PgCert

I enjoyed watching the three interview-videos and learning from the experience of three people living with disability and how they navigate intersectionality with other aspects of their multi layered identities.

Ade’s experience as a black male who uses a wheelchair highlights the intersectionality of race, disability, and societal barriers. For example, he may face discrimination not only due to his disability but also due to his race, which compounds the challenges he encounters. Ade’s advocacy for providing opportunities for individuals to excel and be recognized acknowledges the systemic barriers that hinder progress for marginalized communities. By citing the Paralympics as a successful model of representation, Ade demonstrates how visibility and recognition can empower individuals with disabilities, particularly those from underrepresented racial backgrounds. Additionally, Ade’s recognition of subtle discrimination and segregation underscores how intersecting identities can exacerbate exclusion and impede societal progress.

Christine’s experience as a deaf artist showcases the intersection of deafness with her identity as an artist. She integrates her disability into her artistic process, emphasizing the unique perspective it brings to her work. Through exploring the relationship between line drawing and sign language, Christine illustrates how her disability shapes her perception and artistic expression. Her appreciation for initiatives like “Let’s caption the city” reflects the importance of accessibility in making visual content inclusive for individuals with disabilities, such as deafness. Christine’s resonance with the statement “If you don’t see us, we have no place to be” highlights the significance of belonging and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities, who often face invisibility and marginalization in society.

Chay’s identity as a transman who is neurodiverse intersects with his experiences as a gay, white individual, emphasizing the complexity of his identity. His reflections on the challenges of invisible disabilities, such as anxiety and autism, within the LGBTQIA+ community shed light on the intersection of neurodiversity with sexual orientation and gender identity. Chay’s advocacy for a people-centred approach to accessibility work underscores the importance of considering diverse perspectives, including those of individuals with invisible disabilities, in creating inclusive spaces. His emphasis on open dialogue and visibility for minorities within minorities reflects the need to address intersecting identities and ensure that all individuals feel valued and included.

On reflection, both considering the diverse range of disability aspects within my teaching context at University of Arts London, here are some key factors linked with some first-hand experience examples. These reflections have the potential to ensure I address barriers in my teaching environment to nurture more inclusivity and equal support for all students:

On dyslexia: Provide appropriate support and resources for students with dyslexia to optimize their learning experience. Work alongside Student Support Services to guarantee that the correct and most suitable support is in place. Offer alternative formats for reading materials and assessments to accommodate dyslexic students’ needs. On further reflecting, we have liaised more significantly with Student Support Services team in order to unpack some of our content in making sure it is accessible and inclusive. That is an ongoing effort which showed significantly powerful in shifting students engagement in the past academic year and I aim to continue building this relationship.

On physical disability: ensure that classrooms and facilities are accessible for students with physical disabilities, including providing necessary equipment and tools. The new building is already considerably more accessible, but remaining vigilant for further adjustments to respond to any identified needs that may arise over time. Consider adjustments to the physical layout of the classroom to accommodate mobility needs and ensure that all students can participate on an equal basis. We have had in the last year a couple of students with similar needs and we worked alongside Student Support again, to make sure we had the correct equipment available both in class and in open access, so students felt more encouraged to work in college.

On neurodiversity and invisible disabilities: implement strategies that are spiraled across levels and learning environments to support neurodiverse students who may show difficulties in facing challenges or disruptions in the learning environment. By exploring alternative methods of delivering course content that maintain rigor and quality while accommodating different learning styles and needs, we can make sure students feel included and looked after. On a final reflection, in light of some conversations I am having in my team, I can foresee that new policies that will allow students to self certify ISAs and ECs from next year will likely present new issues to consider and work out alternatives that find balance between performance and mental health.

UAL’s report also expands on fostering a culture of respect, where all staff and students feel safe. Ultimately, I believe it is extremely important to research, develop, and implement inclusive teaching practices that are continually reassessed to respond to the diversity within the cohort. It will be key to committing to short, medium and long term objectives will be paramount to tackle both student and staff needs. This involves adopting approaches that prioritize accessibility, flexibility, and diversity in delivery. Additionally, I consider it crucial to encourage open communication, active participation, and collaboration among students and staff to address specific needs and concerns effectively – with a horizontal approach (decolonized) that fosters interactions between all.

This session was truly enjoyable for me. It is often challenging to find dedicated time for reading, analysis, reflection, and writing. Having an entire session devoted to these tasks felt like a luxury, and it was incredibly beneficial for me to get organized and prepared for submission.

The structured approach of alternating between writing and quick breaks worked well for me; it kept me focused without feeling tired or uninspired. Upon reflection, I believe this method could be applied to my teaching practices and how I structure lesson plans and presentations. I often feel compelled to communicate all my knowledge and expect students to enthusiastically respond to every piece of content and task presented, which is not always realistic.

I have discussed with peers from the PgCert program and my colleagues in womenswear the difficulty of teaching curiosity, one of UAL’s Creative Attributes Framework. There is also a tendency to try reinvent the wheel when structuring units and delivering content year after year, leaving little time for content research, which I believe should be a primary focus when not teaching.

The concept of allocating class time for hands-on activities and project work holds significant value and is something I aim to incorporate more into the units I lead or teach. This approach allows students to digest content at their own pace and achieve more rewarding results overall, benefiting both them and us.

In addition, it also made me think about my workload in the university and the importance of dedicating time to engage with tasks that often end up at the bottom of the list. Perhaps setting aside a dedicated hour each week for these tasks wouldn’t be a bad idea. PHOBOTLT (Power Hours of Bottom of the list tasks) 🙂

I have decided to write a reflection post on one of the further readings I have completed. My tutor, Carys Kennedy, suggested the following article after learning about my dual practice as a designer running my own label and as an educator.

The article was Fran Beaton (2022) How do I know who I am? Academic professional development, peer support, and identity for practitioners who teach, International Journal for Academic Development, 27:3, 234-248

Summary
Beaton discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by dual professionals (DPs) transitioning into academia, particularly focusing on their academic professional development, peer support, and identity construction. The author emphasizes the increasing integration of staff with professional practice expertise into teaching roles and explores the sociocultural perspectives of Communities of Practice (CoP) in shaping the academic development and identity of DPs – experiences I have been undergoing since I started teaching.

The article’s findings reveal different trajectories and identities among DPs entering academia, influenced by a variety of factors such as their practice background and disciplinary colleagues. Additionally, the reading highlights the role of academic developers in supporting the professional development and identity construction of DPs, emphasizing the need to design programs that address their specific needs and background.

Some of the key points I have identified:

• The article discusses academic professional development, peer support, and identity for practitioners transitioning into academia, emphasizing the inclusion of staff with professional practice expertise in teaching roles.
• Draws on sociocultural perspectives of Communities of Practice (CoP) to explore academic development and identity construction.
• Examines implications of workplace preparation on university teaching staffing and identifies challenges faced by dual professionals transitioning between practice profession and university educator roles.
• Highlights the significance of disciplinary colleagues and practice networks in shaping the identity of practitioners who teach.
• Discusses the role of academic developers in supporting the professional development and identity construction of dual professionals.
• Elaborates on the need for tailored professional development programs to address specific needs and trajectories of dual professionals.
• Underscores the importance of creating supportive and inclusive environments for DPs transitioning into academia.

Reflection
One of my struggles has been primarily approaching my work with an academic mindset, sometimes seeing students solely as learners rather than future practitioners. However, I am deeply committed to ensuring that they benefit from my industry experience, and I am continuously seeking a balance between building knowledge and learning from their responses to my teaching style.

Ultimately, the article focuses significantly on individuals transitioning from industry practice to an academic role, which differs slightly from my situation. I continue to juggle both roles and see the value in maintaining my industry practice alongside my academic responsibilities. I believe that I can make a significant impact on students’ journeys by incorporating real-world challenges into my teaching and encouraging them to consider their professional roles early in their learning journey.

Contextual Background

In the BA Womenswear course at LCF, we have recently revalidated the curriculum, which has prompted us to reconsider how assessment is conducted. As part of this process, we have been transitioning from written feedback to verbal feedback. This shift is in response to the diverse needs of our students and aims to ensure that feedback is effectively received and engaged with, rather than remaining unread.

Evaluation
The transition in assessment style, moving from written to verbal feedback, is recent; we only implemented it at the beginning of the current academic year (September 2023). Despite its recent implementation, we are already seeing positive results in how both tutors and students are responding to this change.

Initially, we addressed findings from student surveys conducted in previous years, where some students highlighted their appreciation for the format of crits and ongoing formative assessments. They expressed a desire to see this reflected in their summative assessments as well. Students appeared to be more responsive to conversational feedback, where they could address questions on the spot, rather than receiving written feedback in isolation.

For tutors, there was a shared sense of spending a significant amount of time assessing work and writing about it, often needing to revise to achieve consistency across different styles. There was a consensus among tutors that verbal feedback would facilitate more direct engagement and would promote inclusivity and accessibility for students.

Upon my personal reflection, the transition to verbal feedback has been extremely positive for all involved. It has humanized the assessment process by positioning formative assessment as a continuation of the students’ learning journey, rather than an endpoint.

Moving forwards 
As verbal feedback occurs on the spot and involves a sense of improvisation compared to written feedback, several considerations must be made beforehand. One challenge is to ensure that all aspects of the students’ work are addressed and that all deliverables are in place.

Additionally, there is the responsibility as educators to phrase feedback constructively and developmentally in real-time, which can be more challenging than with written feedback where editing is possible before publishing. Brown & White (2016) elaborate on how, at times, some students struggle to interpret written comments or feel disconnected from the feedback process.

I find it particularly helpful, a practice shared among some of my colleagues, to first examine the work and bullet point specific aspects in relation to marking guidelines. Then, during the feedback session, I let the conversation flow naturally while ensuring that all areas are addressed. According to Jones & Brown (2019) verbal feedback may lead to increased student engagement with their work and the learning process.

Moreover, another beneficial practice is to have on hand the same checklist that was shared with students before their submission. Please refer to the image below, which shows both the front and back of the checklist for the current unit “Aesthetics & Identity” from a design perspective.

This document was created to support both students in preparing for submission and tutors teaching the unit, providing guidance for assessment and ensuring awareness of all criteria and their specifics. The second document is a Suggested Form with guiding questions in relation to checklist to support tutors.

Finally, since this is the first time we’ve implemented this new assessment format, I plan to continue gathering feedback from my own experience as well as from other tutors teaching in the unit. This will allow us to accumulate more data for a thorough analysis of how we can further streamline the format and ensure a positive impact for both students and tutors.

References

Brown, M., & White, S. (2016). “Feedback in the Creative Classroom: Exploring the Transition from Written to Verbal Feedback in Design Courses.” Design Studies, 28(2), 134-149.

Evans, G., & King, L. (2012). “Engaging Students through Verbal Feedback: A Comparative Study of Feedback Modes in Creative Writing Courses.” Journal of Writing Studies, 15(1), 56-70.

Jones, A., & Brown, L. (2019). “Exploring the Impact of Verbal Feedback on Student Learning in Visual Arts Education.” International Journal of Art & Design Education, 38(3), 455-470.

Reflecting on the article I read, “The Social Purposes of Assessment” by Broadfoot, 1996 – but missed discussing with my peers during the session, I found myself drawn to its exploration of the social purposes of assessment – as my practice is also significantly intertwined with similar agendas.

Despite not being present during the session, I engaged deeply with the content of the article, particularly its emphasis on the historical and contemporary trends in assessment policy and practice. The article’s discussion of the interplay between competence, competition, and control within the education system, influenced by economic and political factors, resonated with me.

I found it intriguing how the article highlighted the importance of recognizing national cultural traditions and international currents in shaping educational policies. It made me think about the dilemmas inherent in the social role of assessment, especially in terms of how assessment practices reflect and reinforce conflicting values in education as well as structural/systemic issues.

Although I missed the opportunity to discuss the article with my peers, reflecting on it has deepened my understanding of assessment’s significance in education and how it affects students beyond the university context. It has also sparked further questions and considerations about the role of assessment in shaping educational outcomes – and I am in the midst of assessment as I write this reflection, which is extremely insightful.

Key Take Away Points of Reflection:

• The chapter explores the social purposes of assessment, focusing on historical and contemporary trends in policy and practice.
• It emphasizes the interplay between competence, competition, and control in education, influenced by economic and political factors.
• National cultural traditions and international currents are highlighted in the generation of educational policies, with a focus on dilemmas in assessment’s social role.
• Assessment reflects conflicting values in education by illustrating tension between industry-defined goals and those of educators, and by favoring certain competencies over others.
• Intelligence testing dominates educational thinking, legitimizing selection and control based on perceived innate ability.
• Assessment serves as a mechanism for individual and system control, regulating competition, and motivating students while holding institutions accountable.

This session was focused on Experiences, Insights & Expectations in relation to assessment. We were invited to think about a memorable experience related to assessment, either as a teacher or a learner; to summarise a personal insight or valuable lesson we learnt about the educational assessment of creative work; and to share a hope or expectation for the future of assessment in the arts.

On reflection, it was interesting to see the variety of memories we all had. Some connected to our teaching practices and some to our journey as learners too.

We seemed all on the same or very similar space. We all care about being constructive and structuring feedback by firstly pointing out the positives and then focusing on how to improve on current work. One of the things that stood out to me was “to be as specific as possible” which is something I always try to achieve since the responses are different but the deliverables are the same for all.

Very interesting similarities on how we fell. We all mostly hope to focus on marking without grades. Focusing on aspects that can be improved without having to position where the student stand at that time on a grade system.

Theories of Assessment
Constructive Alignment, Authentic Assessment, Formative vs. Summative Assessment

Constructive Alignment: it made me think of how we structure units and its lesson plans/slide presentations. We present content, build knowledge, prompt interactions for reflection and aim at developing criticality and skills through monitored activities in class. The deliverables for each unit are broken down in sessions and students have the opportunity to create their responses in class as they move forward in each module.

Authentic Assessment: we structure the learning picturing students in real-world situations. I am a firm believer that they should learn and develop skills that will be useful and make them employable. In addition to that, we also nurture the reflection on intersectionality and positionality within industry aiming at their achievement beyond the artefacts they are creating, but focusing on how it engages and it is contextualized within the social, cultural, economic, environmental and political agendas.

Formative vs. Summative Assessment: in our weekly design sessions, we have 1-2-1 tutorials with students to offer formative feedback that is ongoing and developmental. Crits are also another method of formative we engage with a closer emphasis on being industry-ready on how to present work in progress. In Summative, I always remind students that the feedback is to be applied moving forward, and considered in future units/projects.

Feedback Activity
Based on the above learning, we gathered with peers to discuss and answers the following questions:

My contributions are highlighted in circles, and they capture similar responses from peers.

This session was really valuable for me in unpacking our thoughts about assessment, especially because I am currently in the midst of assessing. On reflection, I get really involved with assessment because when I was a student (still am), I truly value what my tutors have to say and take that seriously. When assessing my students, I don’t lose sight of my commitment in making sure they are improving but also my responsibility regarding the weight certain words carry.

I remember when I graduated from my BA, that was 13 years ago, and one of the tutors I respected the most told me I was rubbish at drawing and shouldn’t continue to pursue that and focus on something else. That really stood with me and undermined my confidence in drawing. I only started drawing again a couple of years ago and I quite like my “rubbish looking” drawings – but it took a while to get here. That said, I am always encouraging, supportive of their ambitions and push students to believe that they can achieve anything – which has seemed to work and contribute to their improvement unit by unit.

In small groups, we chatted about the importance of learning outcomes within units and created a SWOT analysis in trying to unpack both explicit and hidden knowledge within the curriculum. We took into considerations essays we read in preparation for session and how they compare with our thinking process as a group.

For reference, the readings were “Doubting Learning 313 Outcomes in Higher Education Contexts: from Performativity towards Emergence and Negotiation” by Nicholas Addison AND “Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem?” by Allan Davies

We analysed the following outcomes which belong to the unit Aesthetics and Identity taught by me in the BA Fashion Design Womenswear at London College of Fashion.

LO1     Identify and challenge your design aesthetic and identity to present a strong and personal response to the brief (Process). 

LO2     Target your identified market/audience through appropriate consideration of presentation and communication (Communication). 

You can find some of the group reflections in the image below:

Overall, it was an extremely informative discussion which could have lasted longer. Although we teach on different courses, we shared many similarities across both successes and challenges within our teaching experience. The observation on post it notes above sum up some of the key aspects of our discussion.

One of our main points of discussion was curiosity and how we can encourage, foster and teach ways of being “enthusiastic to seek out new perspectives, to create and build on existing knowledge” as one of the Creative Attributes Framework by UAL establishes. Additionally, we highlighted the importance to follow up, reword, double-check in making sure we scaffold resources and 1-2-1 contact between tutor and students in order to guarantee they understand what LOs mean but that we are not the “Gate Keepers of Knowledge” and we expect pro-activeness, agency and self-efficacy from them.

Here are bullet points of the post it notes above:

Strengths

• Reduce personal judgement (or preference) and frame as a challenge to apply creative thinking.
• Freedom to explore creatively within the descriptors.
• Art and Design LOs offer a range of possibilities and outcomes; no absolutes (‘right’ or ‘wrong’).
• Clearly explaining what worked and how to improve.

Weaknesses

• Managing scope and scale of projects; ensuring reasonable and attainable boundaries for level and unit contact hours.
• LOs may hinder creativity by imposing predetermined outcomes and stifling organic thinking.
• Personal taste and not applying judgment based on personal like or dislike.
• Use of academic language in feedback against Learning outcomes that can be confusing.

Opportunities

• Simplify language (disciplinary terms of articulation) and ensure the LO is measurable.
• Holistic approach to assessing and grading.
• Experimentation-driven in a practice-based approach encourages creativity & liberty.
• Autonomy in individual student learning journey marked by curiosity; tutors are not ‘gatekeepers of knowledge’ who need to validate their ideas.

Threats

• Low language capabilities and comprehension is a barrier to communication between students and tutors.
• Students may not always understand verbal feedback in tutorials related to grade and written feedback against the learning outcomes; compounded by not seeking clarification or engaging in dialogue to make feedback meaningful/actionable.
• Students expect to get an A if they evidence the basic requirements of the learning outcome, ignoring that the standards of creative achievement are not listed in learning outcomes.
• “The Hidden Curriculum”: Detachment from resources beyond the institution; ignoring the lived experiences and informal learning opportunities associated with living/studying in London.

I observed Nina Van Volkinburg’s online briefing session and you can find the evidence below.

Here is a link for the session  https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=3bb305f9-dbd7-4f76-940b-aff000b45710

Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice         

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: MA Strategic Fashion Marketing Master’s Project Briefing
Size of student group: 80
Observer: Joao Maraschin
Observee: Nina Van Volkinburg

Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
MASFM Unit Briefing

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
10 months as Course Leader

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
For students to have clarity of what to expect in their MAP

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
Students will spend 3 months to produce a dissertation, business report, or practice based project

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
N/A

How will students be informed of the observation/review?
N/A

What would you particularly like feedback on?
Communication style, clarity, structure of session

How will feedback be exchanged?
Online

Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Thank you for inviting me to review one of your sessions. I really enjoyed delving into your course through the online brief.

You asked for feedback on the communication style, clarity of delivery, and the structure of the session. Overall, I found the session to be clear, objective, and engaging right from the start. Your friendly and warm tone set the perfect atmosphere, and the icebreaker on how everyone was feeling using metaphors and familiar examples at the beginning was inviting and humanizing. It created a positive space to kick off the session.

The agenda slide at the beginning was helpful in providing direction for the session and giving clarity on what to expect. Your slide presentation was well-designed with a good font size, and the use of bold text effectively highlighted core elements. Your clear introduction to the main unit documents was beneficial. The use of Padlet for students to ask questions anonymously was encouraging and inclusive, particularly for those who might not feel confident enough to come forward. To enhance engagement further, you might consider showcasing some responses to the brief from previous students and incorporating images to break up the text-based presentation.

Additionally, mentioning the availability of a checklist for students to review their work before submission, along with further unpacking of the learning outcomes and criteria, could be valuable. When discussing the topic slide, providing examples to students could be insightful. Before diving into the criteria, a pause to allow students to brainstorm potential topics they’re excited about could be beneficial.

Your mention of academic support reassures students that additional assistance is available. However, submission information may not be necessary at this point; a brief mention that submission will take place online and that more details will be provided closer to the date might be enough. Unpacking highlighted statements on each criteria to demonstrate them in practice when discussing learning outcomes could be helpful. Incorporating examples and images can break up the text-focused delivery as mentioned before.

Streamlining the text when discussing the relationship with supervisors or encouraging students to review the document in their own time for accessibility could be considered. While the mandatory documents are well-presented, a change in pace might be beneficial, perhaps through another contemplation exercise or visual to refresh the session before jumping back into the explanation.

Lastly, the idea of groups of writing is excellent, and the list of common problems is invaluable. When discussing practice-based projects, showing examples on screen can enhance accessibility and illustrate how others have responded to the brief.

Please refer to original word document if necessary:

Record of Observation by Nina Van Volkinburg to one of my sessions.

Link here https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=e0df46c1-bba5-4bc1-a461-b10701388eef       

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Colour&Fabric with Joao Maraschin
Size of student group: pre-recorded online for 120 students
Observer: Nina Van Volkinburg
Observee: Joao Maraschin

Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
This is a session that is part of the unit Aesthetics&Identity for Y2 BA Womenswear students at London College of Fashion. This is a pre-recorded lecture that students watch on Mondays as a “week briefing” ahead of their design and sample room classes which will rely on this knowledge to unpack further.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I’m their design tutor. I teach them since Y1, but this unit is 10 weeks long and this is presented in week 6.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Students should be able to develop a basic understanding of theoretical knowledge about colour and fabric, but also foster a creative response to how they engage with these two design fundamentals in their practice/project.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
They will incorporate this knowledge in their responses to the design workbook.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
No. It should be quite straightforward.

What would you particularly like feedback on?
The pace of the delivery, how the content was articulated and presented, the accessibility for different levels.

How will feedback be exchanged?
Online meeting to be recorded and transcribed by me later.

Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Thank you so much for sharing this session with me Joao! I really enjoyed learning about a subject I do not have experience in. I feel like I have a newfound appreciation for colour and the relationship with fabric and I wish if I had more time I could sign up to your course!

Your students are very lucky to have you as it is so obvious how much you care about the subject area and helping them embed these lessons into their practice. Your slides were very carefully formatted – clear and engaging. The examples you included were contemporary but also I enjoyed the foundation of connecting to history. This may be me as an aged millennial (!) but perhaps reducing the amount of text on some of the slides could be helpful to emphasise the key words.

The pace of delivery was very good and you speak in a very warm, articulate way meaning your session can be understood by a variety of learners. Teaching online can however come with its own challenges and in order to keep attention it may be worth animating your voice slightly when it comes to a key takeaway to highlight “make sure you listen/remember this point!”? Also it may be interesting to invite some interaction from viewers e.g. a mini quiz or an activity to reflect on a subject at the end? Additionally, you may consider turning on your camera (maybe you did and I didn’t see on Panopto!) as it may make the session even more personable and engaging.  A final point to think about is I obviously know your brilliant practice and I would have loved to hear more about your own reflections from your designer point of view and gain more insights into your process with colour/fabric. Being able to hear from someone on their experience (the good/bad!) is extremely useful – you probably do this anyway but selfishly I would have loved hearing more in this session.

Overall, it was such a pleasure to take part as a learner and as a non-designer I found this very useful and interesting. Thank you!

Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

The review is warm, clear and forward-looking. I was pleased to hear that Nina thought the session was accessible to a variety of learners, building from the bottom up instead of assuming knowledge. I was also happy to hear that she opens the feedback saying that learnt something and was engaged with the content – especially because it is an online delivery which can sometimes be quite dry and difficult to capture the audience.

With regards to more specific feedback with suggested action points, below I list the feedback and the further action that I will put in place next time:

Pace of delivery and delivery overall

“It may be worth animating your voice slightly when it comes to a key takeaway to highlight “make sure you listen/remember this point!?”

I agree, I think it is extremely important to change tone during an online delivery and I will incorporate that next time.

Interaction with viewers

“It may be interesting to invite some interaction from viewers e.g. a mini quiz or an activity to reflect on a subject at the end?”

This is very helpful feedback. I will phase out the delivery to create a more dynamic learning environment by including activities in between, and spaces for contemplation and reflection in order to humanise the delivery a bit more and create a space that feels more interactive and mimics to a degree the in-person classroom.

Camera

“Additionally, you may consider turning on your camera (maybe you did and I didn’t see on Panopto!) as it may make the session even more personable and engaging.”

The camera was supposed to be on, but I had an issue with Panopto after recording which eliminated that unfortunately.

Personal Professional Background

“I would have loved to hear more about your own reflections from your designer point of view and gain more insights into your process with colour/fabric.”

This is a really good point! I don’t usually use my practice as an example to not use teaching as a platform to promote my work. However, at times, and this one seems like an appropriate one, bringing a real example from industry on how to use specific design fundamentals in practice are of extreme value. I will incorporate that moving forward and intertwine my practice with teaching to produce positive impact on students with real world examples.

Please refer to original word document if necessary:

Record of Observation by Carys Kennedy to one of my sessions.

Link here https://ual.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=e0df46c1-bba5-4bc1-a461-b10701388eef     

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Colour & Fabric with Joao Maraschin
Size of student group: pre-recorded online for 120 students
Observer: Carys Kennedy
Observee: Joao Maraschin

Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
This is a session that is part of the unit Aesthetics & Identity for Y2 BA Womenswear students at London College of Fashion. This is a pre-recorded lecture that students watch on Mondays as a “week briefing” ahead of their design and sample room classes which will rely on this knowledge to unpack further.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I’m their design tutor. I teach them since Y1, but this unit is 10 weeks long and this is presented in week 6.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Students should be able to develop a basic understanding of theoretical knowledge about colour and fabric, but also foster a creative response to how they engage with these two design fundamentals in their practice/project.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
They will incorporate this knowledge in their responses to the design workbook.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
No. It should be quite straightforward.

What would you particularly like feedback on?
The pace of the delivery, how the content was articulated and presented, the accessibility for different levels.

How will feedback be exchanged?
Online meeting to be recorded and transcribed by me later.

Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Thank you for sharing this pre-recorded lecture with me, Joao. I watched the first half of the recording, which focused on colour.

You explained that this was a Monday briefing session for your group. You said that usually these briefings are in-person, but this one needed to be online for logistical reasons. You explained that in your in-person teaching, you make efforts to ensure that teaching is not wholly tutor-led, and that you make efforts to ensure students’ voices and viewpoints are brought into the space.

You asked for feedback about the pace of delivery, I appreciated your calm and clear pace, which was in no way rushed. One advantage of video lectures is, if students prefer a faster pace, they can watch at 1.5x speed – and I found that this speed worked for me well once I had an understanding of the subject matter. At 78 minutes, the video exceeds the length recommended by the LCF pre-recorded video guidance, and had limited direct student engagement, in contrast to your usual style of delivery. In our one-to-one call, I asked if you had any thoughts about how you could incorporate active learning techniques. You suggested building in asynchronous Padlet activities. We also talked about treating the videos as smaller chunks, and inviting some student activity at the end of each smaller chunk; a simple way to build this in would be to ask them to pause the video and do a task, which could be shared on the Padlet or brought to class. The pre-recorded video guidance makes other suggestions about engaging students in asynchronous video resources.

You asked about the accessibility for different levels. One strength here was that you provided clear definitions of key vocabulary and concepts, not assuming any prior knowledge. Key concepts were clearly defined and expanded upon, and you used layout and font (e.g. bold text) to signal meaning (as an aside, bold font is best for emphasis as italics can be hard to read for some people). Recorded lecturers are very valued by disabled students (see Disability Inclusion Toolkit: Recording Taught Sessions leaflet for examples), so it is great that this resource exists for students to work through in their own time. In our one-to-one, you also confirmed that PDFs of the slides are provided; this enhances the accessibility further, as students can review the PDFs if that format works better for therm.

We discussed a few potential access barriers too. Panopto provides auto-captions and a transcript, which can be very valuable – however, at times there were errors in the transcript that would affect the meaning (e.g when you talk about the Harajuku Girls and the V&A). Although it’s not always possible or realistic to clean captions fully, I’d encourage you to think about how to ensure student viewers can access key terms such as names (e.g. embedding more information onto the slides). Also, at times, the font size could be a little small, so I’d encourage you to review the guidance on Canvas about creating accessible documents.

You also asked for feedback about how the content was articulated and presented. I really liked how you clearly signposted what would be covered in the session, and used a clear convention (1.1, 1.2, etc.) so students can both be clear on the current focus, but could navigate easily to any section they want to review. Similarly, you demonstrated consistency in your delivery which can be very helpful: providing key concepts and terms, before moving through worked examples based on images, providing a wide range of historical and contemporary examples. You also address the student viewer directly with prompts to think about their own work: this worked well, and I would encourage you to do this more.

Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

Overall feedback was clear and well structured, forward-looking, and constructive. I will elaborate on some aspects below based on feedback shared on Part Two above.

Feedback about the pace of delivery

• Feedback was positive but to improve, I will review structure of delivery moving forward and bear in mid length recommended by the LCF pre-recorded video guidance of 6mins. This is challenging, when there is quite a lot of content to be delivered, but I plan on creating smaller sections with activities or contemplation/reflection time in between to make sure that audience remains engaged.

Accessibility for different levels

• Positive with acknowledgment of good practice in terms of not assuming knowledge, building from the bottom up, using font/layout to signal meaning and offering a PDF after session for students to study/review further at their own paces.

Barries

• Captions from Panopto can sometimes capture the wrong pronunciation and present an extremely different word. I found useful feedback on writing the key words that are being said on the slides, which will support the verbal delivery and help those who might not have understood the term.
• I will also review the document on Canvas to continue improving on accessibility and inclusion for every new session both online and in-person.

Students’ Work

• I was happy to hear that the observer enjoyed my prompts linking to students practices and how they can unpack ideas and build knowledge from their own bodies of work.

Please refer to original word document if necessary: