Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2013

This article examines output types as manifestations of different concepts of research. We compare the UK academic scene to that of Brazil, identifying the former as responding ‘bottom-up’ to researcher needs and the latter determining ‘top-down’ what researchers can do. Taking the UK model as indicative of what researchers think they need, we undertook a detailed analysis of the output types used in RAE2008 across all subjects in order to see which types were used and by whom. We also undertook a further analysis of the use of traditional, text-based formats in art and design, and the use of non-traditional, non-textual output types in other subjects. We conclude that both the journal format and the exhibition format are expressive of the understanding each community has of the meaning of research as an activity. This is further reinforced by the national structures within which research is undertaken and evaluated.

This article explores current debates on the role of writing in artistic research. This discussion has been in train for several decades, and yet we are still not clear, as an academic community, in regards to a number of issues related to the status of, role and purpose writing in research by practice. In order to explore this I initially look at some of the discussion, and confusion, surrounding the regulations on, and support for, Ph.D.s in practice in universities in the United Kingdom. I will also explore disciplinary notions of research and then the final part of the article digs a little deeper into the effect of language and logobias in the university.

This article reports on recent research that aimed to identify what Fine Art students learn and how they learn. The study focused on a suite of courses accessible to a qualitative, empirical approach and was informed by contemporary perspectives on learning and knowledge, including sociocultural and situated learning theories. The discussion articulates the links between knowledge and learning in Fine Art, identifying the domain’s values and specialist pedagogies as well as the learner attributes fostered. Fine Art education was found to have particular strengths in: developing learner identities; personalizing learning to support independence; and promoting student engagement. These attributes are developed by participation in the Fine Art community of practice, which fosters the dispositional knowledge underpinning artistic identity. The specialist pedagogies involved are likely to be of wider interest to the higher education (HE) sector, as the strategies that support student engagement, independence and self-responsibility are potentially transferable.

Learning to practice is central to undergraduate and the majority of taught postgraduate art and design programmes in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the creative practice of educators employed to teach, including part-time and visiting lecturers, has long been recognized as contributing to student learning. An emphasis on undertaking research has prompted educators, initially employed due to their expertise as creative practitioners, to formulate and adopt practice-led and practice-based approaches to research. The benefits of educator research to learning and teaching are also recognized. The higher education (HE) system is in a continual state of change, higher education institutions (HEIs) and educators respond to government policy and initiatives. Operating in the United Kingdom HE system together with pressures encountered can be counterproductive to educator creative practice. While research can involve creative practice activity there are issues, for example, with adoption of appropriate methodologies and difficulties with explicating tacit knowledge through writing. As a discipline, textile design exists on the periphery of design and design research discourse. The research project featured in this article responds to the context described and the deficit of literature surrounding contemporary textile design HE and educator creative practice and teaching linkages. The focus is on the textile designer educator role in the United Kingdom and examination of creative practice activity, to establish the means by which educator creative practice informs teaching and therefore influences student learning. The investigation used a combination of self-case study, survey, interview and case study methods. Findings indicate that textile designer educator creative practice is important to HE due to the positive impact that engagement has on teaching. However, issues are encountered and these are discussed in order to propose suggestions to improve the existent situation and to highlight areas for further investigation.

Basic Design is a studio course in architectural education that requires creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills, a non-ending appetite for knowledge, and non-diminishing curiosity. This article describes an innovative studio environment that allows for this particular mentality to flourish and appropriate professional skills to be strengthened. The manuscript further outlines a studio project that utilizes an olfactory stimulus to rekindle curiosity. The project is an introductory exercise, using line as a conceptual design element, and a tool for communication. Through subsequent content analysis, the qualitative case study methodologically records this two-week exercise, and uses verbal and visual data, as well as written student responses to assess the benefits of this altered learning experience. The authors argue that, only through curiosity will the studio environment become the catalyst to foster innovative design ideas.

Anyone who has taught design in higher education for any length of time knows that the parameters of their work have changed. Design is no longer industry based, but seen as an approach, an attitude, with ways of thinking that can contribute to all programmes across the university system. Ensuring that this new cohort are engaged in authentic, complex problem-based learning and empowered in that learning is a challenge in itself but one of the most important teaching issues is how to instil genuinely creative thinking in students tackling ‘messy’ [i.e. ‘wicked’] problems, unencumbered by the attitudes and approaches of the past. This article discusses the difficulties in achieving the creative learning aims involved, highlights areas that are yet to be resolved and suggests the use of a cognitive apprenticeship model combined with a practical, incremental teaching and assessment model of creativity as a contribution to the way forward.

The provision of skills to students for developing new ideas is important in design education. Success depends on the teaching method and the learning style of the students. Chinese students tend to refer to perceived standards, such as the use of typical and usual ideas in their creative thinking, which makes it difficult for them to generate new design ideas. By using an integrated technique, which consists of a customized assignment, visual learning platform and online virtual interactive display library, the process by which students in this study generate ideas has been explored. The need for aesthetic congruity in the elements of design ideas is an important factor that influences the Hong Kong Chinese students’ generation of new design ideas. The application of an integrated technique was found to reduce the degree of aesthetic congruence and encourage students to explore ideas in more depth. Finally, insights on the idea generation of Hong Kong Chinese students are discussed.

This article describes a case study of the process, implementation, delivery and outcomes of a half-day workshop designed to improve the transition from further education (FE) to higher education (HE) for new first-year students studying on a Games Art undergraduate degree programme. Held in student induction week, the purpose of the workshop was to: spark initial interest and motivation in research activities relevant to the student’s subject area of Games Art; enhance the first-year student experience, and; to assist retention of students, especially at first-year level. As a work in progress, this workshop is part of a larger university wide project to improve the first-year student experience, raise standards in research and scholarship, and aid retention. The implications of this workshop as a preliminary activity to work towards the continued increase of academic standards and confidence in research is discussed, also if this workshop may be used as a model across other subject areas and in other institutions.

The Dynamics of Fashion, Elaine Stone, 4th ed. (2013) UK: Bloomsbury, h/bk, ISBN 9781-1-60901-500-8, £60.00, 305 × 229mm.