Dancing between diversity and consistency : refining assessment in postgraduate degrees in dance

This publication is the culmination of a 2 year Australian Learning and Teaching Council's Project Priority Programs Research Grant which investigates key issues and challenges in developing flexible guidelines lines for best practice in Australian Doctoral and Masters by Research Examination, encompassing the two modes of investigation, written and multi-modal (practice-led/based) theses, their distinctiveness and their potential interplay. The aims of the project were to address issues of assessment legitimacy raised by the entry of practice-orientated dance studies into Australian higher degrees; examine literal embodiment and presence, as opposed to cultural studies about states of embodiment; foreground the validity of questions around subjectivity and corporeal intelligence/s and the reliability of artistic/aesthetic communications, and finally to celebrate ‘performance mastery’(Melrose 2003) as a rigorous and legitimate mode of higher research. The project began with questions which centred around: the functions of higher degree dance research; concepts of 'master-ness’ and ‘doctorateness’; the kinds of languages, structures and processes which may guide candidates, supervisors, examiners and research personnel; the purpose of evaluation/examination; addressing positive and negative attributes of examination. Finally the study examined ways in which academic/professional, writing/dancing, tradition/creation and diversity/consistency relationships might be fostered to embrace change. Over two years, the authors undertook a qualitative national study encompassing a triangulation of semi-structured face to face interviews and industry forums to gather views from the profession, together with an analysis of existing guidelines, and recent literature in the field. The most significant primary data emerged from 74 qualitative interviews with supervisors, examiners, research deans and administrators, and candidates in dance and more broadly across the creative arts. Qualitative data gathered from the two primary sources, was coded and analysed using the NVivo software program. Further perspectives were drawn from international consultant and dance researcher Susan Melrose, as well as publications in the field, and initial feedback from a draft document circulated at the World Dance Alliance Global Summit in July 2008 in Brisbane. Refinement of data occurred in a continual sifting process until the final publication was produced. This process resulted in a set of guidelines in the form of a complex dynamic system for both product and process oriented outcomes of multi-modal theses, along with short position papers on issues which arose from the research such as contested definitions, embodiment and ephemerality, ‘liveness’ in performance research higher degrees, dissolving theory/practice binaries, the relationship between academe and industry, documenting practices and a re-consideration of the viva voce.

Enhancing learning in dance technique through on-line-mediated reflective practice

‘Practice makes perfect’ expresses the common misconception that repetitive practice without appropriate feed-back will deliver improvement in tasks being practised. This paper explores the implementation of a student-driven feed-back mechanism and shows how functional and aesthetic understanding can be progressively enhanced through reflective practice. More efficient practice of clearly understood tasks will enhance dance training outcomes. We were looking for ways to improve teaching efficiency, effectiveness of the students’ practice in the studio and application of safe dance practices. We devised a web-based on-line format, ‘Performing Reflective Practice’, designed to augment and refine studio practice. Only perfect practice makes perfect!

Practice-led research and the innovation agenda : beyond the postgraduate research degree in the arts, design and media

The rise of the ‘practice-led’ research approach has given us a new way of understanding what creative practice in art, design and media can do in the academy and the world— it can materialise new ideas and forms into being as a form of experimental research. Yet, to date, attention around the world, and especially in Australia, has been chiefly directed at the postgraduate research degrees, most notably the PhD or doctoral equivalents. Recent mapping projects and surveys of practice-led research in Australia reveal much about the institutional conditions of higher degree researchers, supervisors, examiners and research training (Baker et al 2009; Evans et al 2003; Dally et al 2004; Paltridge et al 2009; Phillips et al 2009). Given this focus, we might well ask: is the practice-led approach destined to be a part of the higher degree ghetto only, or does it have an afterlife? What is the place of ‘practice-led’ beyond the postgraduate degree? After all postgraduate researchers do not remain postgraduates forever, and perhaps the practice-led approach to research may have benefits in wider university, professional and communal contexts.

Perceiving the interactive body in dance: Enhancing kinesthetic empathy through art objects

Through a consideration of audience experience of embodiment in contemporary dance performance, this project used kinesthetic empathy as a theoretical construct to inform choreographic decision-making. The research outcome challenged the traditional performer/audience relationship through an interactive dance performance work entitled Planets. This acted as a platform that allowed both audience and performer to collaboratively listen to, process and form movement in a shared kinesthetic state. This connection was enabled through the distribution of interactive art objects, which responded to the shifting proximity between performer and audience. The performance was thus experienced through following a shared goal as instigated by the interactive technology. Through practice-led research, knowledge from kinesthetic empathy, embodied cognition and the mirror neuron system were used to develop the project’s aim in encouraging interactive audiences to engage in movement. This aim influenced studio explorations of movement through an enquiry into the kinesthetic self in dance. Investigations used movement quality, tension, mobility and acceleration to access a familiar movement vocabulary appropriate for a broad interactive audience. This informed the role of the researcher as performer. Planets was developed as a collaborative project between Michael Smith and interactive visual designer Andy Bates and performed over three nights at the Ars Electronica Festival 2014 in Linz, Austria. Supported by documented footage from Planets and audience responses to the performances, this paper draws together the theoretical underpinnings behind the development of the work and includes the experiential perspective of the performer.

The Australian Qualifications Framework for bachelor degree in property economics

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) requires every course in Australia to be reviewed and compliant by 2015. This paper compares the difference between AQF level 7 and level 8 and outlines the paradigm shift in course development, improvement and quality assurance. The AQF requires an outcome oriented process which influences the development, monitoring and implementation of AQF courses. Firstly the graduate profile is defined to underscore the direction of the property course development. Required graduate attributes are then defined, together with course learning outcomes. Each unit/subject assessment is then designed to reflect the desired learning outcomes, and then finally the unit/subject content is backfilled. This reverse engineered process will ensure that all students have been taught and assessed on the graduate attributes which will form the graduate profile. Therefore, monitoring the inclusion of learning outcomes on unit/subject level during course restructure and development is crucial to achieve the course learning outcomes. This paper recommends that further evaluation needs to be conducted in the course development phases by involving professional accreditation bodies, industry representatives, students and recent graduates in this course development process. It also discusses challenges for developing an undergraduate property course.

Team building activities in dance and discoveries from reflective essays

The purpose of this study was to determine if using team building activities within a university Latin dance course enhances cohesion. Students (N=30) completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ; Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985), which measures group integration (individuals’ perceptions of the closeness, similarity, and bonding within the group as a whole) and individual attractions to the group in terms of both task and social cohesion. Students also completed an evaluation of the team building activities and wrote reflective essays about their experiences in the course. The course consisted of twenty 90-minute classes. In the third class students were provided an information sheet describing the research. In the fourth class the students completed a demographics questionnaire and the GEQ. The students completed the GEQ again during the ninth class. In classes 10 to 14 team building activities took up roughly the first third of each class. The students completed the GEQ again in classes 15 and 20. In class 16 the students completed the evaluation. The reflective essays were submitted two weeks after the last class. There were no significant differences across time in social cohesion. Group integration task, however, was significantly higher at times 3 and 4 compared to time 1. Students agreed that the team-building activities helped to bond class members, and felt it was valuable for these activities to be included in the unit in the future. The reflective essays indicated the students felt the team building activities improved social factors, and interpersonal, dance, and personal mental skills.

Self and peer review in dance classes using personal video feedback

Many forms of formative feedback are used in dance training to refine the dancer’s spatial and kinaesthetic awareness in order that the dancer’s sensorimotor intentions and observable danced outcomes might converge. This paper documents the use of smartphones to record and playback movement sequences in ballet and contemporary technique classes. Peers in pairs took turns filming one another and then analysing the playback. This provided immediate visual feedback of the movement sequence as performed by each dancer. This immediacy facilitated the dancer’s capacity to associate what they felt as they were dancing with what they looked like during the dance. The often-dissonant realities of self-perception and perception by others were thus guided towards harmony, generating improved performance and knowledge relating to dance technique. An approach is offered for potential development of peer review activities to support summative progressive assessment in dance technique training.

Rough set feature selection and rule induction for prediction of malignancy degree in brain glioma

X. Wang, J. Yang, R. Jensen and X. Liu, 'Rough Set Feature Selection and Rule Induction for Prediction of Malignancy Degree in Brain Glioma,' Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 147-156, 2006.

The graduate: Spillovers from the entry of the first worker with a college degree in a firm

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Double Degree in Economics from NOVA School of Business and Economics and Maastricht School of Business and Economics

A prediction model for establishing the disability degree in adults with spinal cord injury: results based on WHO-DAS II perspective

Objective: To establish a prediction model of the degree of disability in adults with Spinal CordInjury (SCI ) based on the use of the WHO-DAS II . Methods: The disability degree was correlatedwith three variable groups: clinical, sociodemographic and those related with rehabilitation services.A model of multiple linear regression was built to predict disability. 45 people with sci exhibitingdiverse etiology, neurological level and completeness participated. Patients were older than 18 andthey had more than a six-month post-injury. The WHO-DAS II and the ASIA impairment scale(AIS ) were used. Results: Variables that evidenced a significant relationship with disability were thefollowing: occupational situation, type of affiliation to the public health care system, injury evolutiontime, neurological level, partial preservation zone, ais motor and sensory scores and number ofclinical complications during the last year. Complications significantly associated to disability werejoint pain, urinary infections, intestinal problems and autonomic disreflexia. None of the variablesrelated to rehabilitation services showed significant association with disability. The disability degreeexhibited significant differences in favor of the groups that received the following services: assistivedevices supply and vocational, job or educational counseling. Conclusions: The best predictiondisability model in adults with sci with more than six months post-injury was built with variablesof injury evolution time, AIS sensory score and injury-related unemployment.

Band gap control via tuning of inversion degree in CdIn2S4 spinel

Based on theoretical arguments we propose a possible route for controlling the band-gap in the promising photovoltaic material CdIn2S4. Our ab initio calculations show that the experimental degree of inversion in this spinel (fraction of tetrahedral sites occupied by In) corresponds approximately to the equilibrium value given by the minimum of the theoretical inversion free energy at a typical synthesis temperature. Modification of this temperature, or of the cooling rate after synthesis, is then expected to change the inversion degree, which in turn sensitively tunes the electronic band-gap of the solid, as shown here by Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof screened hybrid functional calculations.

Neurocognitive control in dance perception and performance

Dance is a rich source of material for researchers interested in the integration of movement and cognition. The multiple aspects of embodied cognition involved in performing and perceiving dance have inspired scientists to use dance as a means for studying motor control, expertise, and action-perception links. The aim of this review is to present basic research on cognitive and neural processes implicated in the execution, expression, and observation of dance, and to bring into relief contemporary issues and open research questions. The review addresses six topics: 1) dancers’ exemplary motor control, in terms of postural control, equilibrium maintenance, and stabilization; 2) how dancers’ timing and on-line synchronization are influenced by attention demands and motor experience; 3) the critical roles played by sequence learning and memory; 4) how dancers make strategic use of visual and motor imagery; 5) the insights into the neural coupling between action and perception yielded through exploration of the brain architecture mediating dance observation; and 6) a neuroaesthetics perspective that sheds new light on the way audiences perceive and evaluate dance expression. Current and emerging issues are presented regarding future directions that will facilitate the ongoing dialogue between science and dance.