Evaluation of Unit X

U N I T  X

Unit X has really pushed me a long way out of my normal comfort zone. As I have mentioned in a previous post, although I usually enjoy teamwork I was very unsure on how I would manage this when it came to artwork. This is mainly because I prefer to work individually on tasks and almost 'get lost in them' in my own world. This really brought this factor out of me, as I felt I didn't have much time to myself through the entire project. It was difficult at first to engage with different people and work in different spaces, and especially work away from textiles, but I feel as an individual and as a group I have definitely pushed myself and faced demanding challenges. Our group I do feel worked very collaboratively and really made the best of the time we got to spend with other subject areas.

Throughout Unit X I do feel like I have engaged really collaboratively. At the beginning our group found this really difficult and at easter we went away accepting that we were all going to use our group as a support system but nothing else. We wanted to work as a group but each of us were so different that we were clashing majorly. However, during the easter break once we'd all let off some steam we actually deciding to work on the entire project as a group and really make the most of this opportunity, which I am glad to say now has really paid off as we even did our exhibition together. I am pleased to say that I attended nearly all of the sessions and we have all made a huge effort to get to know each other, meeting up twice at least, sometimes everyday throughout the week for eight weeks. We have really bonded as a group and in the lead up to the exhibition we have made an effort to communicate everyday. We all particularly enjoyed the sewing session with homemade cookies! 

I feel as though I have contributed a lot towards our group, coming up with lots of ideas and giving equal direction to our collaborative piece. I think that all of the textiles in practice people have really contributed to our collaborative piece really equally and we've completely upheld and directed our group really well.

Another positive about Unit X was that it allowed me to produce work which I don't think I'd have ever have normally produced. I even used glitter at one stage! It was actually more fun than usual as I feel I normally do take my work much more seriously, but I feel that working in a group being social constantly has meant that i've had to focus on us rather than just my work, and this has meant having more fun with it and playing around with ideas more than I usually would have.

Despite having enjoyed the year thoroughly I have found there to be some flaws in the programme. Speaking truthfully, there has been lack of communication throughout members of staff and on several occasions events have been dated differently, and generally going from one tutor to another, I have found that entirely different things are said. Students end up relying on a chinese whisper system in order to find anything out.  Furthermore, as a student living at a distance the thing I have found particularly difficult this year, is how unorganised the key dates throughout year are. I think its really important to point out that key dates really need to be on moodle well in advance, as this creates huge problems in traveling. Luckily this wont be such an issue as I move into second year but it it would be great to see more organisation of the programme in general.