Title: Extended Major Project
Ref:
Level: 6
Credit Points: 60
Weighting: 4.0
Study Time: 600 hours
Description:
The intention of the Extended Major Project is provide a suitable vehicle for a sustained focus on a specific project which allows you to apply the knowledge, technical skills and intellectual abilities acquired and developed during the course. You are required to produce a significant body of finished work appropriate to the level of Honours degree study. It is designed to challenge you and to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of a complex body of knowledge and practice, some of which may be at the current boundaries of the discipline. You will apply your specialist and creative abilities, and produce work to a high professional standard.
Your creative practice is therefore the focus of the year, and you should ensure that you develop a Learning Agreement which reflects the scope of project which is required.
Outline Syllabus:
An indicative guide to the content covered by this unit.
The programme of study will vary according to the academic needs and interests of individual students. Irrespective of subject specialisation, it will entail the negotiation of a body of creative work between yourself, your tutor and where appropriate your peers, eg. group-based productions. The body of work to which you commit yourself will be defined in a Learning Agreement.
Method of Delivery:
Independent research and study on a group and individual basis, practical workshops, viewings, group and individual tutorials.
Aims:
A1 To provide you with the opportunities to exercise and enhance your knowledge and abilities in the development of a body of creative and technically competent work appropriate to your course aims and criteria at Level 6.
A2 To provide opportunities for you to learn from the increased complexity and rigour of creative production required for this unit.
A3 To encourage you to apply the advanced level of discipline and time-management which are required during the unit.
A4 To encourage you to work independently, albeit with supervision, in the development of your work, in a way which reflects contemporary professional practice. You are also encouraged to work effectively as a team member where this is demanded by your project or subject specialism.
Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this unit you will be able to:
LO1 Demonstrate the ability to rigorously apply specialist knowledge, understanding and creativity in the production of your extended major project.
LO2 Demonstrate the ability to manage the complexity of practice demanded by the extended major project by managing your time and work efficiently.
LO3 Demonstrate ability in the coherent use of various representation techniques, documentation and presentations to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
LO4 Demonstrate your awareness of the ethical, social and cultural issues appropriate to the concept of a responsible professional practitioner, whether working independently or as part of a team
Assessment Requirements:
Body of work to be identified through and in the negotiated Learning Agreement 100%
Assessment Criteria (specific criteria related to the learning outcomes and linked to the statement of generic assessment criteria matrix):
Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills – Specialist knowledge and understanding are evident and applied in the work (LO1)
Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection – Informing the development and management of the project (LO2)
Evidence of realisation through presentation – The communication and presentation of ideas reflects best contemporary practice (LO3)
Evidence of knowledge of concepts, contexts, criticism and theory – The work demonstrates awareness of concepts relevant to the responsible professional practitioner (LO4)
Reference Material:
This will vary according to the needs of individual students. You will define Reference Material through negotiation with your tutors and list it in your Learning Agreement.
Staff:
Phil Beards, Liam Birtles, Bob Cotton.
Assignment Brief
In this unit, you will produce a finished piece of work that will be the culmination of your three years study. It will be a substantial project, at a professional level, that is the pinnacle of your work so far. Ideally, it will tie together several areas of interest, and will consider deeply and build upon the knowledge you have acquired as a student of interactive media.
Preferably, but not essentially, this project will build upon your previous work this year – the Investigative Study and Specialist Project.
The final deliverable should aim to be innovative yet intuitive and easily understandable, and to develop on themes in the area under investigation.
The project submission will be of a standard that, if appropriate, can be exhibited or submitted to national or international competitions.
All project submissions will comprise of a fully working prototype; i.e. a usable piece of work that an uninitiated user can explore and interact with in full, and a weblog that documents your process of development.
You will need to use a concept driven approach to the project development, rather than technology driven – focus on the idea, and solving the problems that the idea brings up, rather than finding a new or augmented use for an existing system or product.
The exact framework of your project will be detailed in a Learning Agreement that will be negotiated with the teaching team.
Scheme of Work
This is an approximate guide to the content of a session, be aware this is subject to change in response to external influences and your own pace of development.
TBC