Journal of Writing in Creative Practice - Volume 11, Issue 2, 2018

This article is built around an art piece, which depicts a particular phenomenon in physics concerning the process of transition and transformation; in other words, change. In itself the art piece is an example of ‘regenring’ in that it re-presents information that has previously been produced in other genres (scientific papers, mathematical formulae) by producing it using a different genre: a mixed media collaged picture displayed on a wall. In keeping with the theme of transformation and change, the article uses four different genres in discussing the piece: account of what is observed, interview with the maker of the piece, reflection-in-action shown in italics and reflection-on-action shown in boxes (the distinction of reflection-in- and reflection-on- action is taken from Schön) and in so doing explores, through these different lenses, how the art piece helps or hinders the unpacking of the science that it represents. It also provides a multilayered reflection on the theme of change itself since every aspect of this article, the topic, the art piece, the physics and the textual activity of how the discussion is represented, revolves around representing and observing through different lenses, regenring and transformation.

The starting point of our regenring experiment was to bring together two of our core research interests: our belief in the emancipatory power of ludic and multimodal practice and our desire to empower those widening participation students often labelled as ‘deficit’. We, as learning developers and educationists, started by welcoming and valuing students for who they were, rather than remediating them because of what they were not. Our teaching started with their strengths and assets: their commitment and engagement; and what they could do and what challenge they could rise to without the need for the specific cultural and academic capital typically already possessed by the traditional, middle-class student. The present article and mini-case studies (see also ‘Cabinet of Curiosity’ pp. 211–15, ‘Games and Board Games’ pp. 261–66, ‘Digital Storytelling’ pp. 275–78 and ‘Multimodal Exhibition’ pp. 291–303) present some of the ludic work we have undertaken with our students. This article contains Case Study 1.

This case study describes a collaboration between the creative design programme at the University of Hertfordshire and the Museum of St Albans. This four-year project, now entering its third year, explores ways of better engaging design and craft students in the academic strand of the course. One approach is to find fresh ways of addressing theoretical aspects of study by taking the work out of the lecture room and exploring the same concepts through practical activity; a process of ‘regenring’ academic research and writing. Intrinsically linked to this approach is the perceived need to engage all students in a reflective process of design in which theoretical, social, cultural and historical aspects are embedded in studio practice. This article reports on a curatorial project undertaken this year as part of the collaboration, which is effectively enthusing the students and giving them a new understanding of the relevance of theoretical and contextual knowledge in the designer’s skill set. The extent of their engagement in the project is expressed in their chosen title, The Us in Museum, which implies their total immersion in and identification with the task. Three different perspectives are used to present this project: the tutor, the curator and the student.

This is Case Study 2 of 5, as introduced in ‘Regenring academic writing’ on pp. 181–90, which includes an overview of the context across all five pieces.

Writing for visual arts students remains a current dilemma. Academic essays frequently form assessment requirements in awards that are studio practice based. This series of images illustrates a project created for fine art undergraduates, drawing upon the research-led practice experiences of the academic leaders. The Academic Poster Project regenred a model commonly used in science to accommodate both the individual interests and methods used by visual learners, which in turn become the participating student’s plan for narrating argument, knowledge and criticality.

While the academic poster has been used extensively in the sciences, its particular pertinence in art and design education remains unrecognized. Posters (outputs) and the poster sessions that accompany them (processes) form an ‘occluded genre’ in design education. The secondary literature about academic posters is typically ‘how-to’ rather than pedagogical analysis. We identify the benefits of using posters in design education, whether as formats for ‘regenring’ the conventional contextual studies essay or as iterations towards essay work that draw on the skills students are developing in their design briefs, thereby bridging theory and practice, and accommodating diversity. Based on our pedagogical research in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, this article reflects on how students respond to the benefits of the poster, and the poster session, and provides teachers with a clear rationale for their increased use in design education.

This is Case Study 3 of 5, as introduced in ‘Regenring academic writing’ on pp. 181–90, which includes an overview of the context for all five pieces.

The traditional essay has long established itself as a stable and reliable assessment within higher education. However, it reinforces an uneven power balance whereby the tutor passes judgement on a student’s written work according to a set of criteria. Drawing on the work of Fiona English, I have experimented with a ‘visual essay’ assessment as this affords students more opportunities to express their knowledge. They write this from the perspective of a literary figure, so that they are able to have a more emotional relationship with the text they are studying. To demonstrate this process I put forward my argument from the perspective of Arthur Seaton, the anti-hero of Alan Sillitoe’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

This is Case Study 4 of 5, as introduced in ‘Regenring academic writing’ on pp. 181–90, which includes an overview of the context for all five pieces.

Research: Theory and Practice (RTP) is a new unit, offered as an alternative to the dissertation in the final year of the Fashion Media & Promotion honours degree at the University for the Creative Arts at Rochester. It is a 30-credit unit, introduced in the latter part of year 2, taught through workshops and tutorials in the autumn term of year 3 and submitted in January. The final submission consists of an article (as if for a specific publication) or an essay with a specified readership, plus a research book that documents all areas of primary and secondary research, the journey and reflections on the whole experience, in the context of final-year studies. This article is a reflective report on the first outing of this unit, giving details of its intention by focusing particularly on readership; development of appropriate, and therefore different, writing voices; and the processes of construction of an article, as well as referring to the strands of research that were undertaken. The emphasis is on the students’ journeys made through research and reflection and some of the unforeseen outcomes that were created.

This is Case Study 5 of 5, as introduced in ‘Regenring academic writing’ on pp. 181–90, which includes an overview of the context for all five pieces.

This article looks at the motivation behind the removal of the final-year dissertation from the fashion, textiles and footwear undergraduate programmes at the University of Northampton. The removal process was not straightforward and occurred over a number of years and through a process of ‘mini actions’ that in large part were driven by student response to changes implemented by the programme team. The title ‘Slaying the beast: Writing, learning and experiencing in a post-dissertation world’ is intended to suggest both the iconic status the final-year dissertation within undergraduate study has and methods of engagement that can be used to replace this set-piece academic exercise. The discussion is organized under five sections with offer reflections on the process and issues involved in this transition, each with a title that is designed to capture the experience: Identifying the beast; Taking aim; The misery of choice; To B or not to B; Taking down the beast; Burying the beast; and finally Looking back on the quest.

A tale of two parts, this ‘article’ presents a series of artefacts, the Visual Soundbites Postcards created by Alke Gröppel-Wegener in 2015, as well as a reflection on how these artefacts have been used as teaching resources/inspirations by Emma Head.

Choosing to write a letter rather than a conventional article has enabled me to use a more personal voice when talking about the frustrations and joys of my twenty years of working in literacy ­development. It has allowed me to feel freer to play with language so that I could express an overtly embodied form of reasoning which, to paraphrase Peter Elbow, felt right in my mouth and sounded right in my ear.