In my current role of Graduate Diploma Textile Design (GDTD) course leader, I manage the organisation of all areas of the course including learning, teaching and assessment of students aswell as the student experience through the design, development and delivery of the curriculum.
Therefore, this seminar which considered approaches to designing and planning with group discussion focused on examples of unit and project briefs was significant. More specifically in linking outcomes, assessment and the student experience with reference to the quality agenda established by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and key literature including Davies’s paper Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem? challenges and opportunities were highlighted.
Markedly, as described by Davies, when I began teaching in 2016, I did not understand how what I was expected to do fitted into the ‘whole’, instead making sense of modules within my own professional experience (Davies, 2012). More recently I have been involved in course design and development and consequently have a fuller understanding of how things fit together. However, learning from peers and discussing different teaching modes in the session was valuable for reflection in addition to identifying examples of best practice.
The brief which I shared as a sample was the Bio-Inspired Textile (BIT) Design brief (also known as bio-informed design, biomimetics and biomimicry) which students had worked on within the 60 credit Unit 1 of the course. The brief is part of the BIT research project led by Professor Veronika Kapsali (London College of Fashion) and Dr Cathryn Hall (Centre of Circular Design). The brief’s assessment evidence links explicitly to the Learning outcomes and assessment criteria enabling students to clearly see how what they were being asked to do would be assessed. This is an example of good practice however as noted above it is only now, in my sixth year of teaching that I am confident in understanding the connections between learning outcomes and assessment criteria.
In addition to the BIT text brief, which was located on the students Moodle page, the researchers had created a password protected resource within their own project website for the students to access independently. Resources included reading lists, recorded video presentations and a Miro board for work in progress, peer review and feedback. Notably the website was beautifully curated and visually engaging. Students commented that this created a feeling of value appreciating the attention to detail. These resources were personalised providing a highly supportive context enabling the students to develop their knowing of what to do whilst also becoming better self-regulated learners referencing Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s proposed seven principles of good feedback practice: Facilitating self-regulation (Nicol, 2016)
Davies, A. (2012) Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem? [Online] [Accessed 28 January 2022] Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem
Kapsali, V (2021) Bio-Inspired Textiles [Online] [Accessed 14 March 2022] Available at: https://www.bioinspiredtextiles.com/
Nicol, D. and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. [Online] [Accessed 28 January 2022] Available at: https://www.reap.ac.uk/reap/public/Papers/DN_SHE_Final.pdf