Reflections from 1st Rotation:
-Students didn’t necessarily understand the point of the obliquiscope.
-The connection between the object and peer-based learning was not clear.
-Students were fascinated with the aesthetic qualities of the obliquiscope.
What needs to be addressed?
The intention of the activity was to get students to interact with each other through their personal object, while using the obliquiscope. From an interventional sense, I’m interested in studying how Object Based Learning – through its intersectional and dialogic qualities (Willcocks & Mahon, 2023), can help create a sense of community through peer based learning.
How we addressed it?
In conversation with Craig Burston (GMD Year 1 Lead), it was decided that perhaps we needed to engage with this activity ourselves first in order to give students a sense of how the interaction could be useful for their practice.
In the previous session, we had created a Padlet in order for students to record their feedback to each other. While this had proven to be useful, there was limited interaction on there. So, we decided as a precursor to the session – to showcase what the Padlet interaction could look like (See images below). As part of the project, we as the teaching team had brought in our own (personal) objects as well. We were already using these objects in other contexts to showcase how they related to the brief and so we decided to continue this in the Padlet for this activity as well.
Besides Craig and I, the other tutors in teaching this project also partook in this activity (see Padlet posts from Oswin Tickler, Kelly Harrison and Umi Lovecraft. I am also sharing the Padlet links from both rotations here.
Rotation 1 – Padlet Link
Rotation 2 – Padlet Link
Data Collected and Reflections
It was clear from the classroom interaction that the students were more engaged with the activity, although it might not seem this way in the pictures above. I was able to sit with a few pairs of students and listen in on the stories that were being shared. Two students mentioned that it was useful to see the comments from tutors to each other. Another student mentioned that they felt the pressure of having to give a meaningful comment.
To conclude, I found this intervention to be semi-successful in its intentions around community. Although there were some nice moments, where students reflected on their objects, shared stories and co-created the themes for their projects – there were still some obvious barriers that prevented all students from engaging in the same way. These barriers included but are not limited to, the nature of the objects themselves, cultural differences and aspects of invisible pedagogy (Bernstein, 1975) such as the value/nature of peer-based learning.
References
- Bernstein, B. (1975). Class and pedagogies: Visible and invisible. Educational studies, 1(1), 23-41.
- Bunting, L., & Hill, V. (2021). Relational Reflections: How do we nurture belonging in creative Higher Education?. Innovative Practice in Higher Education.
- Willcocks, J. and Mahon, K. (2023). The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. art, design & communication in higher education, 22(2), pp.187-207.
- Willshire, J. (2023). Obliquiscopes: Setting aperture for reality. Smithery. https://smithery.com/2023/09/22/obliquiscopes-setting-aperture-for-reality/ (Accessed: 04 Nov 2024).
- Burston C., Tickler O., Harrison K., Baden-Powell U., Raori R. (2024). Two State-Creative Brief. BA Graphic and Media Design Year 1 Process and Methods. GMD2425 PM Unit Two States brief.pdf