FL: August 2013

Part 1

In this section, I will address:

1) What are my learners needs?
2) Implementing this knowledge, how could this process look like?
3) Underlying Teaching Philosophy.
4) Assessment as part of the process.

1) What are my learners needs?

Most students will tell me in their first Art & Creativity class that they 'are not creative/artistic at all'.

This tells me that:

a) their previous creative/artistic experiences have probably not been that positive;
b) their previous experiences have not inspired confidence in their creative abilities but caused the opposite - a lack of confidence;

Based on this information, I have looked at what could be the most helpful approach to my students' learning:

Avoiding stress and anxiety is on top of the list.

Giving the students a choice means that their project can be as complicated or as simple as they feel comfortable with.

Encouragement will be given to build on their existing knowledge.

Students will receive personalized support throughout the process.

2) Implementing this knowledge and how could this process look like?

3) Teaching Philosophy

If students don't know where to start, I might ask questions like: What is the material you might like to explore? Do you like 2D or 3D more? Would you like to try this or that? Questions might awaken curiosity.

I then often encourage the student to 'play' with their chosen materials, to see what happens.

Play starts a process of exploring. The student might discover what works and what doesn't.

The student might find a direction to work towards.

Once that direction is found, it's time to find a purpose.

Hopefully the student will enjoy the learning process.

4) Assessment as part of the process

To add to the above:
During my research, I found this picture as part of a blog post, which addresses: 'Qualities Not Measured By Most Tests'.

In the observational assessments part, I find it important to notice these qualities in my students within my teaching context:

Character Education: The Secret Benefit of Edtech and Media Literacy, (August 15, 2012).

Sourced from:

http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/2012/08/media-literacy/guest-post-by-john-chase-character-education-the-secret-benefit-of-edtech-and-media-literacy/

Part 2

In this part, I will address:

1) A design matrix.
2) A brief look at student and tutor support available.

1) Design Matrix:

The questions posed in Bronwyn Heagarty's Design Matrix (2006) formed the basis for my design.

These are:
Learning:

What type of learning model am I using?

Content:

What format and how will content be presented?

Activities:

How will activities enhance learning? What form will they take?

Communication:

How will you interact with students and encourage them to talk to each other?

Assessment:

How will the assessment meet the learning outcomes? How much and what kind of assessment?

Bronwyn Heagarty, (2006), Design Matrix:

http://WikiEducator.org/images/5/5d/Hegarty_2006_design_matrix2.pdf

Sourced from:

http://wikieducator.org/Constructing_Courses_to_Enhance_Learning/Design_Overview_module

2) Student and tutor support:

Part 3

I will very briefly explore the three pedagogical approaches mentioned in the above 'design overview table', using a practical example:

1) Project based.

2) Experiential learning: through play, encouraging creative experimentation, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. This can encourage Metacognition.

3) Contructivism.

How is this presented:
I did create a very basic Power Point presentation, simply to have 'a go at it'.
I saved it in many different formats, but I am unable to upload it. Due to this fact, I separated out the individual pictures and posted them on here. As a consequence, the formatting is slightly inconsistent.

What is it about:
Using a practical example of one of my own creative experiments with paint as the material, this very simple presentation will give a small insight of how I like to encourage my students to learn and what the result of this could be. Hopefully this will show what can be learned by:

- Choosing a project - in this case, using the material of paint to explore 'what happens when...'.
- Experiment (play) with this material (experiential process).
- Construct on existing knowledge of the material of paint, while gaining more knowledge through 'doing' (something).

The simple brief would say: experiment (play) with paint and see what happens during the process. Then analyze 'what happened'.

This is an additional look at my design overview, using a practical example and connects with my 'Teaching Philosophy'.

Content :
1) Title and picture
2) Youtube video to watch (4+ min)
3) What is the video about
4) Questions about the process
5) Answer 1
6) Answer 2
7) Answer 3
8) Conclusion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC0PD1v0rdk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition

The paint experiment shown in the video and the above points made could be analyzed in a lot more depth but basically, this paint experiment video is based on: project based learning, experimental process and building upon previous knowledge with paint. Through this process, more knowledge is gained.

What I find interesting is, that learning from 'practice about theory' is a very different way of learning then when learning from 'theory about practice'.

Observing my students for quite some time now, I have noticed that this project based, experiential and building on their previous knowledge strategy actually seems to work quite well for them, generally keeping anxiety levels low.

Part 4

How do the learning models in my overview of design support flexible learning and teaching?

Project based learning is flexible in itself, as the chosen projects can be very diverse.

Experiential learning is also very diverse, based on the individual students' preferences of 'how to do things'.

Building on previous knowledge is as diverse as the projects and the students themselves.

All the above require flexibility due to a lack of predictability.

Part 5

Sustainability:

Is project based, experiential learning and constructivism sustainable for the student and the facilitator?

I believe that this is the case in my teaching context. The above 'formula' is a learner centered, individualized process, accommodating all skill levels, cultural and vocational backgrounds.

For the facilitator: Even so it is unpredictable what projects my students will choose, it is nevertheless sustainable for me as the facilitator, because of the creativity unfolding on many different levels. I find this very interesting.

Part 6

Learning objectives (goals) and learning outcomes:

Learning objectives (goals):

As every student has their own, individual project, the overall goal is that each student will work creatively on their chosen project from the beginning to the end, and through this, will be learning new skills.

Learning outcomes:

Each student - after completing their project - will have increased their skill level and gained more confidence in their creative abilities through having worked on and completed their chosen project.

These learning objectives and outcomes could be a lot more detailed, although I would have to create individual objectives and outcomes, tailored to suit each student and their projects.

Part 7

Summary:

Taking my students' needs into consideration in my design overview:

a) A combination of project based, experiential learning - based on previous knowledge - seems to be the most appropriate facilitating strategy for the Art & Creativity class within the context of the Addiction Rehabilitation Centre.

b) Offering formative assessment regularly through conversation as well as using observational assessments about the student/project on my part, also seems to work as a strategy for assessment, without causing the students too much anxiety.

c) There is a lot of flexibility from the students' part (this is not your 'normal kind of Art class') as well as on the facilitators side, based on this particular Art & Creativity class dynamic (unpredictability of projects as well as students).

d) It is sustainable, because there is a lot of 'freedom of choice' for the student, which decreases their anxiety. For me as the facilitator, I find that, supporting my students to find their creativity exiting and often very rewarding.

FL

Sunday, 11 August 2013

Design Overview

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