Independent Project

Module title	Independent Project
Module code	DRAM154
Academic year	2026/7
Credits	60
Module staff

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	20

Module description

This module asks you to consider what comes next, through your own practice, developed interests and research into the contemporary arts and industry landscape. You will craft a culminating independent project with, for, or in relation to real-world audiences and collaborators. You will begin to story your career ambitions convincingly and with confidence to a range of audiences. With support from your supervisor and, optionally, with input from an industry mentor, you will plan and deliver an original output. This output may be a further refining and development of your craft as a director, performer, writer, culture or community leader, facilitator, producer. Or you may wish to consider new roles and practice models that respond to the times, using your developing leadership and complex space holding skills. Outputs of the project may be structured as an event, a series of workshops/ demonstrations/ micro-projects and arts-based experiments that you share with select audiences. You may work with partner arts organisations, or in cultural delivery for community, schools or other audiences.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to:

Provide an opportunity for you to prepare for your career and employability after the MFA
Guide you to synthesise and demonstrate the learning from the MFA programme and begin to apply this outwardly within other settings, in service of your future employability direction(s)
Support you to create the academic and creative practice conditions for your own and others’ courage, risk-taking, experimentation, and challenge, enabling you to explore new avenues
Help you build a compelling portfolio of practice, generating a complex and multi-layered evidence base of your unique approach

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Apply and evidence the synthesis of your acquired knowledge across the MFA programme into an ambitious independent project
2. Demonstrate a sophisticated critical awareness of the skills necessary for effective work in the field of your choice

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

3. Utilise practice approaches effectively and translate theory and reflection into evolving reflexive practice
4. Devise and sustain a complex process of independent practice in the field of theatre and performance

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

5. Demonstrate self-efficacy, working in an independent and self-reliant manner, setting goals and demonstrating the ability to adapt and design working methods for each new situation
6. Improve and reflect on your own skills, taking on feedback and working on areas of improvement

Syllabus plan

This module is the culminating practical element of the MFA programme. It is an invitation to independently create an original project which harnesses the skills, knowledge and learning from the MFA journey and applies this outward to your future career trajectory.

Supervisions with your mentor(s) will take place during the process, at which you will present and discuss your evolving approach. You will be expected to:

Propose your Independent Project, drawing on learning across the MFA
Independently enact the delivery of this project, managing your own timeframes, goalposts & deliverables
Provide regular updates to supervisor/mentor(s)
Participate in peer reflection, either in-person or digital
Give a short, mid-module progress report
Submit a portfolio documenting your work, with sustained critical reflection embedded
Speak to your own critical reflection on the project via an individual dialogic viva at project completion

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
8	592	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities	8	Supervision sessions with mentor(s)
Guided Independent Study	100	100 hours Preparation for Proposal research and trial and error exercises and feedback meetings
Guided Independent Study	300	Preparation for Output Delivery of Independent Project: research, independent practice and study, supervisions, sharing, feedback sessions, liaising with partners, preparation, rehearsals, workshops, ethics and accessibility reviewing
Guided Independent Study	100	Preparation for Viva: reflexive activities and future mapping
Guided Independent Study	92	Skills training and CPD

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Short mid-progress report/project log to supervisor/mentor(s)	10 minute presentation	1-6	Verbal
Regular updates to supervisor/mentor(s) and peers	Short oral/written reports and shared practice at supervisory meetings and peer support sessions	1-6	Verbal & written

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
80	0	20

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Proposal	20	20 minute presentation	1-6	Verbal/Written
Project-Based Learning Output	60	6,000 words or equivalent	1-6	Verbal/Written
Dialogic Viva	20	15 minutes	1-6	Verbal/Written

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Proposal (20 minute presentation)	Videoed proposal 20 min	1-6	Referral/Deferral Period
Project-Based Learning Output (6,000 words or equivalent)	Project Based Learning Output (6,000 words or equivalent) *can be digitised	1-6	Referral/Deferral Period
Dialogic Viva (15 minute viva with dialogue)	Dialogic Viva *can be done remotely	1-6	Referral/Deferral Period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

In collaboration with the supervisor/mentor(s), each student will generate a reading list of relevant resources, specifically tailored to their project-based learning topic, setting, and approach.

Indicative foundational readings to support project delivery generally include:

Boss, S., Krauss, J., 2018. Reinventing Project Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education, Portland, Oregon, USA.

Cole, F., 2024. An Educator’s Guide to Project-Based Learning: Turning Theory into Practice. David Fulton Publishers, Oxford.

Dawson, K., Kelin, D.A., 2014. The Reflexive Teaching Artist. Intellect.

Lamott, A., 2020. Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life, Main-Canons edition. ed. Canongate Canons, Edinburgh.

Laverick, E.K., 2018. Project-Based Learning. TESOL Press, Chicago.

Luthans, F., Youssef-Morgan, C.M., 2021. Positive Workplaces, in: Snyder, C.R., Lopez, S.J., Edwards, L.M., Marques, S.C. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford University Press, p. 0.https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199396511.013.47

M.D, S.B., Vaughan, C., 2010. Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, Illustrated edition. ed. Penguin Publishing Group, New York.

Nicholson, J., Kurucz, E., 2019. Relational Leadership for Sustainability: Building an Ethical Framework from the Moral Theory of “Ethics of Care.” Journal of Business Ethics 156, 25–43.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

https://ele.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Theatre Practice, performance, teaching, cultural leadership, pedagogy, facilitation, creative industry, participation, theatre, drama, directors, actors, creative producers, curriculum, leadership, applied, socially-engaged, employability,

Credit value	60
Module ECTS	30
Module pre-requisites	DRAM167 Contemporary Performance Practices: Training and DRAM168 Performance Practice Project
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	06/03/2025
Last revision date	23/06/2025