BEGINNING PHASE 1:
Tuesday 5th October 2021
THE RESEARCH PHASE​
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Show research skills
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Case Studies
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Brainstorm/Mind-mapping
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Visuals/Mood-boards/Sketches
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Reading
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Discussions/interviews
Phase 1 - THE RESEARCH PHASE
I will be working on this Phase over Weeks 1-3. Within this section I'll be documenting my research including case studies, brainstorming and sketching.
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To begin the Research Phase, I must identify and research into 4 topics which I am passionate about and explore avenues based around this.
I'll be documenting my research in different sections in my website which will fall under the 'Phases' tabs accordingly.
WHERE DO I BEGIN?
"Identify 100's of possible starting points"
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WORKSHOP
Our workshop for today's lecture was to generate starting points by brainstorming a series of topics. This was to take note of what interested us so we could potentially take one further.
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TASK: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS -
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What Interests you?
What makes you cry?
What gets you angry?
What makes you laugh?
What gets you excited?
What stimulates you intellectually?
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Myself and Charisma worked together to briefly note down our responses to these questions:
HOW DO WE USE THIS?
"Identify 4 starting points"
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NEXT TASK:
Using these starting points we could look into the topics further by asking a series of questions about them. In order to do this we selected 4 topics from our brainstorm and listed questions we could ask regarding them.
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HOW WILL THIS HELP ME?
The first task encouraged me to think of subject areas I wouldn't have before therefore this is a useful technique for generating starting points for this project.
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As this task was brief, I will be re-using this method to eventually generate my own starting points which I can take forward into Phase 2. As well as this, I will research Design/Creative Thinking Exercises and ways to fuel this.
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Example includes: Psychology - asking questions about the mind and how different things effect different people.
RESEARCH - DESIGN THINKING:
"10 Exercises To Fuel Creative Thinking"
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"In an ideas slump? Here are 10 tips to help with your next big breakthrough."
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This article is based on how to fuel creative thinking, involving looking into things that we usually take for granted.
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NOTES
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We see things like buildings and materials and often take them for granted. Overlooking numerous possibilities. Ask the question "What else can I do with this?"
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"Turn rubbish into gold"
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Spotting, gathering and utilising things that most people would usually overlook.
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Spot and collect things - faces, letterforms, animals
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Keep things simple - "Clarify and isolate the challenge you face"
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Try writing a story in six words - Ernest Hemingway
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Apply a trusted existed system to another - using a successful idea to generate another
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Take something from it's usual home and place it somewhere different - Reposition.
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Wassily Kandinsky translated classical music into abstract paintings - convert things from one form to another
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Understand your process - how do you work best? German poet Friedrich Schiller worked best to the smell of rotting apples!
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Use personal experiences to spark idea generation - friends, family, heritage, background, things that happened to you as a child.
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EVALUATION
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I've learned to keep things simple rather than trying too hard to generate an idea. Basic exercises such as asking "What else can I do with this?" can lead to great innovation. I'll begin by gathering resources from things around me, whether this will be by going on a walk or spotting things most people would overlook and attempt to utilise them. I could do this by photographing/sketching things I come across or something that inspires me.
RESEARCH - DESIGN THINKING:
"8 Creative Thinking Techniques and The Tools To Use"
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NOTES
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Mind-mapping - classic way of idea generation. Don't neglect anything, despite how far-fetched it may be. Note down as much as you can.
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Checklist - "If we asked more questions, our content might be a little more imaginative".
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Alex Osborn - 'Applied Imagination' Based on 75 creative questions you can ask to help encourage ideas.
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Six universal questions - Why? Where? When? Who? What? How?
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Lateral Thinking - Look at your situation in a different way. "The simplest answer is not always right".
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Generate random words - Pick two random words and tie them together. Use a dictionary or online generator.
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Picture Association - pick a random photo and word backwards. Develop a story, how was the picture taken?
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Change perspective - Get opinions from other people, share work and encourage constructive criticism.
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Get up and go on a walk - "Indulge yourself in your own personal contemplation montage".
RESEARCH LINK:
EVALUATION
I must note down my thoughts and ideas constantly.
Mind-mapping/brainstorming techniques are extremely important!
Regarding my established topic areas I must ask questions to encourage creativity - What else can I do with this? Who? What? How?
I can also use word/picture association to lead to more imaginative content. (This can be from photographs during a journey/walk)
It's especially important for me to keep questioning myself and the topics in which I look into. This avoids dead ends and open's up new routes to idea generation.
I usually begin with brainstorming/spider-diagrams, however I am going to approach this project differently and go for a walk to fuel inspiration using my surroundings.
STARTING POINTS:
"Identify 4 starting points"
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MY TASK:
Now I am aware of the best/most appropriate methods of idea generation, I will begin by asking myself a series of questions. I will also be "Indulging myself into my own personal contemplation montage" by taking a walk and paying attention to the things that happen around me. This is a fun and refreshing way to encourage idea generation and gain a bit of inspiration while doing so!
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
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What Interests me?
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What makes me happy/excited?
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What makes me angry?
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What makes me laugh?
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What stimulates me intellectually?
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What would I like to know more about?
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From these tasks I will be able to identify a collection of topics that interest me and choose 4 to take further.
TASK1: 11.10.21
"Go on a walk" - For my first task I took a walk around West Quay to clear my head and prepare for the project, but also took note of the things around me which I thought could lead to some potential inspiration.
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THINGS TO CONSIDER
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What can I see?
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What can I hear?
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How do I feel?
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Things I can see that are out of the ordinary
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MY FINDINGS
What could I see?
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Lots of people, often walking on their own
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Children with their school bags
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People holding groceries, almost in a rush
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A man sitting on his own reading
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Nature around - flowers, trees and plants
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A homeless man and a mattress in the middle of the car park
TASK2: 11.10.21
"Out of the ordinary" - During my walk, I wasn't convinced by the things I had taken note of in my surroundings and didn't feel as though they could take me anywhere. So I dived a little bit deeper and asked myself what can I see which might seem out of the ordinary?
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FINDINGS
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Someone walking in circles - I wondered what was on her mind?
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A woman in bright yellow shoes
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Children walking around on their own - it seemed they were too young to do this
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A dog with no owner
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Kids on electric scooters
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Not much else!
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MINDMAP OF FIRST TASK
How did I feel?
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Happy
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Positive
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Content
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Immersed
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Invested
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Refreshed - the weather was nice but a little cold
EVALUATION
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I didn't identify a lot from this task and I feel as though I could have taken note of my surroundings a lot more. I did take note of what fascinated me the most for example seeing how many homeless people lived in Southampton. Because I am not pleased with the outcome of this task I'll continue to carry out different creative thinking techniques until I am satisfied.
Next I'll be identifying my different ambitions and what I am passionate about.
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TASK 3, 4 & 5: 11.10.21
"My ambitions" - For this task I decided to brainstorm my ambitions and passions in life. Ideally I'd love to design and develop a game based on my own interests as I believe the key to good design is to enjoy the subject you are researching and taking further. I began by mind-mapping these ambitions and then later took note of 'Who am I?' to understand myself a bit more, as well as from another perspective.​
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WHAT ARE MY AMBITIONS?
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Games Designer/Researcher
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Games for Change
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Give back - work for charities and fundraise
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Work in Virtual Reality
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Travel and live abroad for a year
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Design work for individuals and brands
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Inspire youth - potentially have a design school/academy
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Start a podcast
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Make my business known
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Participate in events
WHAT ARE MY AMIBITIONS?
EVALUATION
Giving back is something I'd love to do more of, involving working for charities and fundraising. I'd also love to work in Virtual Reality, potentially designing VR games or experiences. I could potentially look into Virtual Reality as a topic area or technology to broaden my research avenues.
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MY NEXT TASK
Who am I? - I mind-mapped a few of my traits from my own point of view and had my friend answer the same question about myself, hoping to discover something I wouldn't have thought about.
My point of view
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Student
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Shop-aholic
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Overthinker
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Artist/Designer
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Baker
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Shoe customiser
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Competitor
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Mental Health advocate
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Football fan
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Kiera
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A friend
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Competitive
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Artist
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Optimist
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Creator
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Quick learner
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Energetic
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Intuitive
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Does the right thing
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EVALUATION
It's clear that I have a passion for helping people and taking into consideration mental health - maybe this is a good topic to look into? I am interested in the different ways to help people involving both therapy and self-care techniques.
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MY NEXT TASK
Next I will be answering the questions similar to those answered during our lecture with Adam. Now I have gathered a few different responses to what I am passionate about, my interests and a little about me, it might help me dig deeper into the workshop questions.
QUESTIONS I ANSWERED:
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What Interests me?
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What makes me happy/excited?
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What makes me angry?
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What makes me laugh?
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What stimulates me intellectually?
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What would I like to know more about?
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I also expanded each response by giving examples.
​What Interests me?
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Technology
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Music
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Fashion
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Design
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Culture
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Friends/family
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VR and AR
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Psychology
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Space
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Games
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Afterlife
​What makes me excited?
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Marvel
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Seeing friends and family
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Nice weather
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Going abroad
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Listening to favourite music
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Musicals
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Safari parks
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Late night drives
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Painting shoes
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The city
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Fashion
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Movies
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Football
​What makes me angry?
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Impolite people
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Rude people
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Littering
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Rain
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Racism
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Bullying
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When Liverpool lose
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Arguments
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Harassment
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Phobias
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Traffic
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Gossip
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Not enough sleep
​What makes me laugh?
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Games
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Sarcasm
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Others laughing
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My family
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Comedies
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Jack Whitehall
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Multiplayer VR with Kiera
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Youtube Videos
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Sometimes serious situations where I have no control
​What stimulates me intellectually?
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Talented people
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Quizzes
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Reading
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University
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Going for a walk
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Being abroad
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My peers/lecturers
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Motivational speakers
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My family
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Art Galleries
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Work
​What would I like to learn more about?
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Our music tastes
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The effect of Music
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The Ocean
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Big Bang Theory
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Psychology - How the mind works
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Phobias and Therapy
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How we can save the planet
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Artificial Intelligence
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Volcanoes
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My heritage
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How can we be more sustainable
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Sound Design
EVALUATION​
My second attempt at the workshop task was much more successful than the first. By using my first few creative thinking tasks I was able to think deeper into each question and also expand my responses using examples. Using my responses it's clear to me what I am interested in and areas which I'd love to look into further. During each task there were a few repetitive answers and topics with similar themes.
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For example Music was a common answer to each question, as was my family and friends. These are things that make me happy as well as being a topic of interest.​
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EXERCISE 2 - Using my responses
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I began by noting down the topics I am most interested in and used the 'Word Association' technique suggested in a research article (above) to develop these further.
I started with words which then led to phrases and questions regarding that topic.
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The topic areas I narrowed my choices down to are as follows:
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My heritage
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Music
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Therapy
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Psychology
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Phobias
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Sustainable Fashion
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Oceans
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Sound Design
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City of London
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Big Bang
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Memories
EVALUATION
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Topics I identified as most interesting included Music Psychology, Therapy, Phobias, Sustainable Fashion and my heritage. I brainstormed words associated to these topics and this then led to questions I would like to know about them. For example, regarding Music - How does music effect us differently? How is music composed for different purposes? I am most interested in learning about how the brain work and how listening to music can affect different parts of our brains, therefore I feel the Psychology of Music would be a great topic to look into.
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In addition to this, I am keen to learn more about my heritage. It's clear from my previous responses that my family have quite a positive impact on me, and I am definitely interested in learning more about our background. Areas I could look into include the history of Cyprus, specifically involving the Cyprus invasion as my mother and grandparents lived there at the time. It would be great to gather personal stories by interviewing my family members to dive deeper into this topic.
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Therapy and Phobias in general appeal to me because I am intrigued to understand the psychology of having a phobia as well as how therapy works in detail. I am keen to know what is the difference between a phobia and a fear? Can we overcome phobias? Does everyone have a phobia? This research would be based around the psychology of a phobia, the effect it has on us involving symptoms and treatment etc. This can also be linked to therapy.
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As a last topic I am in between exploring Sustainable Fashion, Oceans and the Big Bang Theory. I have a passion for fashion including designing, buying clothes and styling and I think it would be great to understand sustainability in more depth such as how we can do more to support this. I definitely have a wider range of questions I can ask regarding this topic compared to the other subjects on my list, therefore I think this would be perfect to take forward.
MY CHOSEN TOPICS:
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From this evaluation I have narrowed down my list to 4 topic areas:
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Music Psychology
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Sustainable Fashion
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Phobias
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The history of Cyprus
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For each area I will establish a few research questions - what I am interested to know regarding the topic.
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Music Psychology
What are the effects of music/different sounds?
Why do we react differently to different music?
Does the volume of a song influence our enjoyment of it?
Why do we have different music tastes?
Effects of this on the brain?
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Sustainable Fashion
How can we make fashion
more sustainable?
What materials are most sustainable?
Can we use waste to make clothes?
Ways to be more eco-friendly?
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Phobias
Why do some of us have phobias?
How are phobias caused/triggered?
Why symptoms indicate a phobia?
Common/Uncommon phobias?
How can we overcome them?
How do they differ from fears?
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The History of Cyprus
What was life like growing up there?
Why did the invasion happen?
What happened during the invasion?
Family stories?
What was life like before and after the invasion?
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RESEARCH IDEAS MIND-MAP:
FRIEND SUGGESTIONS:
I asked a few of my friends for some research area suggestions which I formed into questions.
BEGINNING MY RESEARCH...
My research into my four starting points can be found here:
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