Graduate Research Conference June 08
This was my 2nd GRC presentation but officially my 3rd. My next presentation is my penultimate. For some reason I was not that nervous. I think it went quite well and my examiners thought so as well. I thought I would post my research presentation and document to see what my readers thoughts are. My main comments from the panel were that I perhaps needed to look at my research as ‘using graphic literacy to facilitate and research learning environment.’ Also, I should be looking much closer into the craft and language of comics. More so, my panel thought my interviews were not necessary and I should be looking into some sort of a probe to find the ‘answers’ to my questions.
1.What am I researching?
Currently, this research is focusing on this main question:
How can reflection and teaching and learning principles facilitate a research-learning environment in tertiary graphic design education?
Through my primary research (projects) I have identified that key elements towards student engagement in a research-learning environment are deep approaches towards the synthesis and visualization of the complex communication problems faced today.
This research has looked at educational theorists to establish a framework for my understanding of the development of an aligned curriculum, establishing objectives, teaching and learning activities, assessment and learning outcomes within the course environment. This is uncovering a deeper understanding of:
- How the students approach towards learning and the teachers’ perception of the learning environment may lead students engaging in either surface or deep approaches to learning
- How principles of teaching and learning may encourage process-led inquiries and deep learning approaches
- How teaching and learning principles can provide a pathway for design students to participate in their learning of reflection and practice-based research
Two working questions have risen from my current secondary research. This will uncover and deepen my understanding of pedagogical principles used in tertiary teaching and explore connecting ‘forces’ surrounding process-led environments. Also it may investigate their implications with professional practice and the approaches to learning at the departmental level.
- What effect does a department’s predisposition towards the facilitation of learning have on the students’ approach to learning and how does this differ in a professional studio environment?
- To what extent does the awareness of surface and deep focused strategies aid design educators in their approach to teaching?
Outcomes
Through this research I aim to:
- Gain a deeper understanding of teaching and learning
- An understanding of how design research specifically reflection and teaching/learning principles can be used in graphic design tertiary education
- Become a better teacher
- Help students become better learners
- Deepen my knowledge to become a better learning facilitator
- Increase my ability to communicate process oriented research skills
2. Outline Progress
Since my last review, the area in which I have been researching has refined quite significantly in that I have developed a deeper understanding of pedagogical knowledge and how it can be visualised through a communication design approach. My original research question focused broadly on how design research could be integrated into course curricula and its implications on professional practice. Although the questions are still valid, my approach has shifted to a more thorough and methodical exploration of the internal and external forces that surround tertiary learning and teaching.
Project 1: Deep Reflection Exercise (http://designteaching.wordpress.com)
This project enabled me to reflect on my own past teaching experiences that led to a discovery of the ‘forces’ surrounding tertiary education and perceptions of institutional and professional practice design research. Not only did the exercise widen my knowledge of influential pedagogical principles and theories but also initiated a focus of the research towards deep learning environments and reflective practice.
What did I learn:
- The value of an aligned curriculum: assessment, objectives, institutional environment and teaching and learning activities
- The implications of surface and deep learning
- How the teachers’ approach to teaching and learning creates a different learning environment for the student
- How the students’ approach to learning may shift depending on the how they conceive of the learning environment
Where did it lead me:
This exercise was the initiator towards defining and focusing on key elements of my research. It allowed me to explore my perceptions of teaching and broaden my general knowledge of tertiary education. It also created a synthesis of information to lead me towards deeper questioning.
Project 2: Comic Book Series (on-going)
The comic book was chosen as a method to visualise my research findings from the deep reflection exercise and on-going readings. It was important to find a way through communication design to explore principles of teaching and learning in the context of graphic design teaching. The approach created a flexibility that allowed me to sculpt the narrative linking literature review with possible teaching scenarios. It also allows me to deepen my understanding of the learning and teaching environment through reflection.
What am I learning?
- How to communicate knowledge of reflection and teaching and learning principles in an engaging and formative artefact directed towards graphic design teachers
- How to synthesise my research questions so that the body of the knowledge is clearly understood and may elicit a deeper learning approach in an educators’ teaching.
- Hypothesizing and testing my research findings by creating ‘conversations’ between teachers and students.
- A deeper understanding of teaching and learning principles
Where will it lead me
The comic will be combined with my exegesis in some form. This will allow me to create relationships between academic literature and engaging narrative.
Project 3: Teaching Diary
My teaching experience has been an integral part of my research because it may give insight in the understanding of the students’ and teachers’ perception of teaching and learning, students’ response to reflection and whether the outcome of the teaching and learning activities elicited either a surface or deep approach. The reflective diary of class teaching and learning experiences I can use the course as a case study where I am constantly creating links and references to my research questions.
What am I learning:
- How to synthesise a reflective study and shift the knowledge from implicit to the explicit.
- The role of deep and surface approaches to learning in relation to:
o Teachers’ perception of the teaching environment
o Teachers’ approach to teaching
o Students’ perceptions of the teaching environment
o Students’ approach to learning
o Students’ response to reflection
Where will it lead me
- A more comprehensive knowledge of the research-learning environment
- Creates strong links with the comic by integrating new ‘conversations’
Up-coming project: Interviews
Interviews with various design educators will be undertaken to provide the research with current user-centred knowledge of the perceptions and approaches educators are using in undergraduate graphic design education.
Proposed Participants:
Florence Design Academy (Florence, Italy)
Director Robert Malagrino
SRISA School of Art (Florence, Italy)
Director Rebecca Olsen
Instituto Europeo di Design (Barcelona)
Head of Communication
Giulia Setzu
Universidad Nebrija (Madrid)
Director of Research and Communication
Chelsea College of Art and Design
Professor Linda Drew
Ohio State University, College of Art
Paul Nini
Associate Professor, Department of Design
Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design
Senior Lecturer Katherine McCoy
UTS (Sydney)
Darrall Thompson
Director-Teaching and Learning, School of Design
University of Wollongong, NSW
Grant Ellmers
Lecturer
Changes to candidature
In response to the change of the research question the project will have a more focused approach to design research. The research will be driven by how reflection and pedagogical principles can facilitate a research-learning environment in graphic design education.
How should the research be evaluated
The research should be evaluated by:
- A stronger focus of research questions in response to critique and reflection
- How I communicate ideas from other disciplines to communication design pedagogy
- Changes in my practice
- Changes in the experience of colleagues and students
