What is this all about???

Firstly I took the opportunity to update my ‘About’ section on this blog. I read it the other day and it doesn’t do me justice.  So in the spirit of self-confidence and a little more self-promotion, I have made it more about me and what I do and not just why I am writing a blog.

So, what is my PhD all about? This feels like a big step to put it out there in the public eye.

I am interested in how people experience museums, in particular their emotional responses, memories, understanding and how sensory engagement plays a part in this.   Now, this part has been delved into here and there in the last decade and there have been some interesting advancements in understanding.   I am also interesting in well-being and how museum visiting may help to foster a sense of well-being.   Currently that part is something I need to look into a little further to see how it might fit in and in what way.

So, how do I contribute to original thinking or move this subject on from where it is? This is the key question.  It is not a PhD if I don’t.

I live in probably the most multi-cultural city in the UK (barring London). Leicester has a wealth of diverse and exciting communities and I want to know how people from diverse and exciting communities experience our local authority museums.  Local authority museums should be accessible and exciting for all local communities, but they still only really attract certain audiences.  I am going to look at how different communities experience our local museums, how they feel about them and if the messages that the museums are putting out make any sense.  Essentially, local museums are for the local communities, but with such diverse local communities are they really representing them?  How can they represent them and communicate with them better?  In the long run, would this encourage new audiences into the museum?

There is quite lot in there to do with communities, understanding how new visitors approach museums and how people feel. Putting it into so few words makes it all seem quite simple!

I am not entirely sure of how I am going to go about collecting the data I will need to complete this. I do know that I will be using visual methods, creative explorations and other ways of understanding emotions and feelings.  That is a challenge for later this year.

I will add a disclaimer here of how this may change as it goes along. I was set on a different subject entirely when I first began and this is what has come out of my discussions with my supervisor and having read more widely around the subject.

Now I need to put this into a literature review!

It is not a resolution, it is a goal.

As usual I have had my January realisation that I haven’t blogged enough in the past few months. Well, here is an update on where I am and what my plans are.

I finished my first year of my PhD (0.5 year really as I am part-time) with a glowing report from my supervisor. I have been assured that progress is being made (some days it really doesn’t feel like it!) and that my writing is going in the right direction.   I will come onto my writing later on.

I am feeling a little more academic after each supervision meeting now. Being part-time and living an hour away from my institution is tricky, I feel distanced from the research community there.  I also work at a university as part of professional services (I hate that term) but I also don’t feel part of the research community here either. In fact, the academics in my subject here (where I work) know me, and know me as a student and a professional services colleague but not as a researcher is this year’s hurdle.   One of my goals is to put forward a proposal for a poster at the Museum Studies Conference in April; this will put me in the middle of the people I know, but in my PhD student capacity. *Daunting!* This is a prime scenario for Imposter Syndrome to kick in.

Writing

I have mentioned my writing before. It is still something that I feel I am battling with, but I have found some absolute basics that I write in my notebook next to my scribbles regularly to keep me on track.

– Each paragraph should have an introduction, body and conclusion.

– Each section should have a body, introduction and conclusion.

– Do not use the following terms:

– Research shows that…

– As it can be seen…

– Keep sentences concise.

After a while this became a little more natural.

I also decided to try and take part in the #AcWriMo in November (it is like Nanowrimo) but with self-set goals and academic related.  I set myself a goal of 200 words per day.  I failed.  However I realised I can write a comfortable and good 100 words per day (on average).  The key thing I took away from this was the ‘good’ words part.  I can scribble down as many words as I like but after a while I repeat myself and get confused about what I am trying to say.  Editing brings it back together and evens it out at 100 words average.  I don’t think that was too bad.  When I am back on writing again I will try and keep up with that as I don’t think it is too much of a reach but will help with progression.

Not a resolution

I don’t really do resolutions. I don’t think it matters what time of year it is if you want to make a change you need to make it. January always highlights shortcomings as others are making resolutions around you and it acts as a spotlight on anything you might do or not do or even need to do.   As such I am just going to talk in goals.

My goal in the next few months is to gain confidence in my academic abilities. I met up with a friend before Christmas who began her PhD in September and has been going through some of the same thought processes as I did.  It was strange giving advice on those issues, I didn’t feel qualified!  The other day I had a lovely message from her about how it had really helped.  Maybe it is time to shake myself off and take pride in what I am doing instead of hiding it away like a guilty secret!

So, to gain confidence I am going to (if I put it here it is like committing to it!):

– write a blog post about what I am researching. This is a bit of a stepping stone.  I realised that I talk about my PhD on here but haven’t actually said what it is that I am doing, like someone might laugh at it or tell me it is ridiculous if I do.

– put forward my ideas for a poster at the Museum Studies Conference in April.

-Go to more seminars and lectures when I can. There is a wealth of opportunities to get involved here (at work uni) and there (at studying uni) and I need to make more of them.

– Meet up with other students or post-docs that I know in my field. Just for a cuppa and a chat, I have found those reassuring in the past.

Overall, I think I am in a really good place. I have a bunch of opportunities and I just ned to take them.  I am sure I can squeeze them in around everything else!

Coming soon… what I am really doing on my PhD!

2015 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 390 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Succeeding as a ‘non traditional’ student

This is lovely, I am a non-traditional part time student as well and he hits all of the nails on the head with this advice.

The Thesis Whisperer

This post is by Colin Cohen, who completed a doctorate at the School for Health in the University of Bath in south west England. Colin is what we call in the trade a ‘non traditional student’: older, part time and not working in an academic field. Many people have talked to me about what an isolating experience this can be. Colin successfully completed his doctorate, faster than many others do: I think we can all learn something from this post – especially number 2.

This post is about the challenges of undertaking a part time doctorate, whilst working full time in a non-academic setting where I felt isolated from a learning environment. In particular it is focussed on how I tried to maintain momentum and motivation. I offer some suggestions about what worked for me, and hope that people who read this might avoid some of the mistakes I made…

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Writing: practice makes perfect!

I have been up to Sheffield for my supervision meeting this month, clutching 3000 words about museums, emotions and experience that I had written.  I am aware that writing is not my strong point.   In the past I have been told I was too matter-of-fact (at school) and then I was told I waffled too much (during undergrad) and then I just didn’t think I was very good.  During my MRes I read a book on how to write essays.  Then I wrote an essay that earned a distinction.  Unfortunately this has all fallen out of my head and what I write now tends to be a brain dump of ideas. 

Our discussion about writing went along the lines of practice makes perfect.  Writing has rules and formulas to make it easier for the reading to understand the ideas that the writer is trying to put across.  Writing needs practice in the same way as a musician needs to practice.  

So, back to the blank page, or at least back to the planning stage.

My next month’s task is not to read about museums, but to read about writing.  Then apply some of that reading to my own writing.   I was asked what I enjoy doing.  In this context I like making lists (don’t judge me!), so I am going to plan my writing in list form and then write a complete section of that list.  Small steps, like practicing scales. 

I know that there are a number of PhD students who write about writing and give a range of advice about it.  I learnt today that no one is a great writer naturally.  Some people are better than others but everyone needs to practice and that is nothing to be ashamed of. 

Status: In Class

I explain degrees as a pyramid usually, the higher the degree the smaller your range of knowledge. This sums it up nicely!

instaphd

Source: phdcomics.com

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Here is something I made earlier…

I was looking at some of my old posts and noticed that I mentioned new shelves and how I might not get around to ever having them.  Well, I have new shelves. Home made by my own fair hands.  I am quite proud of them. 

   

         

NCCPE Engage Conference – day two – afternoon #engage_2014

My last workshop is all about interactive sensory objects and people with learning disabilities. I am looking forward to it as it hopefully will link in with some of my research as well.

Www.sensoryobjects.com

Their project began with the Access to Heritage group in Liverpool and creating a sensory experience in Speak Hall. They embraced all senses, the sensory box creaked like an old door and smelt like the Middle Ages, there was a cushion that told a story when you stroked it.
Their second group was based at MERL and a group form Reading College. They created a mooing boot! This was in response to the fact that MERL involves animals but doesn’t have any. (The mooing boot is still mooing!)
They had to adapt some children’s toys they wanted to work with to work with larger adult fingers.
Their current project is with the Tower Project and the British Museum. They use visual prompts to remind people to use all their senses when they are visiting. These are strips of paper with an eye, nose, mouth, hand and ear on them.
They are developing a set of cartoons to help everyone experience museums like this… Note to self, leave contact details with this group!
At the BM they concentrated on the Enlightenment Gallery, in there you are only allowed to touch the Rosetta Stone replica and the objects on the handling table between certain times. They challenged the group to choose and object, they used the audio guide to help them. The Tower Group has a range of people with disabilities, some of which affect the senses. Each person chose and object and researched it. The BM have linked this research to the objects on their website as well. The research includes all the senses. They came up with the idea of creating speaking labels for the museum, but they would also show images. They then looked at using materials to recreate the objects and looked at the materials used, how they smelt. How the would sound, this was all put into a “box” that on pushing a different button created a different sense. I am going to take a photo as I am finding it quite difficult to describe how amazing this is! Pics to be uploaded later.

There are lots of things to get involved in here! Switch boxes, squishy circuits with conductive playdoh and not so squishy circuits. They have adapted circuits and made them easier for people to use and work out how they would like their box to switch on.

I am actually not sure I am doing this project any justice!

NCCPE Engage Conference – day two – mid morning #engage_2014

My last post was long, so this next session is getting its own post!
It is about engaging young people, and there are real young people here…and badges.

What if…

We have just been asked to write our questions on a tin. Photos to be uploaded later. It is all about asking the question, rather than the answer. The tins have something inside but we will not get to find out!

The concept of this session and the project behind it is all about inspiring curiosity which is uniform across both sciences and humanities. This project ran between Durham university and Greenfield Arts. It was a free form project that had a series of sessions where academics were bought in to try and facilitate the young people’s ideas. This meant some flexibility on the part of the scientists involved as they did not know that they were going to get out of it. The young people created a performance from scratch, with professional actors that contributes to a lot of the research that ended up being involved. It reached 6000 people.

All the work on this project were outside their usual timetable. It was a six month project and included a day out of their time during the summer holidays. They were part of the extra curricular STEM club so spans different ages of children with an interest.

The young people have said that they hadn’t considered university before, but this has penned up their minds and they are interested in going to university now. They hadn’t had any experience with universities in the past so used the time to explore routes and career paths as well. This also included girls as well as boys in the STEM club and in particular year 11 girls. Although the girls joined STEM club after the project started to get involved.

Apparently they now just sit and think more, not listening to music or surfing the net. The facilitators said that the ideas that they now discuss are amazing, really broad and well thought out.

The young people said that as it is not part of their curriculum they had to commit to the project so you only get people who were really interest involved. Although it has influenced their every day thinking.

Wow! Entirely inspired!

And not ignoring my professional development…

It is not all about my academic progress at the moment, I am forging ahead with my professional development at the same time. I haven’t really covered my job much on this blog, so here is an update.

I am a Student Recruitment Officer (WP). The title is a little misleading as I don’t do much direct student recruitment, but I do work with pre-16 primary and secondary school children, advise Access to HE students, mature students, and generally encourage people to consider university as an option. I also do a bit of public engagement – my current project being the WW1 Knit a Poppy ProjectWW1 Knit a Poppy Project . In addition to this I am helping to cover the student ambassador scheme for colleagues on and going on maternity leave.

So following in the footsteps of my other colleagues, I joined HELOA (Higher Education Liaison OfficerAssociation?). This week I went to the HELOA New Practitioners Conference in Leeds. It was a really good opportunity to meet others in the same position as me. I realised quite quickly that I was at least 10 years older than most of the other delegates!

We covered some of the basics, those things that you never really get around to asking like what all the acronyms mean and covered some essentials as safeguarding, child protection and personal safety. I have had training for some of this at work, but this was an opportunity to share ideas and good practice with other universities and colleges. We also covered presentation skills, open days and student finance. All solid basics for the first timer.

The last couple of days helped me meet some lovely people, I realised I know more than I think, and that being part of HELOA is a good thing.

I am glad to be home though! The back end of the hurricane is here and it was getting a bit blustery outside (as the cat keeps telling me).