New and returning students...

Welcome and Welcome back!

First group skype meetings of the term this weekend for all new and returning students - Alumni always welcome too if you're around!

The meetings will follow the pattern we set up last term to accommodate the growth of our MAPP community, with one AM and one PM session offered one the same Sunday, aiming to keep these running on the first Sunday of each month throughout the term.

Sunday Feb 1st Skype's:

11.00 UK time
19.00 UK time

Hopefully one of these times will work for you, where you are in the world, what your Sunday looks like...

Adesola co-ordinates the group Skype calls so please do make sure you have sent her a contact request ahead of the call so that she can call you. <aonthephone> Please do add a note to your request stating that you are a MAPP DTP student too!

If anyone has not been able to access the module handbook for the module you are starting this term - these are on our MAPP DTP programme page on UniHub - please let me know via email <h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk>

Otherwise, I look forward to hearing from you all on Sunday and to starting this term together!

Helen

Finalist Presentations - updated schedule

Looking forward to our finalists this term sharing their research with us on Monday;

Slight adjustment to schedule to note for those attending or skyping in;

The day will run as follows:

> 9.45-10.30 / 10.30-11.15 - Morning presentations (x2)
> 11.30-12.30 - assessors questions to finalists
> 13.00-13.45 / 13.45-14.30- Afternoon presentations (x2)
> 14.45-15.45 assessors questions to finalists

We will be in the Grove Dance Theatre (G190) Hendon Campus NW4 4BT

Parking on campus is extremely limited, I have requested spaces for those who have emailed me for this, though these are not guaranteed, drive up to the security barrier at the car park on Greyhound Hill and give your name/my name, you will be on their list, if there is space available they will let you know where you can park.  Alternative parking can be found in St.Joseph's Grove (alongside the side entrance to the University) parking is free on the left hand side of the road until 13.45, pay by phone all day elsewhere £4.

By tube - Hendon Central (Northern Line) then a 10minute walk up the hill to campus on The Burroughs.

A couple of our undergraduate student reps will be in the main reception area from 9am to take you over to the theatre.

If you have asked to join us via Skype, please be online 5 mins before the start of each presentation, I will check then and call you.  

Look forward to meeting some of you in person!
Helen

Submissions and new term...

Submissions of work for the January deadline are all received - Thank-you and Well done to all of you!

Adesola and myself will aim to email you with feedback on the modules you have just completed by the end of January, your final grades will be published for you on UniHub towards the end of February.

So before withdrawing entirely from online presence and bury myself in marking(!), I thought some dates for your diaries for the next term may be useful.

Finalist presentations - Monday Jan 19th, Hendon Campus from 9.45am - All encouraged to attend.

Next group Skype for all new and returning students - 
SUNDAY FEB 1st - 11.00 and 17.30 UK time

New term begins on MONDAY FEB 2nd.

In the meantime do take a look at the Module Handbook for your next module on our MAPP DTP page on UniHub.

Helen

Finalist Presentations in January...

You are all warmly invited to attend the

MA Professional Practice, Dance Technique Pedagogy

Finalist Presentations

January 19^th 2015

Grove Dance Theatre (G190)

Middlesex University London

Schedule of the day:

9.30 arrival

9.45-12.00 Morning Presentations  - 

3 finalists presenting their Research Projects, each presentation is approx 30mins with questions, comments, invited afterwards.

12.00-13.00 – Assessors questions/discussion with finalists

13.00-13.30 – Lunch break

1.30-15.00 Afternoon Presentations - 

2 finalists presenting their Research Projects, each presentation is approx 30mins with questions, comments, invited afterwards.

15.00-16.00 – Assessors questions/discussion with finalists

It would be great to see lots of you there supporting your fellow MAPPers and sharing in their research, and would be great to meet some of you in person!

Please confirm attendance via email so that we have an idea of numbers  h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk

Finalists - I have emailed you with more details of the day.

Submission of work for assessment...

As we're nearing the end of this term, some notes on the submission of your work for assessment.

Everyone, whatever module you are one, has the 
submission date of January 5th 2015.

With a last chance to submit any work in draft form next week (Dec 9th) in order for Adesola and myself to get back to you with some feedback before the end of our teaching term (Dec 19th).

Submission of work is via the University Student Portal - UniHub
You will have visited our Programme Page here already to see your Module Handbooks, get the list of Blog addresses, check out your reading lists and other Uni resources.

Once logged in to UniHub, you click on
My Courses 
go to the MA Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy page.
Here you'll find a folder titled Submissions - Jan.  
Within this folder is the Turnitin Assignment Submission box.
You click on this to upload your assignment saved as ONE word document.
Turnitin will not allow you to submit multiple files so all written work, including your cover page, any appendices, bibliography must be saved as one document.
Please save this document as 
YOUR NAME_YOUR MODULE_FINAL ASSESSMENT_DATE.

Submitting via email:
As a back up, or if you have problems with using Turnitin and are not able to submit this way (don't panic) please do send the same document, saved in the same way as an email attachment to both myself and Adesola.

<h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk>
<adesola@dancingstrong.com>

For those of you submitting for Module One, please use Turnitin for your Review of Learning Essay (one document including cover page and bibliography) but for your portfolios the one document rule will be more tricky.  Please email your completed CV, JD, AOLS (with appendices of evidence if possible in electronic form and bibliography for each one) and your Review of Learning essay.  Please also submit your whole portfolio in hard copy.  

If you are local to London and able to submit in person you may always hand your work in via the UniHelp desk in the main reception area of the Sheppard Library at our Hendon Campus.  You will be issued with a receipt of submission here and the work will be passed on to me.  You can also mail your work in (we accept date of posting as your submission date, so you do not need to worry about posting ahead to get to us for the deadline) if doing this please address to:

Helen Kindred, Programme Leader MA Professional Practice Dance Pedagogy
School of Media and Performing Arts
Town Hall Annex (TG55)
Middlesex University London
The Burroughs
Hendon
London
NW4 4BT

Any problems just email me!

Helen

Different journeys...same module

Picking up on themes emerging from your blogs, linked-in discussions and the one-to-one tutorials this week, I wanted to offer some generic support with regard to those of you on Module One.

Module One is all about you situating yourself within the framework of your own learning through reflection on your prior learning experiences.  We ask you to demonstrate this journey of self-reflection and understanding of where you are within your own professional practice by compiling a Portfolio.

Your portfolio is like a scrap book of you through your professional practice.
It includes:

• your annotated CV 
• your (main) Job Description
• your AOLs including illustrations/evidence as appendices (80 credits)
• your Review of Learning reflective essay (10 credits)

The Areas of Learning (AOLs) represent the areas of your professional experiences that have relevance to your current professional practice.  The AOLs offer you a way of demonstrating, through writing within an academic context, the learning that you have undertaken through prior professional experiences.  You present these AOLs (with illustration/evidence) to the university as part of your portfolio in order to demonstrate the level of prior professional experiences you have had as being equivalent to MA level (level 7).  It is through the AOLs that you are claiming academic credit via your prior professional practice for the first 80 credits of your MA.

Different Journeys:

We recognise, and enjoy that you have all had different prior experiences and therefore your portfolios will be as diverse in their content and presentation.  Imagine you are all set the task to bake a cake, you are all given a round tin to bake it in (a frame) but are relying on whatever's in your own cupboards for the ingredients.  You will all bake a cake, but everyone's ingredients will be different, so no two cakes will taste the same.

If you have prior learning experiences already accredited (by another awarding body/organisation) at level 7 (ie: MA credit from another institution, PGCE qualification) you can use this to make a claim directly for that specified level of credit.  As this is credit which has already been assessed and 'passed' to be at level 7 your claiming of it need not be as lengthy as an AOL for prior experience that has not been accredited previously.  It is more of a supportive claim statement which should detail the key  learning experiences of this accredited learning as relevant to your current professional practice (approx 1,000 words) and should be accompanied by the relevant certification for this accreditation (certificate and transcript).

If you have prior learning experiences which have already been accredited/approved by Middlesex University but do not stand directly within a formally recognised level 7 qualification (i.e: Fellowship status through the ISTD, QTS through Schools Direct route rather than PGCE) you can use these to make a claim for that agreed credit through making them the title of one AOL.  This AOL has direct reference to the learning of this prior experience and you use the AOL essay to demonstrate this learning within an academic context, and support with relevant certification/award.

Prior learning which you have identified through your professional experiences but which has not previously been accredited by another institution/organisation you use as the basis of your AOLs (titled as relevant to each area) in order to claim the relevant academic credit that you (and your advisor) feel the experience is equivalent to in academic terms.  You look to identify through these essays/claims/AOLs the prior learning that has been key to your professional practice.

So, you will have different numbers of AOLs at different credit levels depending on your different prior experiences and that's great!

Hopefully that's a little clearer all round?  Do use your Module Handbook (Review of Learning) to support you in the process too, it does outline the process of claiming through AOLs.

Speak at our next group Skype call on Dec 7th (11am or 5.30pm UK time) if not before!

Helen

Transmission Performance Symposium

Middlesex University Dance Dept is hosting a one day symposium on Saturday Dec 13th at the London campus

The works of Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Anna Sokolow, Robert Cohan and Mark Franko will be presented in performance in extending the debate around re-staging works.

Please do come if you can, follow the link below to book -
I think it will be really interesting day and insightful for much of your research.

http://transmissionperformancesymposium.wordpress.com