Week 5 (Research & Activity) - This week and continually throughout your studies, we ask you to engage in open and honest critical reflection. Reflection can be employed on-action for past experiences, in-action for the present and for-action in the future. Use the forum below to share some reflections about your present situation, using all three perspectives.
Reflect on-action – What critical incidents led you to enrol on the course?
I started to take an interest in Game Development at college in 2016 – I enjoyed the notion of using mathematics in creativity. Once I discovered how accessible game engines were to the public, such as Unity and Unreal, I developed small games (which would remain incomplete). I remember at the time, my lecturer asking me, “What coding language are you planning on using to develop your games?” at the time, I had no idea how to respond. I feel like I have come a long way since, and after college, I decided to take up an undergraduate degree in Computer Games (Indie). This was a major stepping stone in learning the fundamentals of game development. I then decided to enrol on the Indie Game Development MA because I want to use that understanding of game development to create well-rounded and polished titles.
Reflect in-action – What critical incidents, if any, are you experiencing?
Adapting to an MA from an undergraduate degree has been a much larger leap than I thought. Moreover, I am trying to improve upon my reflective writing skills, whilst attempting to maintain weekly posts in the CRJ. In addition, I have solely been prioritizing course material over independent research. Although I do feel like my time management and reflective writing is getting better, it is just taking longer than I expected.
Each week brings new learnings, and being able to engage with my peers and have weekly discussions makes working that much more enjoyable. My peers have incredible insight to offer, and as a result, I believe we can all stand to learn from one another.
Reflect for-action – How are the first two points shaping your outlook for the future?
I believe that this course is improving me as an indie developer and as an academic. I continue to learn new things every week, and by participating in rapid ideation events, I can practice newfound knowledge. Therefore, I must maintain a healthy approach to stay on top of my studies. Moreover, I believe I will eventually be able to critique my work more efficiently by learning how to write reflectively. Furthermore, I am intrigued to see how my peers develop and hope we can all remain connected for the future.
The Importance of Reflection
This week's lecture is about the importance of reflective writing by Dr Michael Scott. Scott discusses the benefits of reflecting writing and its effects on personal and professional growth. Such as exploring personal limitations, being introspective and self-aware, and building self-confidence. In addition, Scott offers advice to those who struggle with reflective writing. Scott suggests to take a step back from whatever challenge you are tackling, explore why you encountered it, how it came about, and what might you do to overcome it. Reflecting on a regular basis allows the user to identify and develop key skills.
I believe that the advice provided by Dr Michael Scott will be useful when reflecting on the outcomes from the upcoming rapid ideation events. I think it's significant to "take a step back" and look at the bigger picture. In recent weeks I have been attempting to identify alternative paths to explore a range of different approaches on any given subject. For example, when deciding on what time management software I could use, I created a list of the most popular choices, and from there, I established the pros and cons of each one. However, I failed to justify why I chose these specific sites and refused to explore possible challenges/issues with time management software.
The Five Reflective Domains
Figure 1: The Five Reflective Domains (Word Cloud Art Creator, 2009)
The second lecture is on the five reflective domains (Figure 1) by Alcwyn Parker and how they relate to critical reflection. Below I have listed the five domains:
Dispositional – This domain covers time management, motivation, general behaviour and discipline. This domain can be affected by serious life events such as losing a loved one and depression.
Affective – This domain is about feelings, experiences and emotions. What external factors might be affecting your ability to focus? (e.g. absent group members).
Interpersonal – This domain is about interaction. Skills include verbal, non-verbal communication, listening, negotiating, problem-solving, decision making, and assertiveness. Users may have misunderstandings, so reflect on what skills you could have used to prevent these miscommunications.
Cognitive – Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your approach to learning.
Procedural – Assess the skills you already have and outline where to improve. In this regard, it is better to learn from your failings.
Evaluating the CRJ
Figure 2: CRJ Reflection - 12 Posts (Radial Line Graph)
I have categorized each 'CRJ Posts' (12 - excluding this post and beyond) into one of the five reflective domains and displayed the results in a radial line graph above (Figure 2). I have chosen the most dominant domain from each post to represent it fully. I decided to do this because there are clear standouts and I believe you can identify a pattern clearly without the need to include multiple domains in a single post. However, by doing this, you are not given an accurate finding.
In conclusion, my reflective writing style often leans toward dispositional, cognitive and affective. I prefer to justify my decision making based on certain pros and cons I list. In addition, I tend to outline emotions and thoughts toward different approaches. I expect my writing style would change to interpersonal during group activities and procedural once RI events conclude and I can reflect upon any failings I encountered (Figure 2).
SMART Goals
SMART goals are significant in terms of formulating plans that are realistic and relevant to your personal and professional growth. SMART is an acronym for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
For this week's challenge, I am required to review the content in my CRJ and acknowledge any posts that could be used to help create a SMART goal. I will identify the highest priority entries and create two SMART goals that build on reflection from CRJ posts.
CRJ Posts & Goals
The first priority post I have decided to select is, Reverse Engineering Zoombinis! (1996). Before enrolling on the course, I expressed a desire to improve my design skills. During week three, I was tasked to use a variety of prototyping tools to reverse engineer an artefact of my choice - I chose to paper prototype a puzzle from Zoombinis: Logic Journey (1996). I learned so much during this exercise that I have decided to formulate that action into a SMART goal.
"I will improve upon my design skills so that I can plan unique and engaging gameplay mechanics, which will then be developed in Unity. I will achieve this by using specific prototyping tools during rapid ideation events that last longer than one week."
The second priority post I have decided to chose is, Time & Project Management. It's paramount that I stay on top of my studies and don't fall behind on work. During RI/E1 (Rapid Ideation Event 1), I struggled to maintain a healthy balance of working and relaxation, and as a result I became burnt-out. It is, therefore, crucial I look ahead and manage realistic tasks that I deem achievable.
"I will track any development using time management software, such as HacknPlan and organise my tasks during practical modules so that I stay on top of my studies. I will commit to a working lifestyle that is both convenient and effective for the foreseeable future, so not to be burnt-out."
[Updated on the 13th April 2022]
SMART Goals updated in Week 11: Branding, Real WORKS & Reviewing SMART Goals.
Conclusion & Reflection
In conclusion, the lectures by Dr Michael Scott and Alcwyn Parker on The Importance of Reflection and The Five Reflective Domains, respectively, were extremely insightful. I am looking forward to using Scott's advice on "observing the bigger picture" while reflecting upon any findings I encounter. In addition, I will hashtag each new CRJ post with its most dominant reflective domain. Furthermore I will adhere to my SMART goals and reflect on any challenges I encounter. I initially struggled to write reflectively, however this week I have learned a great deal on the subject, and I believe this will help to bolster my confidence moving forward.
[Updated on the 12th April 2022]
I will hashtag each new CRJ post with a mixture of reflective domains - providing more accurate findings to evaluate in the assessment.
References
Wordart.com. 2009. Word Cloud Art Creator. [online] Available at: <https://wordart.com/> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
Libguides.cam.ac.uk. 2022. Reflective Practice Toolkit: Reflective writing. [online] Available at: <https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit/reflectivewriting> [Accessed 9 March 2022].
Bolton, G. and Delderfield, R., 2018. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. 5th ed. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Comments