APPLICATION FOR A RISING STARS TEACHING AWARD 2012
QUB TEACHING AWARDS
APPLICATION FOR A RISING STARS TEACHING AWARD 2012
(Open to individual academic and learning support colleagues who have been teaching/supporting learning within higher education for less than 5 years)
Name (including title)Mr Declan Keeney, BMus, MA, PGCHET, FHEA
School/Department:
Film Studies, School of Creative Arts
1
APPLICATION FOR A RISING STARS TEACHING AWARD 2012
1. CONTEXT FOR THE APPLICATION (300 words maximum)
Please provide a context for your application. This should consist of an introductory statement about your contribution to learning and teaching/learning support to date. Examples of the information you might include are; the subject you teach or the area of learning support you work in, the type of learning and teaching/learning support activities you are involved in, how many learners are involved, your particular learning and teaching/learning support interests and an outline of your overall teaching/learning support philosophy?
Philosophy and Approach to Teaching.
My philosophy to teaching takes a twin track approach. A 'bottom-up' approach addresses employability and a scarce skills agenda, i.e. the skills our students need to work in film and television production in Northern Ireland as identified by employers in a governmental report commissioned by Skillset (Sector Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries in Northern Ireland 2010). I believe over the last four years I have made a huge contribution to the re-design of our degree program in this area. I lead most of the modules in film practice and have for example embedded industry standard qualifications in new postproduction technology into our curriculum. The second element of my teaching philosophy is a 'top-down' approach, in support of the critical theory elements of our degree. Teaching filming practice and production, offers our students a fantastic way to develop their group working skills, organisational skills and interpersonal communication among other things but most importantly it allows our students as scholars of film to engage more fully with critical theory. In support of colleagues teaching on others parts of the course I work closely to connect the theory and practice drawing parallels where possible across modules and across the course. Learning about the parlance of production, gaining incite into the techniques of producers, directors and artists who make film, then using these skills has a number of unseen benefits to our students. When my students read and analyse film they do so from a position of experiential appreciation. Their engagement with production enhances their ability to write and think independently about visual culture having become familiar with the terminology and parlance of the film set. Students can then apply these enhanced learning processes to their academic writing which both improves their academic abilities and the student experience as the same time.
See teaching table below…
My Current Teaching 2011/12 Declan Keeney Teaching Fellow in Film Studies
Module Code and Title / Level / No. of students / RolesSemester 1:
FLM1004: Introduction to film Practice / 1 / 45 / Convenor and teach: Repeat taught
“Lectorials” 2 groups x 3 hour x 11 weeks
Semester 2:
FLM1007: Editing / 1 / 45 / Convenor and teach: Repeat taught
“Lectorials” 2 x 3 hour x 11 weeks
Semester 2:
FLM2025: Cinematography / 2 / 42 / Convenor and teach: Repeat taught
“Lectorials” 2 x 3 hour x 11 weeks
Semester 2:
FLM3001: Advanced Film Practice 1 / 3 / 38 / Convenor and teach:
Lecturer 11x1 hour; 11x 2 hour workshops
Semester 2:
FLM3011: Advanced Film Practice 2 / 3 / 38 / Convenor and teach: Double module
“Lectorials” am/pm x 3 hour x 11 weeks
Semester 2:
FLM7008 Film Project & Development / MA / 10 / Tutor on specialist skills workshops
2. DISCUSSION
You should illustrate your discussion throughout with reference to specific learning and teaching activities/learning support activities. You should also provide examples of the influence of learner feedback on your learning and teaching/learning support practice.
(a) Promoting and enhancing the learners’ experience (1000 words maximum)
My teaching is primarily on the practice side of the film studies degree, though this does include lectures on the historical and critical theory of film production. The modules I teach are only available to students on the single honours pathway and as such are largely specialist skills modules by design. These modules are concerned with the production cycle of film and television. I bring a huge amount of broadcasting experience into the classroom having worked in broadcasting for 13 years; I am an award winning cinematographer and also an active documentary maker. My last documentary was shot on location in Sarajevo, Bosnia and premiered at the Belfast Film Festival before being shown at film events in North America, Bosnia and most recently at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade, Serbia. As an industry professional I believe it is a very important part of my contribution to teaching here. I believe I lead by example. Film by design is a very public art. In my production teaching I believe having work of your own to share and discuss is extremely important and helps create and foster a teaching environment of mutual respect between student and tutor. Further the added benefits of my industry connections, enables me to bring in a good variety of expert tutors and guest practitioners into my workshops. Bringing real world examples into the classroom widens horizons, creates aspirations and motivates students to work hard.
I have adopted a particular approach to this type of practice-based teaching. Cavanagh (2011) described this method as “lectorials”, these he describes as a “combination of lecture and tutorial-to emphasize their interactive nature” (p.25). This blended learning approach allows for problem based learning, technical instruction and more traditional style lectures to be combined and delivered interchangeably. It allows for spontaneous small group work to be quickly expanded into full classroom discussion and back again if necessary. When I took up the post of Teaching Fellow at QUB, it quickly became apparent that film students were attempting to realise substantial film projects whilst lacking essential production skills to make this happen effectively. Immediately I identified core skills gaps in the student's skillset. Primary among these skills were editing, camera and post-production techniques. Students were attempting to film and edit quite sophisticated projects after only very limited instruction. My solution was to become an expert in the type of software used by Film Studies. To achieve this I trained in London directly with Apple and as I was already an industry standard editor in my previous employment with the BBC this was something I knew I could do. This then allowed me to open an Apple Authorised Training Centre at QUB and embed the necessary training at level 1 in the Film Studies BA. My approach to teaching is based on the idea of empowerment. Students who want to work in the media/digital content production industries must embrace the technology used in the these industries and by becoming technically proficient, only then can they realise their true creative potential. I now teach these core Film Studies module in film practice and this year will see the consolidation of a three year cycle of course redevelopment. Now in semester one, level 1 there is a clear pathway of film practice for students to engage with. Through course review and module evaluations it became very clear that semester 1 is a significant semester vis-à-vis retention and student engagement. Now I believe as our first year student's are immediately engaged in film production activity the evidence suggests retention rates have substantially improved year on year. It is my opinion that group work is hugely beneficial to the student learning experience but if not managed well can be highly problematic on several levels. These include but are not limited to issues around assessment, student engagement and group formation. Smart and Dixon (2002) stated that this type of module sits “uneasily on the line between the intellectual and the vocational” but many practitioners agree it is through the creative engagement and “experiential learning’ undertaken by the student that a fuller understanding of the discipline will be achieved (p.190).
I established our department as an Apple Authorised Training Centre for Education, one of only a handful in the UK and Ireland. We offer industry-recognised qualifications to both our own students alongside their degree and externally in continuing professional development short courses. Most recently, working in co-operation with colleagues this has been expanded to include new industry qualifications and further industry endorsement of our teaching standards as an Avid Training Partner for Education. These developments are helping to drive our major curriculum changes and has seen a new module designed by me recently introduced at semester 2 level one, simply called 'Editing. This new module is based on feedback from peers, student feedback and comments by the external examiners. I have been fortunate enough to be highly praised by the external examiners on consecutive years. In particular for my approach to teaching non-linear editing. Praise was also offered for the innovative assessment used in this editing module. The assessment involves student's editing a new documentary film from rushes (unedited film materials) generated from my own documentary film practice work. This allows me to combine my own practice as research, professional development in new technologies and my teaching at level 1.
Innovation is at the heart of what I am trying to achieve and this year we have introduce students to new industry standard editing and sound design technology, and professional post production software used by all the major Broadcasting companies. Apart from the solid pedagogical reasons for doing this, improving the student experience is also a core aim. Much of the computer based learning takes place in the Apple Training Suite in House 11, University Square. A teaching facility I helped design. I have just introduced another new module this academic year called "Cinematography". It's a level 2 semester 2 module. I will deliver this module and can offer particular industry expertise as I spent 12 years in the BBC as a Senior Lighting Cameraman, I have also won a number of awards for this work professionally. This specialist skills module will be an exciting and dynamic new addition to Film Studies' portfolio going forward. New Film Studies' Students from 2011/12 will now have core practice based modules in every semester. It is this type of teaching activity, modelled on professional practice I believe, that has been a major contributing factor to the huge growth in applications for the department in recent years. Film Studies has a very clear and marketable identity based on educational purpose, academic creditability, robust teaching in film production, employability, research and research practice and most recently we have been in discussion with Skillset on new ways to support the local creative industries.
Susan Orr (2010) in ‘Collaborating or Fighting for Marks’ says “Group work is central to pedagogy in the performing arts” and “group work is an imperative not an option” (p.302) or as one film student on my advanced project module remarked “You can’t make a film on your own”. Filmmaking is by nature a group activity. Central to this notion is the need for a structured ‘film unit’ or small group dynamic. The film unit structure is designed to reflect industry methodologies for film production and is underwritten by the widely held view that group work is good preparation for real world scenarios. Johnston and Johnston (1989) reported that “recruiters are actively seeking students who can demonstrate their ability to work well in a group”, stating “learning to work together in a group may be one of the most important interpersonal skills a person can develop since this will influence one’s employability, productivity, and career success” (29-33). Students are also then made aware of the “four C’s” of teamwork. Katzenbach (1997) listed these as “Communication, collaboration, cooperation and compromise” (p.82-92). The usefulness of small group work is well researched and the benefits of group learning are clearly identified in literature. This is a core mode of delivery in my teaching.
Film and Television production has been indentified as a key area of growth of the Northern Irish economy by government. Our graduate students are already making a huge contribution to the Creative industries and my work I hope will support this activity going forward. An example of recent success is an MA film James by a BA and MA graduate from Film Studies Conor Clemments, the student Directed the film and has won 21 international film awards from festivals all over the world. It was the first short film from Northern Ireland to be shortlisted at the Sundance Film Festival and it also played at the Canne film festival. I'm credited as Director of Photography; I shot the film and it’s titles have carried the logo and departmental credits for QUB all over the world. Working together staff and students in Film Studies can bring opportunities to our students that will empower them to achieve great things.