant are chapters 2 and 6 and 7-8. Mumford, A. (1999) Effective Learning, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The whole of this short book will be useful. Additional Texts Belbin, R M. (1993) Team roles at work, Butterworth-Heinemann Caperez, E. (2004) Careers Uncovered Series: Art and Design Uncovered, Trotman. Drew, S. and Bingham, R (2001) The Student Skills Guide, Gower. Harris, C. (2007) Careers Uncovered Series: Media Uncovered (Second Edition), Trotman. Lakoff and Johnson. (1981) Metaphors We Live By, University of Chicago Press. Vickers, T. (1997) From CV to Shortlist, Kogan Page. Marshall, L. A (1998) Guide to Learning Independently, Open University Press. Ruggiero, V. (2001) Becoming a Critical Thinker, Houghton Mifflin. Siddons, S. (1999) Presentation Skills, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Stewart, G et al. (1999) Team work and group dynamics, Wiley Useful Websites: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk http://www.skillset.org http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/work http://www.support4learning.org.uk/education/lstyles.htm http://www.peterhoney.com/learning online questionnaire on learning styles http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire – additional model of learning styles
Learning Support	Learning Support is available through Student Services and includes – English as a second language, academic writing support and dyslexia support. For more information on the type of support you can access, either visit the Student Services Team, or see the Support for Learning brochure which can be downloaded from – http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/support/Support4Learning.htm Alternative assessment arrangements may be made or additional learning support arranged for students with disabilities or medical conditions which would impair their performance in meeting the above requirements and who have registered in advance with Student Support. This must be discussed and agreed in advance with the Subject Leader and will be reported to the Board of Examiners.
Re-Submission Requirements	Students who fail this project, or parts thereof, will be required to complete a resubmission project which demonstrates that they have achieved the learning outcomes. Students should be aware that resubmissions are capped at an E grade (for University of Sussex Validation) or a bare pass grade (for City University London Validation) unless the mitigating circumstances panel uphold an evidenced application. The deadline for re-submission is 24 June 2011.