Module Information
Module Identifier
TPM0430
Module Title
RESEARCH PRACTICES
Academic Year
2011/2012
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-Requisite
Other Staff
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | Lecture/Seminars: 15 x 2 hours (delivered over 7-8 weeks) - 30 contact hours |
| Practical | On particular weeks, students will work in groups, typically, to carry out a piece of research practice, returning the following session to a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the practices, considered in relation to the critical literature |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay (3,500 words or 20 minutes) | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Proposal for final Research Project (3,500 words) Proposal for final Research Project (3,500 words) - including a 1,000 word literature review | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resit assessment - Essay with alter. title | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resit assessment 2: proposal Proposal for final research project (3,500 words) (including a 1,000 word literature review) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the different methodologies for researching into performance and theatre and evaluate critically their respective strengths and weaknesses
Formulate an appropriate framed research question and identify suitable theories and methodologies to draw on to enable effective, focused and productive research
To demonstrate an understanding of the primary requirements for conceiving and carrying out a major independent research project
Brief description
The module combines encounters with a considerable number of approaches to researching contemporary performance and theatre. Students will be introduced to cticical writings, theoretical frameworks and research methodologies that will enable them to devise research projects in the broad interdisciplinary fields of theatre and performance studies. Methodologies include library and archive-based research as well as practice-based research procedures.
The module will consider how contemporary performance and theatre practices have been studied and outline ways that students may undertake their own, independent research. It invites students to consider what it means to be conducting research in performance and theatre, about wider questions of research and about disciplinarity. It also enables students to test some of the approaches through short practical investigations. Students will be encouraged to make use of the extensive research facilities available at Aberystwyth (including the National Library, the Centre for Performance Research and the Cavanagh Collection).
In completion of the module, students will submit a coherent and realistic proposal for their final research project (TPM0660).
The module will consider how contemporary performance and theatre practices have been studied and outline ways that students may undertake their own, independent research. It invites students to consider what it means to be conducting research in performance and theatre, about wider questions of research and about disciplinarity. It also enables students to test some of the approaches through short practical investigations. Students will be encouraged to make use of the extensive research facilities available at Aberystwyth (including the National Library, the Centre for Performance Research and the Cavanagh Collection).
In completion of the module, students will submit a coherent and realistic proposal for their final research project (TPM0660).
Content
The module will be taught through two-hour lecture/seminar sessions, delivered at 2 sessions per week over 7 or 8 weeks. The module will be completed before the commencement of TPM0530.
On particular weeks, students will work in groups, typically, to carry out a piece of research practice, returning the following session to a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the practices, considered in relation to the critical literature.
Content:
1. An introduction to researching contemporary performance and theatre
2. Encountering the Live - Performance Analysis
3. Practice Session: Responding to the Event of Performance
4. Reviewing the Practice Session
5. Archive Fever: Performance, archives and collections
6. Practice Session: Opening the Box - working in performnace archives
7. Reviewing the Practice Session
8. Practice-based Research in Performance
9. Practice Session: How to design a practice-based research project: questions, methodologies and outcomes
10. Reviewing the Practice Session
11. Fieldworks: Ethnography, Interviews and Observation
12. Practice Sessions: Performance Research on the Street
13. Reviewing the Practice Session
14. Formulating a Research Proposal
15. The Ethics of Performance Research
On particular weeks, students will work in groups, typically, to carry out a piece of research practice, returning the following session to a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the practices, considered in relation to the critical literature.
Content:
1. An introduction to researching contemporary performance and theatre
2. Encountering the Live - Performance Analysis
3. Practice Session: Responding to the Event of Performance
4. Reviewing the Practice Session
5. Archive Fever: Performance, archives and collections
6. Practice Session: Opening the Box - working in performnace archives
7. Reviewing the Practice Session
8. Practice-based Research in Performance
9. Practice Session: How to design a practice-based research project: questions, methodologies and outcomes
10. Reviewing the Practice Session
11. Fieldworks: Ethnography, Interviews and Observation
12. Practice Sessions: Performance Research on the Street
13. Reviewing the Practice Session
14. Formulating a Research Proposal
15. The Ethics of Performance Research
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | This element is not assessed |
| Communication | The ability to communicate ideas effectively is developed and assessed |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Self-regulation, motivation , and time-management skills are developed through the module and are demanded to the successful completion of its assignments |
| Information Technology | The ability to utilize information technology both in the reserach for and delivery of assignments is assessed directly |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Transferable skills (managing personal workloads and meeting deadlines, designing and realizing assessment projects) are developed and assessed directly |
| Problem solving | Analytical problem solving, outcome recognition and the identification of appropriate strategies and procedures are encouraged and assessed |
| Research skills | Independent Research and the development of effective personal research practices are encouraged and assessed |
| Subject Specific Skills | See QAA Dance, Drama and Performance Subject Benchmark Statement (Version 2007) The following subject specific skills are developed and partly assessed: Describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and performance events from a range of critical perspectives Developing skills of obervation and visual, aural and spatial awareness Considering theories of spectatorship and developing an awareness of the audience or client group for performance and an ability to respond and adapt to it through flexible means Engaging in reserach, whether independent, group or performance-based Identifying and interpreting the cultural frameworks which surround performance events and on which these events impinge, and taking these into account in creating and/or interpreting performances |
| Team work | Seminar discussions demand the application of skills necessary to conduct collaborative activity, such as negotiating ideas and opinions. Students work in collaboration with others on the formulation and implementation of practical research |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7