Part time Postgraduate Diploma In Education and Training Year Two 2014 – 2015 TCAH0034AZ Researching Teaching (20 credits) TCUT700008 Level7 Turnitin submission id: 38879142 Mark Gill 10080384 Researching teaching Page 1 Within this paper I will be exploring the nature and definition of action research from its beginnings to its applications in education and reflect upon my own personal action research project and its results. I will explore the limitations of action research throughout the paper and evaluate action research as an effective methodology for developing my own personal practice, as well as exploring ethical considerations to be considered. Action research has a rich historical background in that it has not been born of a single academic discipline but has emerged from a diverse range of fields. Brydon-Miller et al note that; there are strong elements of action research in the work of John Dewey, both in his philosophical work and in his studies and experiments in education. The exact origins of action research are unclear although the original concept is often attributed to Kurt Lewin (1890–1947). Authors such as Holter and Schwartz-Barcott (1993) Zuber-Skerrit (1992), Kemmis and McTaggert (1988), state that action research originated with Kurt Lewin, an American psychologist. The term action research was belived to be first used by Kurt Lewin, In his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems”, who was tenured as a professor at MIT at that time. Action research by definition inherently involves both action and research as integral components, but also relates to the links and correlations between the two. It is entirely possible to have research without action and also take action sans research; it is the integral combination of the two practices that distinguishes action research from other forms of enquiry. McKernan (1988 as cited in McKernan 1991) states that action research as a method of inquiry has evolved over the last century and careful study of the literature shows "clearly and convincingly that action research is a root derivative of the scientific method' reaching back to the Science in Education movement of the late nineteenth century." (McKernan 1991:8) (Masters J (1995).As De zeeuw put it, Action research as a methodology surfaced in response to the growing need for more relevant and practical knowledge in the social sciences: It bridged the gap between academic research and day-to-day applications (de Zeeuw, 2003). In education, action research is fairly commonplace on a day to day level and can be comparable to teacher research. As teachers we analyse what works and what doesn’t work within our own teaching environment, adapting what we have done to be more effective while consulting with colleagues and peers to glean results of their previous teacher research. Parsons and Brown put it succinctly in terms of education when they stated “action research is a form of investigation designed for use by teachers to attempt to solve problems and improve professional practices in their own classrooms. It involves systematic observations and data collection which can be then used by the practitioner-researcher in reflection, decision making and the development of more effective classroom strategies.”- Parsons and Brown (2002). Action research gives structure to the “teaching research” we all practice, even just subconsciously at times, with regards to improving our own practices and striving to be reflective practitioners. Christine miller surmised this well in saying “Action research is a natural part of teaching. Teachers are continually observing students, collecting data and changing practices to improve student learning and the classroom and school environment. Action research provides a framework that guides the energies of teachers toward a better understanding of why, when, and how students become better learners.” - A. Christine Miller (2007) The central goal of action research is positive educational change within a curriculum or related to an individual’s own practice. Action research can help in the development of personal professional practice by deriving practical solutions to issues or concerns resulting from specific circumstances of professional practice. Due to the fact that practice is always influenced by the context in which it is applied someone else’s strategy may not be the ideal solution to a given situation. By conducting the research “live” within the context in which the change is applied the direct results can be observed. Hence action research can be quite a personal practice which can be limiting due to personal viewpoint of the practitioner. Considering the personal subconscious bias or tendency towards positive selection of details that could fit our agenda or goal, where negative repercussions may be downplayed or even overlooked, is often a risk inherent with any scientific Researching teaching Page 2 research. Most practitioners will be objective and professional enough to allow the data to speak for itself, but as is often the case selective presentation of data can spin action research towards a particular agenda or bias. Another limiting factor of the viability of any conclusions from the practice of action research is that they may not be directly applicable to any other scenario, or indeed anyone else’s teaching, due to the unique factors in which the research is conducted. Another notable influencing factor would be the fact that the research is directed and conducted directly by the individual researcher and may not be repeatable with a different teachers views, values, knowledge or methods. Both selection bias in terms of the group or sample to conduct research on (the most applicable or able students) and publication bias could be present in the possibility of slanting the presentation of findings in a positive way. Fig. 1 As shown in the above diagram action research is a reciprocal iterative process that requires several stages to be sequentially carried out. Careful reflection upon a problem or area of intended improvement is require to formulate a plan, the plan is then enacted and observed , reflection upon the observations leads to an iteration of the plan and the cycle continues. The cyclical iteration within any system promotes positive development and refinement, as quality assurance is important this can only be a good thing. Perhaps due to its continual ongoing development and recursive Researching teaching Page 3 nature the process within action research could be said to lack conclusivity or a definitive ending which may be seen as a limitation in some circumstances. A key concept of action research that it promotes cooperation and collaboration with the subjects as well as peers as stated in ethical considerations in participatory research / participatory action research by Sheffield university: “action research is a broad approach to research that treats human participants as collaborators rather than subjects. Often employed in projects concerned with policy and practice or service delivery”. This is supported by the views of Lingard et al and Whitehead et al; ” Action research – which is also known as Participatory Action Research(PAR), community-based study, co-operative enquiry, action science and action learning – is an approach commonly used for improving conditions and practices “(Lingard et al., 2008; Whitehead et al., 2003). Hammack notes that the role of the teacher and researcher involved in action research can bring potential conflicts of interest inherent in the conflicting roles. “When discussing action research, one must distinguish between joint projects, conducted by a school and an academic researcher, and truly indigenous, insider projects, conducted by a teacher or administrator within a school. In the former instance, an academic is contracted as a consultant. A formal contract is created that delineates roles, tasks, outcomes, costs, payments, and ownership of data. In such a study, the role of the researcher is explicitly discussed and negotiated. The ethical issues that arise in such a study typically are anticipated and thoroughly addressed by a university’s IRB. However, the latter kind of project, in which an insider takes on the role of researcher without academic collaboration, is of concern. In a school setting, the school professional (teacher, librarian, principal, counselor, or the like) is acting not only as the researcher but also as the change agent (Hammack, 1997). These potentially conflicting roles can confound the individual’s primary objective in the classroom or school: student learning. Examining organizational behavior in industry, Mirvis and Seashore (1982) noted that most ethical dilemmas in such studies arise “not because roles are unclear, but because they are clearly in conflict” (p. 87). This could be one of the possible limitations of action research due to the very personal nature and the level of investment the teacher researcher has in the project. Within any organization especially when working with young potentially vulnerable learners there are distinct ethical issues to be attended. Ethical considerations in participatory research / participatory action research by Sheffield university describes the ethical nature of action research, which, as a humanist teacher I find agreeable ; Many argue that PA research is inherently ethical, because this type of work involves placing a high degree of responsibility on the research participants, and demands continuous reflexivity about, and sensitivity to, emergent ethical issues as the programme of research unfolds. Within PA work research participants are considered less as subjects and more as research partners. At the core of the PA method are principles of democracy and humanity within research, involving: • Respect for persons participating in the research; • A duty of care to vulnerable participants; • An effort to limit risk and maximise participants’ collective and individual benefits; • Opportunities for self-representation; • Ongoing responsiveness to the needs of the research partners; • Frequent review by those who are involved in the research; • Continuous reflection about potential ethical dilemmas by the academic researcher; • Reciprocity Ethical accountability is of highest importance when undertaking action research due to the fact that it directly effects the subjects in such a personal manner. If a teacher researcher where to misappropriate time and resources towards research that ultimately was unfruitful or at worst detrimental to the student experience this is always a present danger when trying anything new within pedagogical practices. The subjects/students, due to participatory nature of action research, Researching teaching Page 4 should be give informed consent as to partaking within the process so there are no misconceptions as to what is being attempted. Other Ethical accountabilities when conducting action research would be to protect the confidentiality of the participants and anonymize the data where entirely possible. Nolen and Putten note the possibility of anonymity with a system or institution could be potentially undermined by common association “Confidentiality may be compromised merely by the fact that the teacher researcher can easily be associated with a particular class of students during data collection, and therefore many people within the community are likely to be able to identify key players and informants. This makes reporting the research particularly difficult even with the use of pseudonyms and vague descriptors.” A Nolen & j Putten (2007). Data security is an important ethical consideration during action research with particular care taken towards storage and access. The initial part of the journey of action research is to define structure to the research with clear goals and objectives. The aspect of my own teaching and learning practice that was identified after a great degree of thought was based around the idea of differentiation and its inherent difficulty to achieve. The locus of the research was to be based around a subject that has grained increasing popularity over the previous few years and one that I thoroughly espouse. Gamification is a fairly recent concept that has grown primarily from the web design industry and risen in popularity in education due to its ability to make learning more active and participatory. Glover expands; “Learning is an active process and, as with all active processes, it requires motivation to both begin and continue the process. In young learners, motivation to learn is often readily available, but it can wane in older learners, and this is especially the case when an element of self-direction and autonomy is required (OECD, 2000). Rollings and Adams (2003, p.34) define a game as “a form of participatory, or interactive, entertainment” and contrast this with passive activities, such as watching television or reading. As learning is a participatory process, it follows that there could be greater benefits from incorporating games concepts with education than with these other, passive activities.” GLOVER, Ian (2013). By making learning more active on an individual level drives learners to agency over their own learning rather than striving to gain the goals set by their peers they have their own tailored goals and objectives personalised to their own confidence and ability. Learner engagement and diversity are strong themes throughout gamification as posed by Mclarrty et al “There is much theoretical support for the benefits of digital games in learning and education, there is mixed empirical support. This research provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical evidence behind five key claims about the use of digital games in education. The claims are that digital games (1) are built on sound learning principles, (2) provide more engagement for the learner, (3) provide personalized learning opportunities, (4) teach 21st century skills, and (5) provide an environment for authentic and relevant assessment. The evidence for each claim is presented and directions for future research are discussed.” Mclarty Et Al (2012). To improve inclusivity and differentiation in the classroom through gamification was my primary goal as it I something that I strive to improve upon as a teacher. A common problem when teaching first year 3D asset production is the wide range of abilities within the classroom. Students who have never used the software need to be cater for supported and nurtured through their learning process while the experienced through to the advanced users are being challenged and not being “held back” learning the basics again. The focus of action research I undertook was to assess the effectiveness of gamification on the inclusivity and diversity of teaching a cohort of first. Another defined aim is to improve my effectiveness of delivery and give myself the opportunity for self-reflection of the effectiveness of my own teaching practices , this will be implemented in one of my software modules within the games Development BSc. I will not be going into great detail about the methods of gamification I utilized within this paper as it falls outside of the remit of my action research goal. Researching teaching Page 5 In order to gamify the delivery of the module I developed a ranking system with rewards and levels of progression clearly charted with graphical aids and progression rankings. The system will promote players levels as their understanding and completion of tasks are achieved. The system will promote working with others through specific tasks aimed at students mentoring other students to progress their own ranking .During the research I will gauge how effective the changes where on impacting the progress while taking into account student opinion on the changes and incorporate their ideas into the system itself promoting agency over their own learning pace and learning pathways. I held a focus group at the end of the research period to gain some feedback from the student and to help improve my future working practices. My ongoing reflections of the effectiveness of the methodology supported by the data helped me form my own conclusions on the effectiveness, based on previous years’ experience of a standard method of delivery. These conclusions directly affected the planning towards new actions refining the active processes and the cycle repeated itself as the missions and delivery strategy was adapted during the semester. Early on in the planning phase of my action research project I determined the need for tangible statistical data and so to achieve this I set about working with the students to create a skills audit database. I formulated a standardized skills audit with all of the areas topics and skills that would be developed throughout the course of the module along with a few that where outside of the remit of the module but still linked and relevant to mastering the discipline of 3D modelling. I developed the progression scale below that students could use to determine and track their progress : Proficiency levels key Lvl 0: Unware of the subject Lvl 1: Aware of the terms but unsure of the practices Lvl2: Have researched the practice Lvl3: Have a basic understanding of the practice Lvl4: Have experience of the practice Lvl5: Confident with the practice Lvl6: Well trained in the practice Lvl7: Could easily teach others the practice Lvl8: Advanced Proficiency with the practice Lvl9: Refining advanced practices Lvl10: Mastered the practice The scale is specifically designed with positive progression in mind unlike the standard Grading scale which is often seen to start at full marks available and drop down from there decrementally, this can be inherently demoralising games do not work like this and often reward the player in positive increments. The ten levels of progression take the students on a logical exploration of a subject from being completely unaware of the topic through to mastery. In order to achieve the top level of mastery of the subject the student must advance through the previous levels of competence from awareness to research from understanding to practical experience of the method , gaining confidence with the method or practice , becoming well trained by repetition of the practice to the point they could easily teach others the practice allowing for advanced proficiency of the practice working towards refining their advanced practices and finally attaining mastery of the method or practice. The reason for the specific concrete progressive leveling system is to show the student that positive action and progression towards the goal in a structured manner can yield positive results. The mission briefing header below shows the requirement details of an optional gamified task that students could undertake to improve their skills. The briefing describes what prerequisite skills are required to accomplish the mission along with a resulting skill change from completion of the task. Researching teaching Page 6 Motor Pool mission LVL 4 Create a motor vehicle for your warehouse/garage ie. Forklift truck, jet fighter, car, truck Produce: o o o Vehicle mesh model Texture map Normal map Skills required Normal Mapping Lvl 4 Maya Basics Lvl 4 Texturing Lvl 4 Photoshop Lvl 4 Reward o o o o (Have experience of the practice) (Have experience of the practice) (Have experience of the practice) (Have experience of the practice) Maya Basics Lvl 5 (Confident with the practice) Texturing Lvl 5 (Confident with the practice) By completing these structured optional missions in whichever order the students wanted it gave them agency over their learning while differentiating to the individual learner’s abilities and confidence. The missions are given an overall level to show the average proficiency required to undertake the particular task allowing students to match their skillsets to tasks and continually update their skills audits with direct data from the missions outputs, this ties in with learners conduction personal reflective practice, in parallel with the teacher researcher that is managing the projects development with a goal to improve their own practices. As a teacher researcher my own continual professional reflective practice contributed to the Action Research process a great deal. Throughout the semester I continually tweaked the missions or tasks, even in some cases developed totally new ones for students that have stumbled upon an area of interest that was outside of the remit of the module but still relevant to developing their own skills in 3D modelling. Researching teaching Page 7 The data collated from the skills audit is shown in the diagram below When the skills audit data is presented in a graphical format it is easy to see the issue at hand with students initial proficiencies varying wildly between software application or topic. This graphical format gives a clear indication to the level of differentiation needed within the module, as there are students entering with a high level of proficiency at a level they feel confident enough to be able to teach or describe to others the processes involved. Below is a graph of the starting or initial proficiencies graphed against the final proficiencies for each of the 15 students in the cohort. There was one incomplete data set student#10 that was included in the study but lacked data in a number of fields. Researching teaching Page 8 Graph A : Proficiency starting and final planning proficency final planning proficency starting Documentation proficency final Documentation proficency starting Blockouts proficency final Blockouts proficency starting Blue prints proficency final Student #15 Blue prints proficency starting Student #14 Student #13 2D photoshop proficency final Student #12 skill or topic 2D photoshop proficency starting Student #11 Student #10 transparency proficency final Student #9 transparency proficency starting Student #8 Student #7 Unwrapping proficency final Student #6 Unwrapping proficency starting Student #5 Student #4 displacement mapping proficency final Student #3 displacement mapping proficency starting Student #2 Student #1 Bump mapping proficency final Bump mapping proficency starting Texturing proficency final Texturing proficency starting 3D modelling proficency final 3D modelling proficency starting 0 2 4 6 8 10 Skill Level Researching teaching Page 9 Some topics shown in the graph such as blockouts and displacement mapping the majority of students are unaware of the term or practice coming into the module and show a great deal of progress by the end of the module having been given the opportunity to develop their skills in these areas. Level 4 was the minimum desired final level of proficiency in each discipline meaning that the learner has researched understood and had a practical experience of the practice. From the data it is clear which certain areas of the syllabus perhaps my teaching or the assigned missions or tasks does not cover thoroughly enough to facilitate learners attaining a desired level of competency in the practice. Some students attained a final level 3 in certain subjects leading me to perhaps develop this area in future to improve my own professional practice. Although an inherent downside of action research, being that it is unique to this cohort, becomes apparent as next year the initial proficiencies of the students will be completely different again. Perhaps next year I will analyse the initial skills audit in more detail and tailor my teaching to where it appears to be needed further optimizing my time and resources towards areas of low confidence or proficiency. The graph below shows the subjects that where included in missions within the gamified system but where outside of what was required in the module yet still related to 3D modelling as a whole. Graph B Proficiency starting and final of additional topics external to the module Normal mapping proficency final Normal mapping proficency starting Student #15 Student #14 Student #13 inverse kinematics proficency final Student #12 Skill or topic Student #11 inverse kinematics proficency starting Student #10 Student #9 Student #8 Animation proficency final Student #7 Student #6 Animation proficency starting Student #5 Student #4 Student #3 Paint weights proficency final Student #2 Student #1 Paint weights proficency starting 0 2 4 6 8 10 Skill level Researching teaching Page 10 Areas such as inverse kinematics and mapping vector normals that I have typically left out of the first year syllabus and introduced them in second year, due to their complexity or prerequisite knowledge required, where actually attempted. From the graphical data is was clear certain student such as 5,8 and 13 hugely benefitted from the gamified presentation method due to the fact that achieved highly in a number of subjects that where outside of the standard requirements of the unit. Normal mapping in particular is a highly advance texturing technique of taking the data of how a high detailed objects react to light and transposing the data onto a low detail facsimile by way of a trinary colour map giving the illusion that the low detail object is the same level of detail as the high detail original. In this particular instance the students where a group of friends that upon one student attaining level 7 in the practice went further to actually teach the other two what he had learned cooperating with his peers and advancing their learning. The empowering nature of being able to teach a subject or topic is something that the gamified system promoted to gain further understating by disseminating information to peers. Supported by the data and my own experience I believe the students learning experience was improved and the level of differentiation supported by having individual goals and progression built into the framework of the system. Below is a graph of the initial and final levels of confidence the students had towards the subject the scale from 0-10 was a simply a sliding scale from not at all confident to extremely confident. Researching teaching Page 11 Graph C planning confidence final planning confidence starting Documentation confidence final Documentation confidence starting Blockouts confidence final Blockouts confidence starting Blue prints confidence final Student #15 Student #14 Blue prints confidence starting Student #13 2D photoshop confidence final Student #12 topic or skill 2D photoshop confidence starting Student #11 Student #10 transparency confidence final Student #9 transparency confidence starting Student #8 Unwrapping confidence final Student #7 Student #6 Unwrapping confidence starting Student #5 displacement mapping confidence final Student #4 displacement mapping confidence starting Student #3 Bump mapping confidence final Student #1 Student #2 Bump mapping confidence starting Texturing confidence final Texturing confidence starting 3D modelling confidence final 3D modelling confidence starting 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 skill level Researching teaching Page 12 I found that Students confidence is in large higher than their current ability level not many people put their confidence being below their current proficiency level shown in graph A. having confidence as well as proficiency gives me another data point and a soft factor that could help in identifying areas that I need to spend more time on in order to facilitate further understanding. Graph D : Confidence in topics external to module requirements Normal mapping confidence final Normal mapping confidence starting Student #15 Student #14 inverse kinematics confidence final Student #13 Student #12 Skill or topic Student #11 inverse kinematics confidence starting Student #10 Student #9 Student #8 Animation confidence final Student #7 Student #6 Student #5 Animation confidence starting Student #4 Student #3 Paint weights confidence final Student #2 Student #1 Paint weights confidence starting 0 2 4 6 8 10 SKill level As you can clearly a see a significant rise in the confidence of certain practices that where external to the module specification. The rise in these topics particularly is quite high due to the fact that most entry level students will be unaware of these advanced professional practices. At the end of the study I conducted a focus group with the students to gain some feedback as to how the gamification had influenced them and their learning processes. The feedback was surprisingly all positive. Below are a few quotes from students within the research that reinforce the data and the viewpoint that the gamification of the module helped the students achieve Researching teaching Page 13 “I feel my texturing will greatly improve from this module because it will give me good practice on applying the material and using the editor, by doing different missions it gives me a wide horizon to try out and find out techniques to use on this assignment and others in the future.” Student #1 “When looking at my skills at the beginning of the course, I’ve improved my knowable and practice on few fields. The one that I find most enjoyable is modelling and Sculpting, which in I can see most improvement in myself. Over this period of time I’ve research the practice about rigging, dynamics and physics that improved my knowledge about the practice on these fields. “ Student #8 “3D modelling in Maya was the most difficult part of my development. Even with my three years of experience, with this software, it was quite hard to deal with my optimistic targets but in the end achieved them.” Student #13 From looking into the data, taking onboard the feedback and the deciphering the spread with some skills gap analysis I am able to see that what I am doing is having a positive effect on the students hopefully this positive progression and attainment model will work as well in the future. The action research has highlighted a number of positive elements of my practice and highlighted a few areas that perhaps I could in future be more thorough. Action research as a process despite its limitations discussed throughout the paper is in my opinion a method of research that works to an extent within the personalised situation of my own teaching, but whether my findings would be applicable to my peers teaching is questionable. But as a self-reflective iterative mechanism for selfimprovement of my own teaching practices I believe that action research will definitely play a part in my future development. The structured manner in which the research is undertaken with clear goals and data points analysis is something that I have found to give me areas to work on and reassurance that I am doing things right in other areas. I think that within the gamified system action research fit in very well with the data driven levelling system that I developed for the students allowing them to be reflective practitioners themselves. From my own experience and talking to students I found the process worked well as the students reacted positively to being able to track their own progress in this way and even compete against each other to attain higher levels of proficiency within disciplines. Ernie Stringer sums up my experience well, “Enacting participatory approaches requires me to take quite a different stance to mywork. I now realize the necessity to thoughtfully engage in practices that involve changes in relationship, positioning, authority, and knowledge production practices. As a teacher, researcher or professional practitioner, I am a changed person” Researching teaching Page 14 References Amanda L. Nolen and Jim Vander Putten (2007) Action Research in Education: Addressing Gaps in Ethical Principles and Practices Brydon-Miller et al . (2003) Action Research London: sage Publications De Zeeuw, G. (2003). Helping others: Projects or research? Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 13, 496–503 GLOVER, Ian (2013) Play as you learn: gamification as a technique for motivating learners. In: Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2013. AACE , Chesapeake, VA, 1999-2008 .ISBN 9781939797032 Hammack, F. (1997). Ethical issues in teacher research. Teachers College Record, 99(2), 247–265. Holter, I.M., and Schwartz - Barcott,D. (1993). Action Research: What is it? How has it been used and how can it be used in nursing? Journal of Advanced Nursing 1993:128; 298-304 Katie Larsen McClarty, Aline Orr Peter M. Frey, Robert P. Dolan Victoria Vassileva, Aaron McVay A Literature Review of Gaming in Education , online article available at http://researchnetwork.pearson.com/wpcontent/uploads/Lit_Review_of_Gaming_in_Education.pdf Kemmis,S., and McTaggert, R., (1990). The Action Research Planner Geelong: Deakin University Press Masters, J. (1995) 'The History of Action Research' in I. Hughes (ed) Action Research Electronic Reader, The University of Sydney, online http://www.behs.cchs.usyd.edu.au/arow/Reader/rmasters.htm McKernan,J., (1988). The Countenance of Curriculum Action Research: Traditional, Collaborative and Critical-Emancipatory Conceptions. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 3,(34 Spring:173-200 ) McKernan,J., (1991). Curriculum Action Research. A Handbook of Methods and Resources for the Reflective Practitioner London: Kogan Page Miller, Christine A. “Action Research: Making Sense of Data.” On-linearticle recovered 11/05/2007, www.coe.fau.edu/sfcel/sensdata.htm Accessed 5/12/2014 Mirvis, P., & Seashore, S. (1982). Creating ethical relationships in organizationalresearch. In J. Sieber (Ed.), The ethics of social research (pp. 79–104). New York: Springer. Parsons, Rick D., and Kimberlee S. Brown. Teacher as Reflective Practitioner and Action Researcher. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002. Rollings, A., & Adams, E. (2003) Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design. New Riders, Indianapolis. ISBN: 978-1592730018. Zuber-Skerrit,O., (1992). Improving Learning and Teaching Through Action Learning and Action Research Draft paper for the HERDSA Conference 1992 University of Queensland. Researching teaching Page 15 Fig. 1 http://celt.ust.hk/teaching-resources/action-research Researching teaching Page 16 The following appendix contain samples of the raw skills audit data presented by students that was analysed . Proficiency levels key Lvl 0: Unware of the subject Lvl 1: Aware of the terms but unsure of the practices Lvl2: Have researched the practice Lvl3: Have a basic understanding of the practice Lvl4: Have experience of the practice Lvl5: Confident with the practice Lvl6: Well trained in the practice Lvl7: Could easily teach others the practice Lvl8: Advanced Proficiency with the practice Lvl9: Refining advanced practices Lvl10: Mastered the practice Researching teaching Page 17 Data SET Student #1 Initial Texturing Unwrapping Bump map Transparency Modelling Maya Management Planning Time management Documentation Concept Art Traditional Digital 2D Photoshop Game engine Unity 3d Researching teaching 5/10 7/10 7/10 5/10 8/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 8/10 5/10 5/10 10/10 6/10 7/10 6/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 5/10 5/10 7/10 5/10 5/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 9/10 6/10 6/10 10/10 Page 18 Student #2 Skill Audit Skill Modelling Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Researching teaching Proficiency Confidence Desired 5/10 8/10 6/10 1/10 5/10 8/10 6/10 1/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 5/10 1/10 3/10 1/10 3/10 6/10 7/10 2/10 1/10 6/10 5/10 5/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 5/10 5/10 8/10 8/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 8/10 8/10 4/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 4/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 8/10 4/10 7/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 5/10 4/10 4/10 7/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 7/10 4/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 9/10 7/10 6/10 7/10 6/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 6/10 6/10 9/10 6/10 6/10 9/10 7/10 6/10 1/10 0/10 8/10 6/10 2/10 2/10 10/10 10/10 5/10 5/10 Page 19 Student #3 Skill Modelling Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash Researching teaching Proficiency Level 5 Confidence Level 6 Desired Level 6 Level 5 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 4 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 7 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 7 Level 6 Level 5 Level 5 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3 Level 0 Level 0 Level 0 Level 7 Level 8 Level 4 Level 7 Level 5 Level 4 Level 0 Level 4 Level 5 Level 0 Level 4 Level 0 Level 4 Level 2 Level 3 Level 5 Level 5 Level 2 Level 2 Level 9 Level 10 Level 2 Level 10 Level 5 Level 4 Level 2 Level 4 Level 5 Level 2 Level 4 Level 2 Level 4 Level 4 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 10 Level 10 Level 4 Level 10 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 0 Level 0 Level 4 Level 3 Level 0 Level 0 Level 4 Level 2 Level 2 Level 5 Level 5 Level 2 Level 2 Level 2 Level 5 Level 5 Level 6 Level 6 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 5 Level 0 Level 0 Level 0 Level 0 Level 5 Level 1 Level 3 Level 4 Level 4 Level 4 Level 6 Level 0 Level 0 Level 0 Page 20 Student #4 Skill Proficiency Confidence Desired Modelling 3/10 +2 5/10 +2 10/10 Animation 1/10 +2 0/10 +2 10/10 0/10 +3 0/10 +3 10/10 Dynamics/Physics 1/10 +2 0/10 10/10 Rigging 0/10 +2 0/10 10/10 0/10 +2 0/10 10/10 4/10 +3 5/10 +3 10/10 Unwrapping 1/10 +4 0/10+4 10/10 Normal mapping 1/10 +4 0/10 +4 10/10 Bump map 1/10 +5 0/10 +5 10/10 Displacement map 1/10 +5 0/10 +5 10/10 Transparency 1/10 +5 0/10 +5 10/10 Maya 2/10 +4 4/10 +3 10/10 3D studio max 1/10 0/10 10/10 Mud box 1/10 0/10 10/10 Zbrush 1/10 0/10 10/10 3/10 +4 5/10 +3 10/10 Java 5/10 +3 6/10 +1 10/10 Java script 2/10 +1 2/10 +2 10/10 C++ 1/10 +1 2/10 +2 10/10 Inverse kinematics Paint weight Texturing Programming Researching teaching Page 21 C# 1/10 +1 2/10 +2 10/10 Ruby 1/10 +1 2/10 +2 10/10 4/10 +2 2/10 +2 10/10 Concept Art Traditional 2/10 +3 3/10 +2 10/10 Digital 1/10 +3 2/10 +2 10/10 3/10 3/10 10/10 2/10 +2 2/10 +2 10/10 2D Photoshop 4/10 +2 4/10 +2 10/10 3D Photoshop 1/10 +2 1/10 +1 10/10 Planning 7/10 8/10 10/10 Time management 9/10 10/10 10/10 Documentation 7/10 8/10 10/10 1/10 +4 1/10 +4 10/10 Blueprint and mapping 1/10 +5 1/10 +5 10/10 Blockouts 0/10 +5 1/10 +5 10/10 1/10 1/10 10/10 2/10 1/10 10/10 3/10 +2 3/10 +2 10/10 Cryengine 1/10 1/10 10/10 Source engine 2/3 2/10 1/10 10/10 Adobe Flash 3/10 1/10 10/10 Character Environment Management Level design Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Student #5 Researching teaching Page 22 Skill Audit Skill Modelling Proficiency 4/10 Confidence 5/10 Desired 10/10 Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush 3/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 0/10 4/10 0/10 1/10 5/10 3/10 1/10 5/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 2/10 1/10 1/10 2/10 0/10 4/10 0/10 3/10 5/10 4/10 3/10 6/10 4/10 3/10 1/10 8/10 6/10 8/10 8/10 8/10 10/10 8/10 6/10 9/10 8/10 8/10 9/10 8/10 7/10 7/10 Programming 2/10 3/10 3/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 7/10 5/10 7/10 5/10 3/10 8/10 0/10 7/10 8/10 6/10 8/10 6/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 7/10 5/10 8/10 6/10 5/10 9/10 2/10 7/10 9/10 6/10 9/10 7/10 7/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 7/10 7/10 10/10 9/10 10/10 9/10 9/10 10/10 8/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 9/10 3/10 4/10 5/10 7/10 5/10 6/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 3/10 0/10 0/10 6/10 5/10 2/10 2/10 6/10 10/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash Researching teaching Page 23 Student #6 Skill Audit Skill Modelling Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash Researching teaching Proficiency 6/10 3 3 Confidence 5/10 Desired 8/10 1/10 6/10 3/10 7/10 4/10 3/10 1/10 3/10 4/10 5/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 7/10 8/10 6/10 6/10 7/10 7/10 6/10 5/10 5/10 3/10 2/10 1/10 2/10 3/10 2/10 5/10 3/10 2/10 5/10 6/10 7/10 4/10 6/10 5/10 6/10 4/10 6/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 6/10 3/10 7/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 8/10 9/10 6/10 8/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 4 3/10 8/10 5 5/10 7/10 5 4 3 5 4 4 1/10 4/10 3 5 4/10 6/10 3/10 5/10 6/10 6/10 8/10 7/10 6/10 9/10 Page 24 Student# 7 Skill Audit Skill Modelling Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D Studio Max Mud box Zbrush Programming Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash Student #8 Researching teaching Proficiency 4 4 0 2 1 1 4 3 2 4 4 4 4 2 1 1 5 5 5 1 1 0 3 2 3 2 2 4 0 0 0 1 4 5 4 4 Confidence 5 4 0 3 2 1 5 3 2 4 4 4 6 2 2 2 6 7 6 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 2 0 1 1 1 2 6 6 6 Desired 7 6 3 6 6 5 7 5 5 4 4 5 6 5 4 4 9 8 8 8 8 6 6 5 6 6 7 8 4 5 9 8 7 10 9 9 4 3 1 1 4 6 5 4 3 4 8 8 5 5 5 Page 25 Skill Modelling Maya 3DS Max Mudbox ZBrush Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash Game Design Total Proficiency 4/10 4/10 8/10 3/10 2/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 3/10 4/10 6/10 4/10 8/10 8/10 5/10 7/10 1/10 4/10 1/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 6/10 8/10 7/10 8/10 5/10 7/10 1/10 6/10 7/10 4/10 8/10 4/10 5/10 4/10 4/10 7/10 3/10 5/10 3/10 1/10 5/10 Confidence 4.2/10 4/10 8/10 3/10 2/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 3/10 4/10 6.4/10 4/10 8/10 8/10 5/10 7/10 1.2/10 4/10 1/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 6/10 8/10 7/10 8/10 5/10 7/10 1/10 6.3/10 7/10 4/10 8/10 4/10 5/10 4/10 4/10 7/10 3/10 5/10 3/10 1/10 5/10 Desired 9/10 10/10 10/10 8/10 8/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 8.8/10 8/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 9/10 5.4/10 7/10 5/10 7/10 4/10 4/10 9/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 8/10 10/10 7/10 9.3/10 10/10 8/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 8.6/10 8/10 10/10 10/10 8/10 8/10 8/10 4/10 4/10 8.9/10 Student #9 Skill Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Researching teaching Proficiency 4/10 0/10 1/10 3/10 Confidence 3/10 0/10 1/10 4/10 Desired 10/10 0/10 10/10 10/10 Page 26 Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Planning Time management Documentation Blueprints Block outs UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Skill Maya Texturing Normal mapping Bump map Environment Planning Time management Documentation Blueprints Block outs Unity 3d Researching teaching 0/10 1/10 3/10 2/10 2/10 3/10 0/10 0/10 3/10 3/10 2/10 4/10 0/10 0/10 2/10 3/10 2/10 3/10 0/10 4/10 5/10 3/10 2/10 3/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 0/10 5/10 0/10 4/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 3/10 5/10 2/10 6/10 1/10 0/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 3/10 5/10 3/10 0/10 1/10 0/10 2/10 0/10 0/10 Skills Audit (Updated) Proficiency Proficiency Change 5/10 +1 5/10 +2 4/10 +2 5/10 +2 6/10 +4 5/10 +1 5/10 0 5/10 +2 4/10 +2 5/10 +3 3/10 0 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 5/10 10/10 10/10 5/10 0/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 5/10 5/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 Confidence 6/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 6/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 2/10 Confidence Change +3 +1 +4 +4 +6 +2 0 +2 +5 +4 0 Page 27 Student #10 Incomplete data set Skills audit Table 1 self-assessed skills audit (refer to table 11for key) Skills Modelling Animation Rigging Texturing Autodesk Concept Game Unreal Managem Maya Art engine 4 Proficiency Level 5* Level 3* Level 1* Level 4* Level 5* Level 4* Level 3* Level 3* Level 5* Confidence 10/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 10/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 7/10 Desired Proficiency Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Level 10* Researching teaching Page 28 Student #11 Researching teaching Page 29 Researching teaching Page 30 Student #12 Skill Audit Skill Modelling Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash World machine Proficiency 4/10 2/10 0/10 0/10 2/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 2/10 4/10 4/10 1/10 4/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 1/10 0.5/10 0/10 0.1/10 0.1/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 5/10 4/10 7/10 4/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 5/10 5/10 3/10 Confidence 5/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 1/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 0/10 5/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 0/10 6/10 6/10 8/10 3/10 9/10 10/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 4/10 Desired 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 0/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 1/10 5/10 3/10 3/10 5/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 1/10 5/10 1/10 3/10 6/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 0/10 4/10 10/10 Final Researching teaching Page 31 Skill Modelling Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Programing Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash World machine Researching teaching Proficiency 5/10 3/10 0/10 2/10 3/10 0/10 4/10 2/10 4/10 5/10 4/10 1/10 4/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 4/10 3/10 0/10 0.1/10 0.1/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 5/10 4/10 7/10 4/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 5/10 5/10 3/10 Confidence 5/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 1/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 0/10 5/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 0/10 6/10 6/10 8/10 3/10 9/10 10/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 4/10 Desired 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 0/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 1/10 5/10 3/10 3/10 5/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 1/10 5/10 1/10 3/10 6/10 0/10 4/10 4/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 0/10 4/10 10/10 Page 32 Student #13 Skills Audit Skill Modelling Proficiency 3/10 Confidence 6/10 Desired 10/10 Animation Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Rigging Paint weight Texturing Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush 3/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 1/10 1/10 3/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 3/10 0/10 0/10 0/10 5/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 2/10 3/10 2/10 6/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 6/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 9/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 6/10 5/10 10/10 6/10 5/10 6/10 10/10 8/10 7/10 6/10 Programing 1/10 2/10 1/10 1/10 0/10 0/10 6/10 8/10 4/10 3/10 5/10 3/10 3/10 5/10 5/10 6/10 5/10 3/10 1/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 2/10 1/10 9/10 9/10 6/10 5/10 7/10 5/10 5/10 6/10 6/10 7/10 6/10 5/10 4/10 9/10 9/10 5/10 5/10 5/10 3/10 1/10 3/10 3/10 9/10 Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management Planning Time management Documentation Level design Blueprint and mapping Blockouts 0/10 Game engine 1/10 Researching teaching 10/10 8/10 9/10 9/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 8/10 9/10 8/10 9/10 8/10 Page 33 UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cryengine Source engine 2/3 Adobe Flash 1/10 1/10 1/10 1/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 3/10 5/10 8/10 8/10 5/10 5/10 7/10 Skills Audit (Updated) Skills Proficiency Normal mapping 3/10 Proficiency update Confidence Confidence update 7/10 6/10 8/10 Bump map 0/10 5/10 3/10 7/10 Displacement map 0/10 4/10 3/10 6/10 Transparency 0/10 6/10 3/10 7/10 Planning 5/10 7/10 6/10 8/10 Time management 6/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 Documentation 5/10 6/10 6/10 7/10 Blueprint and mapping 1/10 4/10 4/10 5/10 Blockouts 0/10 5/10 1/10 5/10 Planning 5/10 6/10 6/10 8/10 Time management 6/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 Documentation 5/10 7/10 6/10 7/10 Researching teaching Page 34 Student #14 Skill Modelling: Maya 3D studio max Mud box Zbrush Animation: Inverse kinematics Dynamics/Physics Adobe Flash Rigging: Paint weight Texturing: Unwrapping Normal mapping Bump map Displacement map Transparency Programing: Java Java script C++ C# Ruby Concept Art: Traditional Digital Character Environment 2D Photoshop 3D Photoshop Management: Planning Time management Documentation Level design: Blueprint and mapping Blockouts Game engine: UDK/Unreal 4 Unity 3d Cry engine Source engine 2/3 Researching teaching Proficiency Confidence Desired 5 7 2 0 2 3 8 6 5 6 1 0 2 2 7 5 10 8 7 7 2 2 10 5 4 7 4 9 5 4 6 4 8 9 9 10 7 10 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 6 7 5 5 6 7 6 6 8 7 5 6 6 6 9 6 8 9 8 8 10 9 6 5 3 6 5 4 9 9 7 6 6 6 6 9 9 4 6 0 0 3 5 0 0 7 8 5 6 8 9 8 Page 35 Student #15 Researching teaching Page 36