CoLab MMus (7) Assignment

Module Leader Joe Townsend j.townsend@trinitylaban.ac.uk

CoLab Participation Documentary and Rationale

Guidance notes

Part 1 Documentary material (varied submission)

Part 2 Rationale – 1200 words

The documentary assessment is focused on presenting and articulating the ‘story’ of your
participation in CoLab thereby capturing your feedback, the experience and providing a rationale
of vision, processes, negotiations and outcomes.
Your work will be given a mark according to the assessment criteria below. Please read them
carefully.
When referring to external sources please make sure to use the Trinity Laban citation guidelines.

PART 1 Documentary material (varied formats)

Throughout CoLab you should document your interactions, rehearsals, planning and
performance. Whilst immersed in creative processes it is often challenging to reflect and evaluate
progress because you are immersed in making work. Therefore, you will need to capture evidence
of your experiences as they develop.
It is more important to record what happens rather than worry about quality of recordings or
images.

Organising and presenting your record of activities is a reflective activity in itself. You will need to
choose which methods communicate an effective picture of your project. This will involve a
combination of audio, visual and written materials.

A narrative diary of events in electronic format (word doc.) may be submitted with evidence.

Some suggested content:

 record planning and debrief sessions

 film 2 minutes minute of a performance and provide a commentary
 juxtapose 2 different takes of the same event and provide a critical commentary
 keep a blog throughout the process and organize your work on a series of pages – supply
link to blog (test the link prior to submission)
 keep a reflective diary throughout CoLab
 SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats); Table format
 Process v. product, the future of classical music, define innovation, group dynamics, nego
tiation
 observe other people’s projects and provide a critical comparison with your own
 Supporting text and commentary: there is specific no word-count for this part but you need
to be able to describe what happened on the project. The more you write in the
documentary part of the assignment leaves more space in the second part for evaluation

You should discuss your submission and its content with your CoLab mentor.
 CoLab MMus (7) Assignment
Module Leader Joe Townsend j.townsend@trinitylaban.ac.uk
PART 2 - Rationale - 1200 words (+ or - 10%)

Write an evaluative rationale of your project and participation in CoLab.

Consider and refer to the documentary part of your assignment and describe, analyse and
evaluate your project.
You will need to demonstrate an understanding of wider contexts and be able to position
your work against the background of other artists and commentary.

You may consider some of the following structure and questions:

Introduction and background

 Outline the who, what, where and when of your project.
 What was the main reason for undertaking your collaboration?

Planning
 To what extent was there a shared vision?
 Did you have agreed goals?
 What were the driving forces in terms of creative vision?
 What were the processes and how were they negotiated?
 Could you establish a series of benchmarks by which you could measure the success of
the collaboration?
 In what way was your project innovative?

The work itself

 Describe what happened.
 Compare the extent to which you were focused on processes and/or final outcomes.
 What new skills did you need to learn to make the project effective?
 Which concepts and ideas did you have to engage with to realize the work?

Attitudes
 Discuss the group dynamic and leadership within the group.
 What place did trust and respect play as a part of the project?
 How did the group communicate and arrive at decisions as the project progressed?
 How were any conflicts and difficult situations negotiated and resolved?
 What impact did the project mentor have on the process and outcome?

Evaluation
 Compare processes and outcomes;
 Compare aims and objectives with outcomes;
 What are the implications of your project?
 In what way is your project significant?
 What solutions as a result of your analysis?
 What are your conclusions? Readdress the initial aims.
 How would you improve the project if you were to run it again?
 Call for action and recommendations.

You should refer to the CoLab Handbook on the CoLab main page in Moodle and the generic
CoLab reading list.

Assessment Criteria

 Capacity to present an illustrated description of an individual CoLab experience;

 CoLab MMus (7) Assignment
Module Leader Joe Townsend j.townsend@trinitylaban.ac.uk
 Creative vision, planning and preparation
 Evidence of reflection and critical awareness
 Incorporation of current literature and its relation to stated concepts
 Ability to draw on relevant issues raised in seminars, rehearsals and tutorials and
collaborative sessions
 Evaluation of a range of alternatives and an assessment of their relative merits
 Organisation, presentation and communication

NB. Your submission evidence is confidential and will only used for the purpose of giving feedback
and a grade – in some cases work may be used for examples or to demonstrate exceptional
practice, however the student’s permission will always be sought in these instances.

Please see Trinity Laban guidelines for referencing and citation.