Looking back, I am very happy with my project! In the beginning, it took some time to find a research topic, which fascinated me. After reading Susan Cain’s 2012 novel ‘Quiet’ I was intrigued to the inner workings of personality traits and learning of the various ways introverts and extroverts deal with activities. Initially, I was going to focus purely on the learning environment at university with character traits. However, after discussions with peers and my tutor, I chose to also incorporate varying features of the university experience e.g. social life. By doing this I was able to acquire a holistic view of university and account for all the aspects, which influence it.

Predominantly, I consider myself an introvert, I am not one to jump into class discussions, even when it is a topic, which interests me. In saying this, when I am surrounded by friends and family, I present myself as more outgoing as I feel comfortable.  After obtaining my first survey results it was clear there is a need for innovative methods, which tailor to the broad spectrum of personality types. This research project was eye-opening as I now understand the extent to which we all learn and take in information differently. From the results, I attained I was able to form an argument that to give students the best chance at succeeding, learning environments must make adjustments.

This research project was a learning experience, for starters, I learnt that putting out a poll on Twitter and receiving responses is not as easy as it seems. Gathering a comprehensive number of responses meant I had to reach out and directly message BCM212 students. This proved to be beneficial as I became in close contact with a few students, and we helped one another with each other’s projects, sharing ideas and filling out surveys and interviews. Since this was such a broad topic, I had to learn about the most effective methods to employ when conducting my research. This was particularly important as our designated sample was restricted to BCM212 students.

Conducting surveys via google forms was beneficial as it formulates the responses into graphs and pie charts. Equally important was to uphold ethical practices and to be considerate towards participants. Having previous experience with research projects I was somewhat aware of the ethical guidelines. However, this project reinforced the importance of consent and making sure the participants are aware of the project’s objectives and that they feel comfortable.  If I was to do my project over, I would reach out to more students as I found this is where I had the greatest success in responses.

Looking back at my project I am happy with the result. I have not only learnt about the multifaceted topic of introverts and extroverts, but I have also learnt a lot about myself, and I can apply my feelings regarding learning environments to the research explored.

WK 7: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Considering it is research week, I thought I would write a progress post on what I have been doing these last weeks and how my project is doing!

I posted my first survey last week on Twitter, which consisted of 10 questions ranging from multiple choice to short answer questions. I was so overwhelmed with the number of responses I received in a short period. It is so nice to see how supportive the BCM212 cohort is of one another. I have attained some really useful primary data, which will prove to be valuable towards my project. This first survey mainly focused on a general overview of personality traits concerning learning.

At the moment I’m not 100% sure with what my second survey will primarily focus on. In saying this, the data I have already obtained has given me a rough idea. Over the next few weeks, I aim to conduct more secondary data to gain an in-depth understanding of personality traits, taking into account factors that have been raised in my survey. 

I have recently finished reading Susan Cain’s book ‘Quiet’, which is what sparked my interest in this area of study. There were so many interesting and eye-opening concepts and here are a couple of points I found particularly interesting:

The basis of the differences between introverts and extroverts is well beyond just a list of characteristics. Instead, research illustrates how introverts and extroverts process information differently, using different parts of the brain (Isaacs, 2009). For example, extroverts use a small amount of data from the short‐term memory for developing thoughts, while, introverts recall thoughts situated in the long‐term memory to produce more complex associations, which requires more time. The outcome of these different processing strategies is observed in a classroom daily.

For instance, as stated by Isaacs (2009), “in a lively classroom the extrovert appears excited by the discussion and eager to participate, while the introvert may seem unenthusiastic and unsociable. These perceptions are not presenting a complete picture of our students. The introvert is so busy reflecting on the ideas that it does not occur to him to volunteer to answer questions.”

xx

INTROVERSION & EXTROVERSION

Class discussions, group projects and public speaking can often be a daunting experience for many of us and if you’re like me then you try and steer away from these stress-inducing activities. Nevertheless, these are all things we as university students must engage in. These activities ultimately prepare us as students for the workforce, however, the method in which we attack these tasks differs greatly. I am hoping to research a scope of aspects of university life relating to the personality traits of introversion and extroversion. The introvert/extrovert divide is a fundamental dimension of personality, and at least one-third of us are on the introvert side (Cain, 2012, p 1). This is an area of study I am particularly interested in. Currently, I am reading ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain, hence why I have based my research project around this topic. This novel explores how the brain chemistry of introverts and extroverts varies, and how throughout history society continues to under-appreciate introverts. Without introverts, we wouldn’t have the Apple computer, the Theory of Relativity or even Van Gogh’s sunflowers.

Such research is relevant and achievable as to some extent we all fall into the spectrum of introversion and extroversion which, impacts on our learning and participation. Our lives are shaped as profoundly by personality as by race or gender. Our position on the introvert/extrovert continuum influences our choice of friends, how we engage in conversations, resolve conflicts as well as various other aspects of life (Cain, 2012, p 1.)

Based on the results I received from my first Twitter poll asking whether students consider themselves introverts or extroverts and whether they engage in class discussions, the majority of the BCM cohort who voted stated they consider themselves an extrovert however they do not engage in class discussions.

The best research draws on the most current work in the field and is considered timely when the results are based on continuous research which is context linked, meaning the studies originate from well-identified contexts (Raynald et al, 2006). Theories of introverts and extroverts have been apparent in psychological literature for over 100 years. Reading Susan Cain’s non-fiction novel sparked some inspiration for my research project. Whilst researching my research topic, I came across an article exploring the influence of personality on social participation in learning environments. Caspi, Chajut, Saporta and Beyth-Maron (2006) investigated 214 university students concerning their attendance, inclination to participate and actual participation. In comparison, Voorn and Kommer’s (2013) article delves into introversion and the influence of collaborative learning through the assistance of social media. The study revealed that majority of introverted students perceive that social media is highly beneficial for advancing their collaborative learning performance and self-confidence. These students believe that their true presence is impeded in face-to-face conversations and favour communicating via social media (Voorn & Kommer, 2013). 

My objective is to pose questions to the BCM cohort, such as, do you engage in class discussions? Do you think this impacts your grades? Do you wish university catered their lessons differently to encourage participation? What are your feelings about class participation and group presentations? Personally, I find standing up in front of the class or even calling out an answer can be daunting, especially when you are surrounded by more outspoken confident students. 

My chosen research topic as we can see is widely relevant as its foundations originate in primary school, continuing through to university. Our level of interaction with peers and teachers ultimately comes down to our personality traits. Such an area of study is achievable as all BCM students will at some point in their university life engage in group participation and class discussions. Furthermore, my chosen field of interest is timely as it has been investigated for many years. After investigating this topic it is already clear there is a wide scope of information surrounding characteristics and academic traits of introverts and extroverts.

REFERENCES:

Cain, S., 2012. Quiet. Thorndike, Me.: Center Point Pub., pp.1-20. 

Caspi, A., Chajut, E., Saporta, K. and Beyth-Marom, R., 2006. The influence of personality on social participation in learning environments. Learning and Individual Differences, [online] 16(2), pp.129-144. Available at: <http://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608005000403&gt; [Accessed 24 March 2020].

Raynald, P, Tousignant, P, Roberge, D, Lamarche, P, Reinharz, D, Larouche, D, Beaulne, G & Lesage, D 2006, ‘The Research Collective: A Tool for Producing Timely, Context-linked Research Syntheses’, Health Policy, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 58-75, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585353/> [Accessed 25 March 2020]. 

Voorn, R. and Kommers, P., 2013. Social media and higher education: introversion and collaborative learning from the student’s perspective. International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, [online] 1(1), p.1. Available at <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ronald_Voorn3/publication/259396982_Voorn_R_J_Kommers_P_A_2013_Social_media_and_higher_education_introversion_and_collaborative_learning_from_the_student’s_perspective_International_Journal_of_Social_Media_and_Interactive_Learning_Envir/links/0deec533be36cb5193000000/Voorn-R-J-Kommers-P-A-2013-Social-media-and-higher-education-introversion-and-collaborative-learning-from-the-students-perspective-International-Journal-of-Social-Media-and-Interactive-Learning-E.pdf&gt; [Accessed 22 March 2020].

‘La Vie Etc’, our one-stop-shop for girls seeking advice on anything and everything. Our main concept from the start of the ideating stage was to create an online platform where females (roughly 18-22) could jump on and read up on topics such as university, personal life and all the bits in between. Our goal was to create a ‘judgement-free’ space where girls can share their personal experiences and feelings. This phase of an individual’s life often entails major changes, struggles and a time where a whole lot is going on. Alex and I wanted to create a forum where girls could go for advice, suggestions or just something interesting to read up on. Before promoting our website, Alex and I wrote down a whole bunch of article ideas and began writing. During the ideating phase, we settled on the key features of our project e.g. website design/aesthetic, article topics, Instagram account and much more.

Once we came up with our concept everything else fell into place relatively easily, particularly as we both were very passionate towards our topic and shared similar visions for the project! But of course, there were numerous learning experiences Alex and I endured. First and foremost, neither of us had had any previous experience in creating a website or creating a project of this nature. Alex and I were quite fortunate as the ideating, prototyping and making stages all occurred quite easily without any major struggles. This whole project was an enjoyable and fun experience as we were able to bring our creative visions to life.

Designing our website and Instagram page was a key component in our prototyping phase as it was crucial our layout was appealing to our target audience. We began by designing logos and website design layouts on paper. Once we were happy with the final design, we transferred it over to wix.com. Alex and I received such nice comments and feedback in relation to our website design. This was so reassuring as it made us feel like we were on the right track and making good progress!  

Figuring out the types of articles and topics we would write about was also a learning moment for Alex and I. Our main objective was to ensure they would be relevant and informative for our target audience, offering insight to topics or issues they may relate to. By breaking our topics into three categories i.e. University, Personal Life and Etc, Alex and I contemplated the types of topics we would find useful. In addition to this, we sent out polls and suggestion stories on social media to gain first-hand ideas from our audience. This whole process was made easier and more enjoyable as we had each other. We could therefore express our ideas, ask for help on particular difficulties and read one another’s articles before publishing.

Coming to the end of the semester, Alex and I are extremely happy with the project we have created and its progress throughout the semester. It is awesome to think we can continue with this online forum even though BCM114 has finished, it is exciting to think about where this could take us in the future!

xx

Over the course of this semester Alex and I’s project ‘La Vie Etc.’ which, is a girl’s advice column has grown and developed widely. A lot of thought, design, trial and contemplation has gone into this project and coming to the conclusion of this semester Alex and I couldn’t be happier with the process and end result. Our website design has definitely been a top priority on our list. When constructing the layout online and through paper prototyping it was key, we created an attractive and easy to navigate design. In order to achieve this our website comprised three key menus; ‘Home’, ‘Journal’ and ‘Gallery’. Once on the ‘Journal’ page we included a sub-section of headings including; All posts, University, Personal Life and Etc.

Essentially, this simplified the website as, if readers were particularly looking for university-based articles, they could click the university button and they would be provided with a list of articles. In saying this, we did come across some difficulty with using wix.com as our website was not accessible when using the university Wi-Fi. However, we overcame this obstacle by informing readers via our tweets and Instagram posts. Creating an attractive website design was particularly important for viewer engagement as readers are more likely to explore a website if the design is appealing to them.

In addition to this, a major part of our project was promotion and sharing via various social media platforms. As well as our weekly tweets informing followers of our updates and exciting news, Alex and I have also been posting stories, weekly quotes, pictures and suggestion polls via our Instagram page @toalexandkira. For us it was  essential to keep up our online profiles as by posting frequently would ultimately reach more individuals who would follow our Twitter and Instagram account.  Since posting our articles on social media our website La Vie Etc. has been growing in viewers. We wanted to be strategic in what order we would promote specific articles. For instance, since uni exams and assessments are approaching, we published ‘Our Tips to Stay Organised’ towards the conclusion of the semester as this is where it may be most relevant. 

Instagram became our main platform on which we promoted our website and updated readers on new articles. This was mainly due to convenience and it created a more personal atmosphere; the majority of the feedback we received was sent through via Instagram private messages. Our biggest engagement rose from Instagram as we often received DMs with positive feedback on our articles as well as suggestions to potential topics viewers would like to see.

It’s crazy to see how much this project has grown and how much fun Alex and I have had putting our ideas into a live project. Considering the positive feedback, we have received and the amount of views on our articles I would love to continue this project and see where it takes us!

xx

Over the past couple of months Alex and I have been working hard on our DA project, and it is safe to say we are very happy with our progress! Progressing on from the ideating stage in our project, we began to discuss our vision for how both our website and Instagram would look in order to attract our intended audience. We wrote down all of our ideas for what we wanted and brought it all together onto paper. This was  achieved through the help of YouTube videos such as ‘Rapid Prototyping 1 of 3: Sketching & Paper Prototyping‘. Paper prototyping our website was quite timely as we had various pages and menus to design. We drew up several designs for our logo ‘La Vie Etc.’ and once we decided on the design, we both liked, we created it using an online logo maker. 

As expected, bringing our website to life was not as easy as we had hoped. Using wix.com brought about several challenges as it was tricky to navigate the website in order to achieve our desired aesthetic. At one point we did decide to try out other website makers but ended up going back to Wix as the majority of them came at a cost. 

Alex and I have spent quite a bit of time thinking of ways which will engage our viewers and also attract new users. In order to do this, we sent out a suggestion poll on our Instagram page to see what our viewers would be interested in reading.

This was definitely a great idea as we received quite a few responses, all with similar responses. This helped us with new and exciting article topics which branch out from our three topics of Personal Life, University and Etc. We’ve included articles such as ‘Quick, Easy & (Semi) Healthy Recipes’, `10 Great Horror/Thriller Movies’ and ‘4 Steps to an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle’. Since promoting our articles on both Instagram and Twitter we have received quite a few views, our first article ‘Find the Perfect Date for You’ gained 40 views within a couple hours after promoting the article!

Alex and I are very happy with the progress we have made so far and are keen to see where this takes us!!

One month on from writing my DA ‘Ideating’ post and wow how things have changed and progressed! Where do I even begin? Our DA project is now officially up and running and we have gained increasing views and supporters. Within the space of a week or two, our Instagram page gained over 25 followers and we are currently on 81 followers. In an attempt to spread the word on our project we followed girls on Instagram who were following similar accounts to ours e.g. health pages, fitness accounts and so on. Moreover, we also followed friends and uni students. This was the way to go as it increased our fan base. In addition to this, we promoted our project through daily twitter updates and tracking our progress digitally as well as on paper.

Since promoting our project, we have received supportive and constructive feedback. As expected, our feedback has mainly been from females studying at university. We have also received advice and tips on how we can further our project and gain more attention e.g. seeking boys’ opinions and advice on our chosen topics. All of our  feedback has been beneficial in closely defining our target age group and helping us to improve upon our project. A key step in our DA process was paper prototyping where we engaged with readings as well as conducting further research. 

Whilst doing so we drew up sketches of how we would ideally like the website to look like when first opened. We also sketched some design for other layouts such as article menus and logos. 

As expected, we did come across a couple of obstacles, our main one being navigating wix.com. This was our chosen website creator as it was free and appealing. However, it proved to be a bit tedious. We did at one point consider converting over to WordPress however after watching YouTube tutorials we stuck with Wix. 

At this point, Alex and I are quite happy with our DA’s progress and are excited to see where it takes us!

xx

Cultural appropriation is nothing new. Western cultures have been subject to appropriating and popularising varying art forms of several cultural groups for decades. The music industry, in particular, has been targeted by this practice. Cultural appropriation is particularly controversial as, in modern society, rich individuals from powerful majorities often appropriate from underprivileged minority groups. It can be argued that contemporary music can produce both ‘respectable fears’ and ‘subcultural capital’, appealing to youthful viewers who are attracted to its supposedly transgressive nature.

Artists from varying professions are likely or not to have engaged in cultural appropriation. The Jazz and Blues music style originated from the African-American culture and has since been appropriated by outsiders. Conversely, can it be said that all cultural appropriation in the music industry is negative, or can we view positive appropriation in modern music? A prime example that I will discuss is the UK Grime artist ‘Stormzy‘, who has broken down the stereotypes of grime music.

Music is commonly conceived as the language that knows no limits. It excels across countries, cultures, languages and generations. The beauty of music is not restricted one person or one group of people and you do not need to know how to read or write to enjoy it. The genre of Grime originated in the UK in the early 2000s. It has a raw and edgy feel to it, and it is this which has endured even though the audience of grime today has altered to that of almost 20 years ago. Fascinatingly, while Grime exceeded amongst its audience, the British public was not a fan of this up-and-coming genre. Continuously labelled by the media, Grime was branded violent and aggressive. Ultimately, this caused an attached stigma to the genre.  

It is interesting to see how in today’s society, Grime has become the voice of the British youth. Typically, the predominant audience of grime are white middle class, and it could be debated that white appropriation of grime music has led to its success. Grime was originally popularised on pirate radio stations. However, in recent years through political activity, Stormzy has helped break down grime from being an underground downloaded form of music. He has been a driving force for the genre of grime, breaking down social barriers and stereotypes. In 2017, he released his debut album ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’, peaking at No.1 on the UK chart, making it the first-ever grime album to reach this high on the chart. Stormzy has also won Best Grime Act at the 2014 and 2015 MOBO Awards. Starting as a rapper, Stormzy produced YouTube videos but did not gain much attention until he releasing his Wicked Skengman freestyle videos. 

Since then Stormzy has become a household name and has become one of the most influential artists to watch out for. To this date, ‘Shut Up’ is still his most successful single. The song was originally released on YouTube and soon reached No.8 on the UK Singles Chart. Stormzy calls himself “a child of grime” who is influenced by artists such as Wiley and Skepta.

Consequently, Stormzy has acted as a stepping stone to the genre of Grime, making it a more widely accepted form of music, particularly, in the UK.

REFERENCES:

Elias, P. (2016). Appropriation vs. Appreciation in Music: Where Should We Draw the Line?. [online] Blog.sonicbids.com. Available at: http://blog.sonicbids.com/appropriation-vs-appreciation-in-music-where-should-we-draw-the-line [Accessed 24 Aug. 2019].

Ilan, J. (2012). ‘The industry’s the new road’: Crime, commodification and street cultural tropes in UK urban music. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, [online] 8(1), pp.39-55. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1741659011433367 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2019].

Kareem Nittle, N. (2019). Cultural Appropriation in Music: From Madonna to Miley Cyrus. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-appropriation-in-music-2834650 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].

Katsha, H. (2017). The Shift of Media Representation of Grime; Exploring how the White Middle Class have appropriated Grime. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/fwrd/the-shift-of-media-representation-of-grime-exploring-how-the-white-middle-class-have-appropriated-682453cad7eb [Accessed 23 Aug. 2019].

Lindsay, J. (2018). What is grime music? Definition and most famous artists | Metro News. [online] Metro.co.uk. Available at: https://metro.co.uk/2018/02/22/grime-music-definition-famous-artists-7333385/ [Accessed 24 Aug. 2019].

Thefamouspeople.com. (2018). Who is Stormzy? Everything You Need to Know. [online] Available at: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/stormzy-41978.php [Accessed 25 Aug. 2019].

Young, J. and Brunk, C. (2009). The ethics of cultural appropriation. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

YouTube (2019). Stormzy. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7D-09kUG6Ei11SVO_deW_w [Accessed 21 Aug. 2019].

What even is a digital artefact? And where do I even start? For myself and probably the majority of the BCM 114 cohort, we were all thinking this after week 1. Coming out of my tutorial you would think I would have had some idea of what this ‘digital artefact’ consisted of… sadly no. However, I was thrilled that this project was so broad, I could choose whatever I wanted, the possibilities were endless!!

In all honesty, I was quite excited to start brainstorming ideas with my friend Alex as we were looking forward to collaborating. The drive home from uni in week 1 was jam-packed with intense brainstorming and throwing around completely random ideas which, we found hilarious. We knew we needed to conjure up an idea within the week so we could get on top of the work early. We shortly agreed that our project would be focused on our common interests and hobbies in some aspect. During our 40-minute drive, we managed to cover topics from cooking shows to ‘how to change a tire’ to our take on conspiracy theories. For Alex and I, money and time were big contributing factors for our project. We wanted to create a product which, would be cost-efficient since we are currently studying at university. As well as this, we wanted to be time-efficient meaning, creating a product, which would not necessarily need much research since our focus is on our interests.

After having laid down the groundwork for our project we finally came up with our idea! Defining our target audience for our digital artefact was our first step and was easily agreed upon. Our target age demographic is 18-22 females, generally those attending university. We thought about this age demographic for a while and agreed it was the right choice as we fit into this age range and therefore have the most knowledge in this domain. Having first-hand experience, we are aware of the key causes of stress during university. Our vision is an advice page which, explores topics from money i.e. where to find the best affordable clothes, to studying tips and relationships. As soon as we came up with the general concept, everything started to fall into place. Alex and I were bouncing off one another’s ideas and our DA list grew and grew!

Up to this point, Alex and I have created our website and an Instagram account where we will post pictures, quotes and updates. At the moment we are writing up our articles on our main topics. Our website will have an email linked to it wherein viewers can send in questions, stories or topics they would like to read about. Readers can also contact us through our Instagram page, which will have an attractive design targeted to this audience.

Alex and I are both very excited to get straight into this project as it is something we are passionate about! Since we are both majoring in Marketing and Advertising, we chose social media platforms for our project as we believe it will best target our audience.

Lately, we have been researching reliable websites, blogs and YouTubers we follow which, correlate with our topics. Mainly I have been exploring holistic fitness/health pages, environmental blogs, which explore humanitarian issues and ways to become more sustainable, as well as other random pages/YouTube channels that have yummy snacks and fun ideas we could turn into an enjoyable article.

We would love to hear from you girls out there if there is anything you would like to see or anything you would like to read about! Watch this space for some exciting stuff!!

xx