Hi everyone.
Not posted in ages, but better late than never.
Campus session 13th Feb 2014
As a returning student I have attended now
in excess of 5-6 of these campus sessions to varying degrees of enjoyment and
success but I can honestly say with hand on heart that todays was head and
shoulders above the rest in terms of interest, comprehension and practical use
to this course.
It was simple, effective enlightening and
engaging.
We used LOVE as and example of a huge
subject (as our task of choosing a topic for our professional inquiry can seem
at first). A huge subject can end up meaning nothing to us or seeming un-approachable
in its enormity at first so we need to break it up into more manageable pieces.
To achieve this, next, in groups of 4 we
brain stormed a number of sub headings or topics that came to us when we
thought about LOVE attempting to view it from as many angles as we could. This
results in numerous key words/ideas/concepts.
We then chose 2-3 of these and set about
playing around with them to shop around for ideas to see what the world thinks
bout these topics and see where it took us. We googled them, looked at images,
chatted within our groups and the class as to our thoughts on it, looked at
Books and Journals. Another useful tool we explored was to alter the word
combinations we used whilst searching in the web as this often resulted in very
different findings, eg ELDERLY LOVE, OLD AGE LOVE, AGE LOVE, LOVE OLD
BRITAIN/AMERICA etc Also, try looking at your topic from the different view
points of disciplines eg Historical, Psychological, Sociological as these will
give you a number of very different view points on your topic.
The final step was to then choose one the
lines of inquiry that struck a chord with us to explore further, using experts
opinions and research, to try to make sense and define the idea for ourselves
and others.
This, could then be the beginning of your
subject for your Professional Inquiry.
Simply put:
Take a huge topic, eg LOVE
Break it down into as many ideas, meanings
as you can through Brain Storming (on your own or in a group) to break it into
more manageable pieces, eg EFFECTS OF AGE ON LOVE, UNHEALTHY LOVE, COMFORTABLE,
FEELINGS/SOUNDS etc
Choose 2-3 of these ‘smaller bits’ and look
at them in more detail, investigate them and have fun doing it to see how they
develop and where they lead you, what you discover eg COMPANION LOVE, LUSTFUL
LOVE etc
Continue with the path of exploration that
you find most interesting through to your professional inquiry…simple!!! Eg DO INFACTUATIONS
STOP AT AGE 13?
Hope this helps.
Choosing and planning an inquiry can be
very intimidating and feel like a lot of pressure but what I took from todays
session is chill out, enjoy and play around with your subject of interest and
you will be surprised what you find and what you will discover and end up.
There is no right or wrong or point you are
trying to prove.
All that is being asked of us is to:
Systematic in your methods
Question and not just accept what is
currently in place
Test the current thoughts and feelings re
this subject rigorously
Report our findings.
Let me know your thoughts, how you're getting on, if I can help in any way.
Stay safe - Phil
