(Almost) End of Semester

This month is starting to feel like the beginning of the end in terms of the entire Dance Science course. The full timers have now finished formal lectures for the dance specific modules. Just one more statistics lecture left to go! It was good to get some words of encouragement from an ex student when Diana come in and lead a dance specific strength and conditioning workshop with us. It was also great timing to get up and moving to sweat out some pre-exam nerves. 

I think all us dance scientists at Bedfordshire are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I spent yesterday morning doing some data analysis in the biomechanics labs. This was then followed by a tutorial for the next upcoming statistics assignment. Then, when I finally got home, I had to finish checking over my literature review for the talent module (which is due today). May is shaping up to be a very busy month but when its over...its just our dissertations left to focus on. 

Here is a list of some upcoming deadlines and events that I have in my diary for the next month:

-  13th May: Last statistics lecture. 

-  14th May: RIMAP postgraduate conference UoB. 

-  19th May: Biomechanics journal article due. 

-  21st May: Dissertation tutorial. 

-  21st May: Postgraduate open day UoB.
-  22nd May: Statistics ANOVA assignment due. 

-  25th May: BANK HOLIDAY (definitely important to mention). 

-  28th May: Inter-professional working project essay due. 

-  9th June: First dissertation workshop. 

-  12th June: Dance Science Careers Day at Laban.

As you can see, it's a fairly busy month so here is a picture of my white board above my desk. This small motivational message will be needed to see me through the next month!

On a more positive note... For any prospective dance science students who are thinking of coming to study at Bedfordshire, after every module the current students fill out feedback forms and here are some of the outcomes. 

Biomechanics: Overall level of satisfaction 100%

Strength and Conditioning: Overall level of satisfaction 100%

Dance Psychology: Overall level of satisfaction 100%

So yes, I may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by the workload at the moment but then seeing the overall feedback for the modules reminds me that I actually enjoy everything that the course throws at me (even statistics). 

Inter-professional Working Project

Whilst most students have been at home over the Easter break, the dance students at Bedford (MA Choreography and Performance, MA Community Dance and MSc Dance Science) have all been busy working. We are currently working on our intensive two week module that runs during the Easter holiday. The focus of the module is working collaboratively on inter-professional projects. We have been lucky enough to have guest speakers including Dipak Mistry, Erin Sanchez and Gemma Covelly to help us get a grasp for working on cross discipline projects.

For me it has been great to join with the other students and get moving. Since beginning the MSc course in September, I haven't engaged in much philosophical academia so it has certainly been a challenge to share research with the other masters students.

Here is a photo of one of the groups (from left; Ellie, Charlotte, Chloe, Michaela and Katie):

We have created a performance which incorporates technology through the use of prerecorded footage, QR codes and live editing during the performance. Ellie is demonstrating her dance science work through a step aerobics style workshop designed the get the audience up and moving.

Overall it has been a fun module that has broaden our horizons of what we can get involved in after our masters studies. Its been a great change of pace from our studies so far this year.

The dance scientists now have a busy few weeks ahead with assessments. My first assessment for semester B is a 15 minute presentation for the talent identification and development module.

Marching onward

Having finally changed the picture of the blog, I can now introduce you all to all the dance scientists at Bedford. In the picture (left to right): Jess, Ellie, Charlotte and Lindsay.

This month has seen the full time dance science students being plunged headfirst into the world of statistics. Our first lesson was a shock to the system where we went from not even knowing what a t-test was to completing one and discussing the outputs. Luckily statistics lectures are once every two weeks which allows time to absorb and recap fully before adding to our knowledge. Next week we will be looking at completing linear regression and  ANOVA analysis. Wish us luck!

We are now in full swing of our Biomechanics modules and I can say it's my favorite module so far. I am really enjoying getting to grips with new equipment including Electromyography and FootScan (image on right). Coming up, we will also be looking at force plates and motion capture. This modules leads us into an online assessed test and writing a journal article. Having never published any of my own work, it will be a great insight into the world of publishing and develop some new skills to help us on our journey after graduation.

The March blog update will include some information on our inter professional working project where the MSc Dance Science students join with the MA Choreography and Performance, and the MA Community Dance students to produce a piece of collaborative work.

Outside of my studies I have also got involved in the Get Into Sport scheme which is run by the University. As part of this, any student is able to attend sports sessions for free. So far I have only had time to try the gymnastics sessions but I am looking forward to going along to try crazy golf. Have a look for yourself at all the sessions that are available: http://www.beds.ac.uk/sportbeds/get-into-sport

See you all next month!
Charlotte

A February update from Lindsay

What a month it’s been…all of Semester One’s assignments have been submitted (hurrah!) and results are now trickling in. It feels like a milestone for all of us. Most of all for my full-time classmates I’m sure, who are now a whole third of the way through the course. For me, the only part-time student on the course, it has been a little more relaxed, with only three assignments to tackle in January and just two lectures a week to look forward to this term. I’ve also had time to gain some experience of transcribing interviews, which has been an interesting insight into the process of qualitative research (as well as a true test of my attention to detail!).

Last week we kicked off Semester Two with our first lesson in Biomechanics, which was delivered by guest lecturer Ashley McGill. After blowing the cobwebs off our knowledge of the musculoskeletal system, we had a go at some movement analysis and left with heads rattling with new terminology. Charlotte, Ellie and I then began our optional module on Talent Identification and Development, whilst Jess started her optional module on Professional Skills for Health Care Providers. With our very different backgrounds and post-course ambitions, it’s great that we can shape the course to suit our interests in this way.

Some of us have already been giving some thought to what we might specialise in after the course. Ideas about physiotherapy, injury rehabilitation and dance psychology are all floating around so far but there’s plenty of work to get through before those choices need to be made. Speaking of which, Jess has been doing a spot of planning based on our upcoming assessments. I’m getting tired just thinking about it…

The part-time pathway of this course has really allowed me to balance my time between studying and other commitments, which is especially helpful now that I’m working as a freelancer. And whilst my full-time classmates are knee-deep in their dissertations this summer, I will be grateful for extra time to read and formulate research ideas.

That said, I’m sure time will fly – it will be my turn soon enough!

Busy Busy January

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. As I said in my last blog post I went to China with the University of Bedfordshire Go Global team. It was a great experience and the food was second to none. Below are a couple of group photos at the Great Wall and the Summer Palace.

Now it's January and definitely time to get back to work. We have all submitted our essay for our dance psychology module and our presentation on future research ideas is coming up shortly. But first, Ellie has her practical assignment for her physical activity, nutrition and metabolic health module. This was an optional module and Ellie is the only dance scientist in the group, the other people on the module are studying related courses. Its great to have a cross over between MSc courses so that we get to meet lots of other people and experience different ways of teaching and learning outside of the dance world! 

Here is a photo of Ellie (left) and me (right) feeling nervous before her practical assessment where she will either be sampling my blood glucose or testing my rate of fat oxidation with a treadmill test. 

That's all for my blog entry this time as I have a lot of work to be getting on with! I look forward to posting again in February once my current deadlines have passed. 

The next blog entry will be written by Lindsay who is completing the course part-time. If you want to know more about part-time study then keep an eye out to hear about her experience so far. 

Pre-Christmas Update

It has been a very busy month for the dance science students at Bedford. To get an idea of what we are up to....our first assignment for the Research Design module is due on the 9th and our lab reports for Physiology are due on the 17th. Alongside our assessments are lectures and seminars have continued to intrigue and challenge us.


Here are some pictures of Ellie during our body composition lecture for Physiology. We even got the chance to sit in Bod Pod to get a feel for what it is like as a means of measuring body composition.






We have also been looking at dance and the disabled dancer and below is my auntie Tammy enjoying a bowling Christmas party. She loves dancing, drama and horse riding. Having a greater understanding of how  dance help disabled individuals is very interesting. I'm sure many disabled adults like Tammy will benefit both physically and psychologically from increased availability for dance opportunities. StopGap performed their piece 'Artificial Things' at the UoB theater last week which reminded us how dance is open as a career for anyone.

As part of our Psychology module we had a Skype seminar with Sanna Nordin-Bates. Nordin-Bates has come up a lot within our psychology literature so it was amazing to get the chance to chat to her about her work and hear about her background of how her career has progressed. We all agreed that it was great to grasp an idea of working life beyond the completion of our MSc course.

For me personally it has been a very exciting month as I am going on the Go Global trip to Beijing next week. The trip has been completely organised by the University and proves how there is so much available to students beyond the content of the course. It's been stressful to get my University work done before my trip but its such a fantastic opportunity that I'm sure my hard work will be worth it.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year from me (Charlotte) and the rest of the Dance Science students at UoB

High Intensity

If I had to summarize the last month as a dance science student, the term 'High Intensity' would be the words of choice for many reasons. Having testing our limits both physically and psychologically we have have had a few ups and downs.

We have done a VO2 Max test and Wingate test as part of our Dancing Body: Physiology module and I for one have very limited experience using any kind of exercise equipment so this was a steep learning curve to suddenly use a bike and push myself to my maximal. After a few moments of dizziness, I can safely say that I survived a Wingate test! 

Moving on to where us dancers feel more comfortable, we gave the Dance Aerobic Fitness Test (DAFT) and the High Intensity Fitness Test (HIFT) a go. We were all surprised how exhausting such a simple task can be!

As the nights get colder and its getting dark earlier, attention has shifted from being excited students to thoughts of our upcoming assessments. I think we are all feeling the high intensity of our workload as Christmas is fast approaching.