Enriching Education
(Asynchronous - Online Only)
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Influence of Introductory Design Thinking Course on Engineering Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Libin K. Babu, George Quainoo
Design education forms a core part of the engineering learning experience. For many engineering education programs, the senior design capstone project is the platform to convey the importance of design approaches and associated skillsets to the students. This study used empirical research to examine the importance of helping students identify and learn valuable design aspects at the freshman level. An 8-week course titled ‘Design Thinking’ with 17 students was a part of the study. Students learned about concepts ranging from problem identification to concept testing. These learning outcomes were tested by having students work in teams for three projects seeking innovative design solutions. Assessment of student performance and course survey indicates strong learning experience and greater interest in learning engineering concepts.
How Covid Created Fields of Belonging within an Intersectional Framework View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vanessa B. Cruz
The spring of 2020 brought the first ripples of change not only in our daily lives but in every facet of teaching styles, pedagogy, as well as creative research. Structures, delivery methods, strategies all had to change within a summer. The ramifications and impact of these dramatic changes are still unknown. However, the anonymity of students in this new environment allowed for particular social, racial, and gender identifying freedoms that could not be possible in a traditional class setting. This paper reflects on the continuing outcome of effects of Covid on student/ teacher interactions, social groups and teaching methodologies.
Subversion through Comedy, Gamification and Play in Undergraduate Education View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Michael M. Meany, Geoffrey Hookham
In the field of pedagogy there is significant literature on the topics of humour and education, gamification of education, and play as an element of education. In all three cases the objective is to improve educational outcomes such as engagement with course material, retention of information and the enhancement of flexible, transportable learning skills. However, a review of the applications of humour, gamification and play reveal some incongruous relationships. How can the voluntary aspects of play be utilised inside the highly structured and prescribed education environment? Is it possible or desirable to gamify an environment that already has a game-like structure in which students ‘level-up’ through a series of courses? And, importantly, where is the fun? This paper will, using a case study, examine the use of game structures, play and comedy in the delivery of synchronous online lecture content. It offers a series of lecture techniques demonstrating how game elements and lecture themes are playfully and subversively incorporated into polls, pop culture references, branching narratives, random and targeted trivia, and hidden item games. Gamification is a subversive process. This case study illustrates how students and staff can be invited to play in this subversion.
Shutting the Studio: The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Architectural Education in the United Kingdom View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alexander Wright, Robert Grover
The Covid-19 pandemic instigated a rapid shift to remote learning in schools of architecture in the United Kingdom. Through the largest survey of its kind of architectural students and tutors in the UK, this research compares experiences in the physical design studio and its remote equivalent. The context of the pandemic provided a unique opportunity to survey a range of cohorts, at different stages in their architectural education to compare these two modes of studio delivery. The findings show a fall in student satisfaction after the move to remote learning in every metric assessed. Peer interaction and support were particularly effected. More formal teaching interactions, such as reviews, crits and tutorials, also suffered but to a lesser extent. For teaching staff, some small improvements in the working environment were observed as well as organisational factors. However, these small gains were outweighed by the negative changes. The research suggests that despite the replication of teaching activities digitally, the situated learning of design education and the facilitation of informal learning scenarios are critical components of design education. This research contributes to the ongoing characterisation of architectural education’s signature pedagogy and suggests that for effective remote learning, design studio education must be reconceptualised, and alternative pedagogies embraced. This can direct educators looking to develop remote design studio learning as well as highlighting areas in which the traditional model of architectural education may be enhanced.
Preparing for Now and the Future Human Experience with Inter-disciplinary Projects View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hye-Jin Nae, Adam Smith
The wide range of new interactive form factors and digital products continue to transform designers' roles, relationships, and influence. In addition, the interconnected and agile systems of today's industry and workflows require cohesive team collaborations from concept to deployment. Design can play a central role in creating communication and shared objectives to foster collaboration. As educators with decades of industry experience, we explore how higher education is leveraging lessons learned and industry needs to prepare the next generation of design and creative technologists. We explore multiple forms of collaborations through interdisciplinary curriculums of mixed cohorts from design, programming, digital humanities, and human-centered computing. This inclusive nature of design education expands creative knowledge and aesthetic awareness to a more diverse population and, in turn, creates more collaborative opportunities. However, it is on the edges between the programs where true creativity and collaborations are emerging. These creative explorations and industry-sponsored engagements are balanced with a rigorous 4-year interdisciplinary degree program to maintain a strong core creative and visual design focus. Our interdisciplinary collaborations can leverage expert skills from upperclassmen's design and technology fields through industry and research-based projects for retailers, publishers, tech companies, museums, etc. The shared design and development foundation allows student teams to work together cohesively within these complex domain spaces. Our study explores the academic programs, teaching processes, industry-sponsored engagements, and student experiences that propel design education beyond the traditional scope and lead students to prepare for now and for the future.
Education Technologies and Extended Reality - Opportunities and Challenges: A Collaborative Learning Experience View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Susan Ledger, Zi Siang See, Marguerite Johnson
This joint initiative presents a series of research-creation projects focused on education technologies and extended reality (XR). We are looking at some of the opportunities and challenges entailed in several projects in development at The University of Newcastle. The research involves an interdisciplinary team from educational studies, digital humanities, human-computer interaction, and history - with a focus on digital heritage. The main contribution of this joint initiative is to explore extended reality and immersive CAVE technologies in diverse teaching and learning environments. This case study showcases our pedagogical values of the teaching-research nexus: (1) Simulation Learning and Immersive technology; (2) digital heritage program with serious games and simulation components in the classroom; (3) the Extended Reality AR VR learning simulation and creative process in the context of digital humanities. We conclude with our future interdisciplinary vision to develop a Constellation XR research-creation initiative, that uses a multimodal approach (mobile devices, computer screen, head-mounted display, and dome projection mapping) and integrated research methodologies to digitise indigenous knowledge of space.
Research and Project Innovation and Development Grant Funding: A Case for Transdisciplinary Collaboration
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mario Minichiello, Leicha Stewart, Paul Egglestone
Transdisciplinary innovation — what is it and how does it work? In this paper, the authors consider the way seemingly disparate professional and community actors may work together, drawing on case study data from a series of research projects commissioned as part of the University of Newcastle’s Research and Project Innovation and Development (RAPID) grant program, a novel approach to fostering collaboration across and beyond the academy. Transdisciplinary research aims to integrate and extend beyond discipline-specific concepts, approaches, and methods to accelerate progress towards solving real-world, complex problems. Whilst transdisciplinary research alludes to the potential of novel and wide-reaching discoveries it brings with it unique challenges. Overall participants reported that the transdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the projects led to an enriching and highly positive professional experience. Open communication between stakeholders and strong community engagement were hallmarks of RAPID projects which produced professional, academic, or economic benefits for those involved. The ability to produce multiple iterations of a solution or prototype based on community feedback also stood out as a clear advantage of the program’s structure. While some projects faced challenges moving their project beyond the prototype stage or securing additional industry funding, perhaps due to socio-political factors, the potential for the solutions created remains and may be revisited under more favorable conditions. We conclude by discussing the relevance of the RAPID approach for transdisciplinary team-based research projects.
