Overview

This module is focussed on employability. It develops your understanding of impact and engagement in research and scholarship. It also develops your skills in communicating with a range of audiences, from academic to public, though a variety of media.

In the module we will look at best practices for communicating research to different stakeholders and communities. We will develop widely transferable skills essential for today’s job market, in academia and beyond.

The module will help you to understand the impact / engagement potential in your work and that of others, and provide you with the communication tools to reach wider audiences.

You will gain essential skills in designing research that implements impact and engagement from the outset. You will also hone communication skills in a range of areas, including the use of AI.

There are three assessments: (1) You will create an initial report outlining the routes to wider engagement potential in a research project (new or pre-existing); (2) You will present a piece of existing research to an academic or non-academic audience; (3) You will record a presentation on an existing piece of research, in the style of a vodcast – this is aimed at either an academic or a non-academic audience but this must be a different audience to that of the individual presentation (i.e. if the presentation was to an academic audience this must be aimed at a non-academic audience and vice versa).

This module develops students skills in communicating research to various audiences: academics, students, and a wider (non-academic) community. It explores research dissemination through a variety of media and forums, including conference papers, social media, blogs, programme notes, reviews, pre-concert talks, podcasts, and vodcasts. It will also introduce students to research impact and how to build impact into research. It will also explore aspects such as copyright and technology as they relate to music and the wider music industry today, including ways in which research (and researchers) can be marketed. It is intended that students will collaborate with students taking composition and performance.

The module is centred on employability skills that are highly desirable both in academia and beyond. Students will develop essential skills that are highly transferrable and which will enhance the visibility of their research.

Assessment Strategy

Threshold (C– to C+, 50-59%) Work which demonstrates an understanding of the module content and the ability to think in an informed and logical manner, and which is expressed coherently.

Good (B– to B+, 60-69%) Work which demonstrates mastery of the module content and the ability to think in a considered manner, and which is expressed with clarity and acuity.

Excellent (A– to A*, 70-100%) Work which demonstrates new insight into the module content and the ability to think in an original and conceptual manner, and which is expressed persuasively.

Learning Outcomes

• Appraise critically dissemination of research / creative practice as research through various kinds of media

• Design and deliver an effective presentation for non-academic audiences

• Evaluate how a piece of research / creative practice can be communicated to a broad, non-academic audience