Below, I’ve made notes and personal reflections on some of the key teaching and learning theories and concepts outlined in this chapter.
Constructivist learning theory. (Piaget 1950)
We fit new knowledge & understanding into existing (old) understanding & knowledge and ‘construct’ structures of knowledge, termed ‘schemata. Schemata must change (be rearranged) form learning to occur.
Deep & Surface approaches to learning (Marton 1975)
Deep learning can be encouraged through a student focused approach to teaching (Prosser & Trigwell 1999)
If they can gain the maximum meaning for the new knowledge by relating it to other knowledge and concepts they already hold, this will involve higher levels of cognitive processing and likely deeper learning.
Surface learning refers to completing a singular task or remembering facts. Learning that doesn’t have much relation to existing knowledge or meaning.
My Reflections:
I feel that can relate the theory of deeper learning to the learning that I aimed to facilitate in my case study A2. My aim was to adopt a student focused approach that encouraged them to make connections with their existing knowledge and understanding of design and the climate crisis and ask them to consider this in relation to their own future careers. This requires some level of critical thinking and the synthesis of knowledge and ideas in relation to themselves and their lives.
Threshold Concepts (Meyer & Land 2006)
The key principles or concepts related to a discipline which are essential for further, deeper learning to occur. Foundational knowledge that leads to subsequent understanding.
Reflection and application of Threshold Concepts;
In Communication Design this would be the basic principles of visual language and visual literacy. These building blocks of visual communication include, colour, signs & symbols, (semiotics), space and composition, mark-making and basic typographic principles etc. In the first two weeks of the 14 week portfolio course I lead, we focus on learning and experimenting with these foundational principles through a series of short exercises which have group work elements. This can be a challenging part of the course, as some students are very new to some concepts, but they often refer back to the exercises in these first two weeks after the course progresses and they include and talk about including elements of these principles in their subsequent design projects. So this theory of threshold concepts is something that really echos with my experience of teaching communication design.
Experiential Learning & Reflection (David Kolb (1984)
Kolb Learning Cycle (below) doing (CE) and reflecting (RO) are required. ‘Reflection turns experience into learning’ (Boud Et al. 1985)
Honey & Mumford Styles of Learning (1982). They suggest that a person’s preferred style will include and combination of 2 or more of these.
Reflection:
Reflecting on my own teaching experience, the example I discuss in my A1 case study, would be more suited to Pragmatists and Activists. The example I give is, planning a group activity with a task that directly relates to the principles and practice introduced in a project briefing given immediately beforehand. I task the groups with producing a defined outcome to be achieved in a time limit, usually 2 hours. I use this quick turnaround in part to create a sense of energy and group problem solving in order to meet this challenge. This aligns closely with the activist style.
Lev Vygotsky (1978) ’emphasised the social and cultural context and process in development and learning’ ZPD: Zone of proximal Development is a central concept which refers to the space in which we can achieve or learn with the help of others. Therefore instruction and guidance (and society) are crucial. This work influenced Bruner’s scaffolding theory (1976), which places a high importance on social learning and interaction. In contrast to Piaget’s theory which sees learning as a more independent cognitive process .
Lave & Wenger 1991: Another social theory of leaning – ‘situated learning’. Knowledge and learning must be gained in context with / in relation to others collectively. They termed this ‘community of practice’. Legitimate peripheral participation is a term they use to describe the learners, but being part of and within the community of practice, not outside of it. “learning by immersion in the new community and absorbing its modes of action and meaning as a part of the process of becoming a community member“.
Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reflection:
In autumn 2021 I started teaching on the level 5 contextual module Graphic Communication Design BA at CSM. The unit is called Communities of Practice. I am one of a number of tutors who works with a tutorial group to guide them to reflect on their practical design work in the wider context of theory and practice. Before the PG cert reading, I didn’t know that this term Communities of Practice referred to the work of Lave & Etienne. I was of course aware of the ethos of this unit, of students beginning to situate their practice in the context of a lager community and context. But now knowing the origin of this term, I feel that I more fully understand the module and my role as a tutor with it. I feel my role is to be a fellow practitioner and support and encourage them to view and situate their own evolving practice in relation to each others, mine and the other tutors and the wider creative community. When I was asked to talk about my own practice, as all tutors were, one of my clear messages was that our creative practice is always evolving along a path, and that we’re all at different places on that path. The students being less far along that path, but that doesn’t in any way negate the value of their practice. This I though very much echoed the ethos of communities of practice.
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At the end of this chapter, there are a number of bullet points which IO found very useful, as they attempt to translate the theory into best practice teaching method and insights (see below).
There are a few which jumped out at me and can relate to the examples I write about in my case studies.
Reflection:
Prior knowledge needs to be activated, and learners bring valuable experience to learning both seem closely linked to deep learning, building on and fitting into existing knowledge and structures. To think about something in relation to other contexts and the wider world (not just as something confined to the classroom) is something I aimed to encourage in my case study A2 when teaching about sustainable design to undergraduate design students. Using a whole person approach I challenged them to critically examine their past, present and future design practice and also their experience as consuming global citizens.