Contextual Studies

Animation, Level 2

Today you will get…

   * A revised overview of the unit (as we have lost one week due to the snow).    * Assessment and what will be assessed.    * A revised timetable.    * Hints on how to structure a dissertation/piece of academic writing.    * Good/bad sources for your research.    * Researching a topic - where to start    * How to manage your dissertation (time, filing, note-taking, mind-maps)    * Harvard referencing (Endnote and RefWorks).

If you haven't' got a topic then you can pick one of the following practice dissertation topics:

1. The 3D film 'Avatar' is considered innovative by many producers and film critics, to the extent that some critics are saying this is the biggest innovation in film-making since the arrival of the 'talkies'. Do you agree or disagree?

2. 3D films are not new; trace the history of 3D films and say why audiences and producers continue to be interested in 3D.

3. Consider any aspect of 3D content (e.g. 3D gaming, 3D used in marketing and communications) which you find interesting and assess whether you think it's a radical new direction or a flash in the pan.

Timetable

• Friday 15th January – reprise of task + dissertation plan research and writing (1400-1500)

• Friday 22nd – self-directed study• Friday 29th – Research techniques (2 x case studies and

good sources) and verbally students present their ideas formative assessment (10.00-12.30)

• Friday 5th February – self-directed study• Friday 12th & Friday 19th February – summative assessment

with Freddie Gaffney

Academic writing is…• Deciding on a topic• Taking a position (having an opinion),• Finding out the facts,• Having a theory about the topic (the man was killed in the library

by…)• You then make a case to support your theory• Building on other people’s theories (big ideas – get from books)• You collect the evidence (facts from good sources e.g. books,

websites etc etc – secondary data) - Or you do an experiment i.e. you collect your own data (interviews

or via a questionnaire) – primary data.- You summarise the case (for the reader aka the judge)- And you make your closing remarks – your conclusion

PEER REVIEWED

QUALITY OF THE DATA

FINDINGS

BIASED OR INFLUENCED OR…OBJECTIVE…

SCIENTIFIC?

ACADEMIC PAPERS

JOURNALS

Source: Plato's School, 1st c. BCE mosaic from Pompeii, 124.545. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Napoli.

Academia, Acadème, or the Academy are collective terms for the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.

The word comes from the akademeia, just outside ancient Athens, where the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning. The sacred space, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, Athena, had formerly been an olive grove, hence the expression "the groves of Academe.“

Academia - the cultural accumulation of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations and its practitioners and transmitters.

In the 17th century, British and French religious scholars popularized the term to describe certain types of institutions of higher learning.

An academic is a person who works as a researcher (and usually teacher) at a university, college, or similar institution in post-secondary (tertiary) education. He or she is nearly always an advanced degree holder.

Structure

• Title of the essay• What is the question you want to answer?• Introductory paragraph• First theme (intro, dev, conclude)• Second theme (intro, dev, conclude)• Third theme (intro, dev, conclude)• Draw together the themes• Conclusion

Theory and your topic

• Look at your topic• Look at the themes• What is the overall

theme?• Does that theme

suggest there is an idea or theory which might be common?

• How might that theory help you?

• Who are the great thinkers associated with your topic?

• What theoretical position did they take?

• Do you agree with them?

Harvard Referencing

Book:

Surname, first name, (year), Book Title, (Edition), Place of Publication, Publisher

Website:

Name of person, URL, organisation, accessed, date

And useful resources:

Using the Library for writing dissertations:

http://intranet.rave.ac.uk/support/images/Dissresearchforweb.pdf

Assessing the quality of websites as a sourcehttp://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/

Sources

Good sources• Peer Reviewed

academic books and journals

• Broadsheet newspapers

• Major broadcasters• Some websites• Government reports

Suspect sources• Tabloids• Gossip magazines• Commercial websites• Consultants• Popular books• Articles which don’t

give their sources• Any media which

doesn’t give their sources

Common errors in academic writing…

• Language (Their/there)• Spelling (mite/might)• Avoid emotive words

when you are explaining (fantastic, wonderful, tragic) – they are not objective.

• Finishing with a big sign-off

• Repetition of words• Spell check!• Avoid padding• Punctuation…

. Full stop…use?

, Comma?

; Semi-colon?

: Colon?