The evaluation of the use of creative pedagogies though the lab’s project ‘Disrupting the Thesis’ revealed the following key points through the evaluation process:
Delivery of teaching and learning activity
- This pilot project involved Sociology students working with professional filmmakers to record stories from research participants who are based in Coventry market, creating opportunities for a city centre university and its students to engage with the people in the city
- The project also provided opportunities to explore research through the visual, and to disrupt traditional views about the thesis as being a very text-heavy piece of work
- Students’ skill and employability development was promoted as they had to compete to obtain a place on the project and gained more experience around job applications
- Students got hands on experience of using filming equipment, including recording and editing skills, and experienced first-hand, creative artistic methodologies and methods, for extending their research practice and research outputs
- Students experienced what a traditional academic researcher would experience and worked with a filmmaker, getting a concrete and tangible artefact at the end of the project, which they can use on their CVs
- The project opened up conversations and gave the reader/viewer/audience a different take on what students have learnt in their research practice
- Students got ownership of the films and developed the skill of interviewing, as they had to think of the context and how they would portray their interviewees
- Students also mentioned that working as a group to make a film is unique in the world of sociology
Assessment
- Students developed their communicative, research and employability skills by exploring course concepts and producing digital materials which contributed to their final year dissertation as an integral part of the module assessment
- Students acknowledged that the process of making the film allowed them to create a more critical and deeper analysis and that using a camera allowed them to look into the data on a much deeper level and relate the interviews to theory
- All students completed theses were considered of high standard and were commented upon by the external examiner as being innovative and refreshing
Review and improvement of programmes and practice
Online learning projects were seen to:
- Students improved their conversational skills and confidence and referred to the challenges of trying to discuss sensitive topic areas like ethnicity
- Students improved their confidence and stepped out of their comfort zone, doing something exciting and new
- One of the students already plans to enroll on an MRes (masters by research) as a consequence of the research experience. This student commented upon how the experience and grounding in research methods had inspired her to want to study at a post graduate level
Student support and guidance
- Students acknowledged that a well-prepared team helped them along the way and made them comfortable with the interviewing and other parts of the filmmaking process
Effective use of resources
- FILM Makers Notes and Toolkit covering:
- Pre-Production
- Production
- Primary Shoots
- Interview tips
- Filming tips
- Secondary Shoots
- Post-production
Film Makers Toolkit
DMLL / JAM-AV Media Production
Associated Project: Disrupting the Thesis
Disrupting the Thesis: Coventry Voices
Pilot Phase Evaluation
Associate Project: Disrupting the Thesis
