Month: November 2023

Academic Support Session with Matthew Phull – Appendix and Reference List specifics

This week, I completed the final draft of my 1000 word report. The outstanding work was to correctly organise and format my Primary Research findings, related to my Appendices and Reference List.

On Thursday 2^nd November, Mathew Phull kindly gave up some of his time for an in-depth look at the final draft of my report, where I shared and explained each Appendix item, along with where and how I would like to present or refer to them. Together we decided on the best cause of action. I found this to be very helpful and settling, and ‘the final piece of the puzzle’ was now able to be completed.

Final Reflections, Thoughts and Feelings

This has been a very illuminating unit. It has allowed the opportunity for my studies and my job as Programme Manager at the Claremont Project to come together. It has shown that the two are complementing each other well, with the ‘arts for health and wellbeing’ research relating to Patchworks deepening my knowledge of the field and corresponding needs within the Claremont Project membership of older adults.

The assignments in this unit have required me to research and learn new academic processes, such as using an Appendix, incorporating graphs and illustrations, presenting Primary research in an academic context and writing a Business Report for the first time. This has allowed a great level of learning for me, along with the chance to solidify my areas of interest, encourage my ambition and make me feel more confident for future assignments.

This week, based on feedback in class and blog comments, I took to UAL’s online library and the internet to brush up on my business-focused resources for my 1000-word report:

• ‘Understanding Creative Business: Values, Networks and Innovation’ by Shorthose and Maycroft (2012), was an interesting read exploring what innovation means. This helped me to frame how Patchworks is innovative, with a supporting theory.

• Business News (2014) provide a detailed overview of Treacy and Wieraman’s ‘The Discipline of Market Leaders’, which helped to provide context to Patchworks’ key values.

• I re-read a journal I previously found that gathers expert opinions on survey design to expand on my use of specific question types in my primary research (Chyung et. al, 2014).

• Companies House online offers an effective summary of the Community Interest Company business model – one I’m keen to explore for Patchworks  (Companies House, 2023).

• Cone’s ‘Steal These Ideas! : Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star’ (2005) was more of an accidental find, which to my surprise, helped me learn more about what a ‘USP’ is and needs to be for a successful business venture.

I have now incorporated these into my report, to demonstrate my deeper business understanding, framing my points from more of an informed position. This makes me feel more confident regarding my current draft, which I believe is close to completion.

Reference List:

Business News (2014) Summary: the Discipline of Market Leaders : Review and Analysis of Treacy and Wiersema’s Book, Lemaitre Publishing: Namur. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=2080500&query=The%20Discipline%20of%20Market%20Leaders. (Accessed 1 November 2023)

Chyung, S.Y., Roberts, K., Swanson, I. and Hankinson, A. (2017) ‘Evidence-Based Survey Design: The Use of a Midpoint on the Likert Scale’, Performance Improvement, 56(10), pp. 15-23. doi: 10.1002/pfi.21727.

Companies House (2023) An introduction to community interest companies. Available at: https://companieshouse.blog.gov.uk/2023/08/31/an-introduction-to-community-interest-companies/. (Accessed: 25 October 2023).

Cone, S. (2005) Steal These Ideas! : Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, Newark. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=238539  (Accessed: 1 November 2023).

Shorthose, J. and Maycroft, N. (2012) Understanding creative business: values, networks and innovation. Farnham: Gower.

On LinkedIn this week, I stumbled across a new, fascinating report just published by the World Health Organisation and United Nations entitled ‘Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation: Guidance and Practice’ (2023).

In a new post on her blog ‘What Would Jess Say?’, Sunday Times Bestselling Author and Chartered Psychologist Dr. Jessica Taylor presents the new report and provides a detailed and intuitive overview, highlighting the key findings (2023). This led me to read the report itself, and I found it perfectly aligns with my Patchworks venture, helping to further demonstrate the need and gap in the market. Namely, the apparent shortcomings of the current biomedical model of our NHS and the pressure it faces, plus the need for more holistic, social, and trauma-informed approaches.

Academic Support Session

On 17^th October, I had my helpful Academic Support Session with Vivien Fox.

Upon showing her my ‘report plan’, I felt relieved and encouraged to hear that she felt it was a strong and promising plan. Vivien was very helpful with some practical challenges I was facing, relating to correctly presenting my primary research in the Harvard style and critically deciding how best to do this in each instance.

I was happy to receive some further documents as guidance from Vivien, including a UAL ‘Visual Referencing Guide’ by Liz Higgs and Lucy Painsar (no date), an internal UAL document on ‘referencing interviews and personal communications’ (no date) and a resource entitled ‘Using and Citing Illustrations in Essays’ by the Learning Resource Centre and Boston Architectural College (no date). These are most helpful and have helped to relieve anxieties by presenting correct methodologies.

Reference List:

Boston Architectural College (no date) Using and Citing Illustrations in Essays

Higgs, L. and Painsar L. (no date) Visual Referencing Guide. London: University of the Arts London

Taylor, J. (2023) UN and WHO call for ‘significant shift away from biomedical model of mental health. What Would Jess Say?. Available at: https://whatwouldjesssay.substack.com/p/un-and-who-call-for-significant-shift?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web. (Accessed: 14 October 2023).

University of the Arts London (no date) Interviews Reference. London: University of the Arts London