Jessica Carr - Open University Intern

Week 3 of my internship on the OU’s PER Catalyst was a bit quieter, but it doesn’t mean I wasn’t busy!

Monday
I spent this day working from home. For a 21 year old this is a very novel idea and it meant that I had to have some serious self control. I have to say that it went very well though, as I hope can be seen in my previous blog.

I also got to comment on the media training film made by OU postgraduate researchers. The piece of OU research they focused on, the field network system, is a collaboration between the OU’s Knowledge Media Institute and the Field Studies Council. The videos was very high quality. I have to say the presenter, Frazer Bird, was very impressive.

A blank template for the design activity. Source: Peter Devine.

Tuesday
Today I got to sit in on the Design activity being run by Trevor Collins, Peter Devine (a graphic designer), Mark Russell (a teacher at Denbigh School) and Richard Holliman for the Engaging Opportunities project (also known as SUPI).

This intervention followed previous meetings with young people from Denbigh School in which they created pictures and phrases about positive and negative attributes of researchers. For this activity, they used the words they had already gathered and put them into categories. From this we had around five strong categories for both positive and negative attributes for the researchers. Then we moved onto the main design part of the activity.

Peter gave the students some basic information about colours and shapes and what influences they have. Peter and Trevor wanted the young people to create something to represent the SUPI project to other young people. Unanimously, all ofthe students suggested wristbands; this was exactly the sort of advice and guidance that Peter and Trevor were looking for.

Wednesday
Working with Rick I spent today working and adding to my CV, putting in the work that I have been doing on this internship. Through the work I’ve done I been able to add a publications section. For me, a 21 year old graduate, this is very exciting – it gives me an extra boost when it comes to applying for jobs. I put my CV up on some websites and have already had some compliments!

Thursday
Today we got to meet the Walton High media students who will be participating in next week’s media training. During this briefing, the young people got to learn a little bit about the Rosetta mission and the Ptolemy instrument from Ross Burgon. (If you’d like to know more about Rosetta, and the UK’s involvement in this mission, select: Rosetta in the UK.)

I found this incredibly interesting to learn about and found myself writing notes as well. For those who know very little about this project I would suggest that you go and have a little look at what it is, as it’s at a very exciting stage. These young people seemed really interested in what was happening. The teacher, Manisha, was enthusiastic about the project, which rubbed off on the young people. We all left this briefing with high hopes for the next week.

Thinking about shapes and colour. Source: Peter Devine.

Friday
Rick and I met Trevor and Peter to talk about the design project, following up on the meeting with students on Wednesday. We wanted to discuss how to do the wristbands and look at the ideas for colours etc. that the young people had put on to paper.

Many of the students wanted to use a mixture of mint green and a darker colour. This was great and meant the only thing left to decide was the type of wristband we wanted. After throwing lots of ideas around, we decided that each of the four types of activities in the Engaging Opportunities project would have their own type of wristband. For example, the Open Creativity project could have some form of DIY kit, like the current loom band trend, which offer the young people the chance to make their own wristbands. The one we were struggling with an an idea for was was the Open Inquiry wristband. Any ideas will be welcome!

It’s been a great week with lots of different activities. Now on to my final week as an OU employee. I have to say I never thought I’d be quite so sad!