End of Module Evaluation

End of Module Student Evaluation BA (Hons) Illustration Module Code: OUIL501 Context of Practice Name: JOSEPH WHARTON Student ID: JW253302 Please identify where the evidence for each of the learning outcomes is within your submission and how well you feel you have met the learning outcomes. Please also grade yourself in relation to the learning outcomes using terms: poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent (Note - This is so that the team have an understanding of how well you feel you have done. It is not an indication of the actual grade you may receive.)

Learning Outcome

Evidenced where?

Blog, Visual Journal, Roughs, Final Illustrations, Storyboards, Development Sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)

5A1 Demonstrate a critical understanding of the aesthetic, cultural, historical, technological, social, political or other contexts relevant to individual subject disciplines.

(Knowledge and understanding) (Research / critical awareness)

I have evidenced this on my blog, in my essay and in visual journal. I have developed my understanding of theories relating to illustration and narrative fiction through research, reflection, critical evaluation and visual investigation.

5A2 Demonstrate an awareness of the relationship between the theoretical and practical contexts of their own creative concerns. (Knowledge and understanding) (problem analysis/definition)

I have evidenced this on my blog, in my essay and in my visual journal. I have created illustrations investigating my research and reflected on the relationship between the two on my bog and in my essay.

5B1 Evidence the ability to use logic, reasoning and critical judgement to analyse ideas from a range of primary and secondary sources.

(Cognitive skills) (Critical awareness)

I have evidenced this on my blog, in my essay and in my visual journal. I have analysed, reflected on and triangulated ideas from a range of sources to inform my essay and my visual journal.

5C1 Evidence the capacity for undertaking practical and theoretical research that demonstrates an informed application of critical, effective and testable processes.

(Practical and professional

I have evidenced this on my blog, in my essay and in my visual journal. I have explored information from a range of sources through reflection and critical thinking both in blog posts and in my essay.

I have used my visual journal to explore the theories and ideas from my research and relate them to my practice.

Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent

skills) (research)

5D1 Organise and carry out selfdirected projects and communicate outcomes through written and other appropriate forms. (Key transferable skills) (professionalism / technical competence / visual quality)

I have evidenced this through my blog, in my essay and in my visual journal. I have used research and visual investigation to inform my decision making and guide my project development as evidenced on my blog.

Summative Evaluation (See Evaluation Guidance on next page for more information) You are required to write a 750 word Summative Evaluation of this module.

Please type up your Summative Evaluation in the box below. Make a PDF of the document and post the PDF as your final post on your OUIL501 blog.

My project started following on from my previous research into Neil Gaiman for another module. I found a quote in which he talks about the importance of escapism in increasing empathy and teaching us lessons that we can use in our real lives. Escapist activities are seen as having a negative impact as though they are used to hide away from the problems of the world and have no real benefit. I wanted to investigate where the negative view of escapism came from and if it was justified. I started to look at psychological studies into escapism and found that the definition of escapist activities varied making it difficult to draw conclusions from a number of sources as they were often relating to different collections of activities presented as escapism. I was enjoying my research but found my research was too broad and I had trouble connecting it directly to my practice. I have been focusing my practice more and more towards illustrating children’s books and was interested to find out how fictional narratives influence our development and behaviour. I refined my field of research to focus on fiction and the theories surrounding its effects on us as individuals and as a society. I wanted to investigate Neil Gaiman’s belief that fiction can help us to understand the world around us.

I started to look at theories surrounding empathy and the Just World Hypothesis, as studies suggest they are both enhanced when engaging with fictional narratives. Both empathy and the Just World Hypothesis appear to have a solely positive influence on individual’s behaviour encouraging positive social behaviour. However, I started to find theorists and studies arguing that increased empathy and Just World beliefs can lead to victim blaming, bias and depression. This was the turning point in my project where I started to link my research more directly to my practice, I wanted to investigate how practitioners could address the negative implications of fiction while preserving the beneficial aspects.

I feel like I have learned how to critically evaluate research through triangulation in this module. My essay has been more aimed at finding an answer to a question than my previous COP work. I have really enjoyed this module, I think it is because the subject I chose is related to both my practice and more broadly the society we live in. The idea of a possible end point or an aim for the project drove me to continue my research, pushing forward ideas and the focus of my project. I think I spent too much time trying to research a question that was too broad and would have benefited from refining my question earlier in the module.

The feedback from my first essay draft really helped me, I had basically just compiled my research up to that point into an essay structure without any real level of planning. My feedback said the essay seemed like a stream of consciousness and that my question needed to be more focused. The feedback helped me to reflect on my research up to that point and assess what was relevant to my practice. When I started writing my final draft of my essay I spent a lot of time trying to make sure it was well structured and easy to understand. I feel like I could had taken my work in my visual journal further. I had some idea of products I could make that would explore the theories in my research. The journal is made up of fine liner drawings and

digital work. I could have experimented with more processes through my visual journal. I am happy with the ideas in the journal but I do not think I have taken them all as far as I should. I could have used a wider variety of research sources. I concentrated on articles and studies for a lot of my research but would like to look more at individual examples of work that relate to the subject or interviews with people influenced by the empathy and Just World beliefs. This would have provided me with a different perspective that could have benefited my visual journal work. I would like to continue my research next year for COP3, I still think there is a lot of information available on this subject and more methods for me to investigate.

My work for this module is already influencing and informing my practice. It has changed the way I analyse and evaluate research and provided me with a new outlook on how my illustrations influence the viewer. It has given me more of an insight into the many considerations I need to take into account when producing work and a better idea of what I want my work to convey.