In my assessment post I made some huge revelations towards the importance of assessment and how it can be used to encourage a deeper learning environment. I also discovered some large holes in the designed curriculum one of which was that the program I built was not suitable for graphic design majors coming from North America. (see past posts) which were the majority of the enrolled students.
I have to admit with all this reflection and intermittent readings I am feeling quite scattered and lost of where this is all taking me.
1) Program was not built to host graphic design majors from North America
- Perhaps more suitable to Italian students in their first year of undergrad +
As discussed previously, the curriculum design did not take into account where the majority of students where coming from and their academic backgrounds. Most students came from North American universities looking for a semester study-abroad holiday earning graduation credits. While I was looking to introduce a new program to the private graphic design colleges in Florence, there seem to be a division in my mind in what I envisaged the program to be and how it would all work. I saw the program to bring deep learning into a system that was rooted in the transmission of information and not reflection. I was looking to introduce a comprehensive program (in the learning sense), where students could expect more than technical instruction but also discover other mediums of visual communication. I was dreaming and hoping big. One thing that this reflection has taught me is how many variables and external forces where involved in the design and a good curriculum design takes research and support to push ahead.
I have been thinking of some possible solutions to these set-backs that I have discovered.
I possibly see two solutions. 1) Since the school was most likely not going to change its advertising towards North American students there either had to be a change in the objectives of the curriculum itself or maybe even the curriculum to be stripped down to its minimum. I could have taken the single course of digital imaging (since it originally had high enrollment) and done some research on how I could have modified the course to fit the needed objectives.
1b) All courses in the program could have been directed towards (Italian/Florentine graphic design)
This would create a niche in the education market in Florence and quite possibly aid in the enrollment of North American students.
This could be done by:
- Establishing a stronger link with design studios in Italy.
- Creating a practice-based research component where it could be linked with the industry
- Adding elements of historical and contemporary Italian design where students would research the influences and styles
1c) The curriculum design could have been scraped and I could have focused directly on bringing research and deeper learning into one course (Digital Imaging) It also would have allowed me something more manageable considering the support system and a concentrated time of research for myself to gather necessary information.
This could be done by:
- Researching graphic design education models i.e (Basel, Bauhaus, American, Bologna, ect
- Investigated a literature review on learning and teaching in higher education, (Ramsden, Biggs, Dorst, ect)
- Structured the course to include assessment techniques such as self assessment, peer, ect to create and more reflective environment
- Divided the course into smaller modules that included writing and reading. The student would research information regarding their project, write about what they learned in the stages of the design process.
In a chapter of Paul Ramsden’s book “Learning to Teach in Higher Education” (2003) he mentions that a goal in teaching is to change the students’ approach to the subject matter they learn. He states it is “the key to improving their learning”, which is also the key to improve teaching in changing the way the process is understood.”
I think this is a great point to reflect on and how it relates to teaching graphic design specifically in this situation of the revaluation of a course. I’m trying to think now what could have been some ways to change the approach of learning technical programs in the (Digital Imaging course) so that students come away with a deeper knowledge of graphic design and the ability to communicate this knowledge through practice. AHHH! My head is going to explode!
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next post (to be continued)