Results Time

Wednesday 7th June was a weird day for me, it consisted mainly of a job interview and getting my University results for my second year (end of Year 1 Level 4).

Tuesday, I’d had a Canvas notification from Wolverhampton University that told me I received an 85% grade for the module titled Experimentation And Dialogues. I was really happy with the result but didn’t have any feedback to let me know what I’d done right or wrong.

After chatting to my coursemates on Instagram group chat, the canvas app score had disappeared only to reappear the following morning along with the feedback from the tutor. I was made up with the feedback from Alice too, there were some really nice comments and recognition of the hard work that I put into the year’s work too.

The learning objectives on the feedback form are not new to us, we’ve been referring back to them all year to make sure we tick them off and cover all the requirements. You can see from my achievement here that the 5 Learning Objectives (LOs) were all scored at between 80% and 89%. This represents a First Class result for the year. Although I know this does not count to the overall result of the degree I felt that I wanted to give the last two years my all, to make the best of the opportunity so did everything I could to make it a success.

Kind Words

The actual feedback for each of the LOs is also enlightening which I found to contain lots of lovely phrases and words to make me feel that my efforts were ultimately effective.

LO1. Well done Bob, you’ve pushed yourself each and every week to develop your yearlong project. Either through shoots or time spent in editing and manipulating your imagery you’ve pushed from an initial idea and material process to a final outcome that is of an outstanding standard, not just technically but conceptually too. You’ve gone above and beyond to present your final pieces to a high standard that is exhibition ready – well done!

LO2: You’re engagement with research this year has been outstanding. Your exhibition review and essay took on interesting topics and were supported consistently with high quality referencing. Your writing skills are impressive, and you’ve managed to form connections between your writing and your yearlong project which is great to see! Well done again.

LO3: You have made the most of opportunities this year to seek feedback, and importantly to act on it. Your documentation of conversations with tutors and peers is detailed and articulates suggestions made, which you regularly follow up with. Keep this going as you progress onto level 5.

LO4: Your reflections are outstanding. You have developed a very successful way of ‘sketchbooking’ that feels very authentic. It is clear from your engagement in your blog that you are passionate about photography and learning. Your reflections are thorough, honest and are clearly having an impact on how your project progress. Well done.

LO5: Your time management this year has been outstanding. Your attendance, contributions in class, engagement in events happening at the School of Art have demonstrated your positive studentship – well done Bob!

Alice Hodgson, (2023)

The main points I was really happy with in this feedback were for LO2 where my research had been found to be “Outstanding” when I’ve previously struggled to motivate myself to research more thoroughly. I’d rather be out taking photos than reading books or journals but a degree has a requirement to conduct research. The research I put into the Essay task was extensive and I bought a few books, borrowed books from the library, read journal articles, scholarly websites, academic papers and even youtube videos.

The LO4 comments about the reflections and the contents of my blog were a pleasant confidence boost. Last year I did mainly Physical Sketchbooks and tried a bit of Physical/Digital this year but I soon found that I was able to capture more info in a blog post than I could do in a sketchbook. I have the ability to include images and diagrams too so I didn’t feel like I was missing anything out by using digital only by the end of the year. I’ve had a few people comment on the fact that they do read my blog too (you’re doing it now) and I thank everyone for even stopping by to have a quick squint at what I’ve been doing.

Work Pickup

Once the grades had been finalised by the tutors and the moderators we were sent an email to say we could go and pick up our physical work, if indeed we had handed any in. I drove over the Friday afternoon just gone where I met Dan and he helped me to get my work out of MK040, This had helpfully been set up by Alice working with Dan. I was in the studio area talking to Nichola and Sam when Dan entered and helped me to gain access for picking up my work. I popped them in the big bag for life I had with me and then headed off for the 45 minute journey home.

Since i’ve had them at home we have had discussions about where they could be hung up, I suggested the smallest room in the house, (the downstairs loo) and my wife suggested it might be nice to have them in the dining room part of the kitchen dining area. I seemed relatively fitting as it was father’s day this weekend and my Dad featured in ne of the images.

Interview

At 2pm on the Wednesday I sat in a job interview for a role as Maintenance and Facilities Manager, One of the managers at my work is going to retire in August so I had built up the courage to apply for the role. It went ok I think and I managed to find an answer to all of the questions that they threw at me. I’ve worked at the same place for a good few years and for the last 20 years been in the IT area so it might be time for a change. I wore a shirt and tie too, which. is not like me at all but the invite for interview suggested Business Smart attire so I nearly choked myself and went for it. We’ll see in the next few days whether I was successful or not. It’s the first time in 20 years that I’ve been sat on the other side of the interview table. Over the last two decades I’ve been involved in interviewing Placement Students and Contractors etc using the standard tools that our company use but it was a different kettle of fish as I sat opposite the panel of three colleagues.

Overall it’s been a good few weeks, I’ve also been to the degree show a couple of times and had work accepted into an Art trail in Shrewsbury but these will follow in a different post. Feel free to check back in when that is written up.