Report Status

I realise this is late news but I decided to post in order to confirm the completion of my report which I handed in on Friday (the deadline). It was difficult but overall i'm glad with the result, hopefully it'll be up to the correct standard and recieve the pass but only time will tell.

Potential idea for the topic of my report

I have been asked by my lecturer to post my ideas on the topic I’ll be writing a report about. Due to early preparation I have already considered this and have come up with an idea, I have planned on looking at the violence involved in video games and whether it is a bad influence on the target (or a younger) audience. The fact that the topic involves gaming isn’t a surprise considering my interest in it but I’m also curious about the arguments against including violence in video games and would like to have a deeper look into it. I chose this topic since I thought it would lead to an interesting analysis which may give me a better perspective on the ethic side of the gaming industry.

Possible title for report: “Is including violence in video games a bad influence on the target and/or younger audiences?”

Please note that this is only a basic idea and will likely need to see improvement in certain areas (such as the title). Any opinions or feedback on my idea would be appreciated.

The structure of a report/paper

In a recent lecture we looked at the structure of a report/paper, during the lecture we looked in detail over the following topics:

1) The different sections that will be required in an report/paper.
2) What the different sections are about and the content they should include.
3) The language and grammar we should be using when writing an report/paper.

As an exercise, we looked at a short report titled "A study as to why children hate fruits and vegetables". Our task was to analyse this report in an attempt to find all the errors and, as a result, learn how an report/paper shouldn't be written. Examples of the mistakes I found are listed below:

- Most of the required content (such as the Literature review, Research Methodology and Design Methodology) seems to be missing meaning the report isn't complete.
- There is a lack of references when the author is attempting to make a point or providing facts.
- The author added new information to the conclusion meaning the information has been included in the wrong section.
- In the "References" section the author has mentioned that they used "Some other magazine", the actual title of the magazine needs to be used to give a better idea on what the source of information was.
- Throughout the report the language is in the 1st person since they always refer to themselves (for example, "I love fruit and vegetables and there are many different types"). This is incorrect since the text should be in the form of 3rd person.
- The use of punctuation (lack of quotation marks and bullet points for example) and spelling ("As u no" should be "As you know") is poorly done.

VARK Questionnaire Results

After completing the VARK Questionnaire I recieved these results:

- Visual: 14
- Aural: 4
- Read/Write: 4
- Kinesthetic: 8

Result: This shows that I have a strong Visual learning preference.

After looking at the results and reflecting upon them, I have come to the conclusion that I have shown no surprise over the fact that I have a visual learning preference. I have always known that understanding an instruction when it is explained to me has always been less successful and while I do rely on my reading skills to gain information it usually takes me longer to fully understand the information being provided. I feel more confident learning a new topic when I have visual examples to aid me.

I was slightly surprised at the fact that my score for "Kinesthetic" was higher than the score for "Aural" and "Read/Write". This may be because I have only recently learnt about this type of learning style and haven't had much time to consider how well it applies to me and my learning preferences.

Learning Line

[Click on the image and zoom in to view it]

The image above is a diagram of my Learning Line, this shows the amount of interest i've had in learning (shown by the red line) during certain stages of my life (the numbers on the "Age" line represent my approximate age at the time). I have also included comments to provide more details on the most significant changes in my learning interest.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
- Qualifications in Information Technology courses (GCSE/BTEC National Diploma).
- Knowledge regarding gaming and the gaming industry (as well as an interest to learn more about it).
- An interest in problem-solving, as well as the determination to find the solution.
- The support of family members (including those that have attended university in the past).
- Experience in the work area (due to having a part-time job).

Weaknesses:
- Dislike towards changes and the difficulty when adapting to them (significant or otherwise).
- Shy behaviour (due to less practice in social interaction).
- Lack of confidence (may also be partly due to a lack of social interaction).
- Having a mental disability (Autism).
- The time it takes me to understand information (such as an instruction) is usually longer.

Opportunities:
- Developing more confidence when partaking in activties which require me to be independent.
- Meeting new people (and potentially establishing new relationships).
- A chance to get a better career and earn more money in the future.
- Learning more about a topic I’m interested in (the Gaming industry as well as developing products for it).
- Getting the chance to learn more about Chelmsford and finding my way around it.

Threats:
- The pressure of adapting to a significant change (University) in a short amount of time.
- Meeting and trying to establish a relationship with new people (which will be difficult because of my shy nature).
- Questioning whether I will be able to understand the work ahead of me and succeed.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jacob Stevens and I would like to welcome you to my blog.

I am an 18 year old male currently studying "Computer Games Development" at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford. I chose this course because I have a strong interest in the gaming industry and would like to be a part of it someday even though I'm still unsure on my preferred role at this point in time (for example, being an Animator or an A.I programmer). Today is my first normal ("normal" referring to the fact that we've officially started the course as opposed to fresher's week where we were simply learning about the establishment and rules) day attending Anglia Ruskin where I am still adapting to the change in my educational life.

I have created this blog to record and display my work for the module, "Learning and Skills Development for HE and Work" meaning that updates should be quite common. Feel free to keep checking back to view my progress or to comment on any updates.

Thank you for visiting my blog and if you are also a new student here at Anglia Ruskin then I wish you the best of luck with your course.