Learning Designs - Products of the AUTC project on ICT-based learning designs
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Pedagogy Notes
History
Evaluation
Designer Debrief

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Pedagogy Notes

 

The theory that underpins this learning design is structured around the following philosophy.

The focus of the Arts Education team is the teaching and researching of aspects of human development and learning in, through, with and about the Arts across the life span. This focus sits within school of education particularly, but also is contextualised within wider conceptions of education more generally.

The members of this team are particularly concerned to further an awareness of the Arts in four ways:

  1. The arts as a powerful tool in holistic, humanities and global education.
  2. The arts as ways of knowing about our world, and ourselves that is, the arts in service of other areas.
  3. The study of, about, and in the individual arts disciplines.
  4. Other studies at the service of the arts; that is educational concepts, ideas and methodologies—including arts based research—introduced or integrated into the study of the arts themselves.

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History

 

ORIGIN OF THE LEARNING DESIGN
The creative arts teaching team originally developed the learning design as a way of addressing some of the diminished opportunities for students to study arts education early in the structure of their combined degree.

The online aspect to the learning design was first developed a year later. The reason for this was that the co-ordinator of this learning design believed online learning design had the potential to improve learning outcomes as well as to break down the isolation of distance learning. In her opinion, the Arts are particularly well suited to new forms of technology and often arts practitioners are able to see the artistic and expressive potential of new technologies.

TIMES THE LEARNING DESIGN HAS BEEN USED
Three times (in 3 years) as an online unit.

MODIFICATIONS SINCE FIRST USE
Small modifications have been made since its inception. Modifications include:

  • In 2000, the original artists' work no longer was exhibited alongside student work because of copyright issues.
  • The music forums became active in 2001after the new music instructor took part in the online component.
  • Student online communication in the learning design became compulsory in 2000 after it was realised that only 25% of students took an active role in this when it was optional.
  • A class 'arts' glossary was added to the home page in 2000 once the design was perfected for easy use. (A previous effort had been unsuccessful.)

DISSEMINATION
Some aspects of the learning design have been reused for two other creative arts subject units. These units all have an online presence.

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Evaluation

 

RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON THE DESIGN
There have been student evaluations completed each year of lecturer teaching performance not the learning design itself. The lecturer evaluations however, also incorporate questions about other aspects of the course, such as the organisation of unit content, selection of texts and resources, assessment tasks, feedback to students about progress, etc.

A small sample of the selected data is as follows:
(There was a 32 % response rate from students)

1. The lecturer organised unit content in ways that facilitated my learning:
71% Strongly agreed, 21% Moderately agreed, 7% slightly agree, 0% slightly disagree, 0% strongly disagreed.

2. The lecturer selected texts and readings that were useful aids to my learning:
64% Strongly agree, 21% Moderately agree, 14% slightly agree, 0% slightly disagree, 0% moderately disagree, 0% strongly disagree.

3. The lecturer made effective use of teaching aids and media where appropriate:
86% Strongly agree, 14% moderately agree, 0% slightly agree moderately disagree and strongly disagree.

4.The lecturer made all unit assessment requirements clear:
79% strongly agree, 21% moderately agree, 0% slightly agree moderately agree and strongly disagree.

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Designer Debrief

 

DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS VERSUS INTENDED OUTCOMES

The learning design worked well to connect students and break down isolation.

The discussion between students assisted them to reflect on their approaches to art and music tasks and their understanding of the resource materials. Students have found the learning design user-friendly and the personal support and encouragement they have received to be very good. The choices of art/music tasks also appear to have stimulated their interest and enthusiasm for the subject.

The learning design could be developed further to provide more in- depth analysis of the reading materials and applied tasks. This could be achieved if the online learning is structured better, further links are established (e.g. hyperlinks) and more scaffolding of learning is provided by the instructors.

The unfortunate reality is there is no real time for the designer to spend with on-going training and development of the learning design because high teaching loads and other commitments make this difficult. 'Hands on' technical support has also been minimal in the past.

UNEXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Some of the most unexpected learning outcomes have been the links that have been established to the wider arts and education fields.

Some students have been involved in community arts-based research in the course of doing the visual arts assignment. This active engagement has lead to a few students being asked by art museums and schools to lead and assist with future arts projects. Other outcomes have been, for example, that a student has had her artwork published in a community magazine and another had her written research paper included in a professional artist's web site.

HOW LEARNER ENGAGEMENT IS SUPPORTED
The learning design supports learner engagement because:

  • Learners' expectations are identified and built upon in terms of offering them an introduction to music and visual arts skills and knowledge as well giving them a quick 'snapshot' of classroom arts teaching practices.
  • Learners’ prior experiences are taken into account because it is assumed that they have very little formal training in the arts and no prior teacher education training.
  • Learners experience key concepts in multiple ways. For example, through analysis of other artists' work and through reading the selected texts they begin to recognise the artistic concepts (e.g. symbols and techniques, style and form) artists' use in their making of their art and the effect this has on viewers. These concepts are then applied to the creation of their own artworks as it is expected that they will be able to clarify the purpose of their works and the choices they have made in the artistic process.
  • Learners have some opportunities for peer interaction and feedback through online discussions and in the brief period of the face to face teaching.
  • The assessment tasks support engagement because they demand personal involvement and reflection as well as requiring learners to synthesise practical and theoretical knowledge.
  • Learners are encouraged to reflect on their own learning experience. For example, they are asked to reflect upon what they understand (through personal experience) about what it means to be a learner in the arts. This is considered in relation to children's experiences of learning in the arts so that they may gain an awareness of the qualities and sensitivities that they need to develop as future teachers of the arts.
  • Learners are given a sense of control because there is some flexibility for them to interpret and conduct their own investigations as well as selecting the particular subject matter that will form the basis of these investigations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF LEARNING CONTEXT
Do the activities link both specifically to the field of study/professional practice and consider the broader context (such as social, political, economic, and environmental) circumstances?
The activities are linked to the field of study and professional practice in that students are encouraged to identify critical issues in the field of arts education and reflect on a range of solutions to the challenges of arts teaching in schools.

There is however little attempt to incorporate the broader context of social, political, economic and environmental circumstances.

Does the learning design assist students to see how their learning can be used in other situations than the ones given?
Students should be able to recognise and use various forms of graphic and musical communication that can be used in other life and learning situations. They should also be able to use the kinds of information literacy skills and knowledge that are introduced in this course in their on-going training. Their foundational pedagogical knowledge should also be able to be applied to future teaching career situations. Furthermore, this knowledge helps students who become (or already are) parents understand their own children from a developmental perspective.

Are there cultural assumptions built into the learning design?
Students are expected to demonstrate an awareness of the global context of the arts disciplines and be able to function in a multicultural or global context. However, it is also anticipated that students will be able to begin to recognise different cultural and historical nuances in Australian works of art as well as study school education and teacher training in an Australian context

HOW THE LEARNING DESIGN CHALLENGES LEARNERS
Are students given the opportunity to question their knowledge and experience thus becoming self-critical of the limits of their knowledge base and their assumptions?
There are some opportunities for reflection on knowledge and assumptions although as a foundational course there is an assumption that all students are aware that the knowledge base covered in the design is very limited, particularly in terms of teaching methodology and practice.

Does the learning setting assist students to go beyond the resources provided for them?
Yes, information on new texts and resources is constantly communicated to others.

Are students able to make decisions about planning, directing and assessing their own learning?
Some decisions are made as to planning the content and format of the learning tasks. Students are, however, directed towards doing particular tasks and they are not required to assess their own learning. This learning design is more instructor-directed largely because students are just beginning their studies and the instructor's perception is that more guidance is warranted.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRACTICE
Are students encouraged to articulate and demonstrate to themselves and to others what they are learning?
Yes, but only minimally.

Is sufficient practice provided to enable expertise to be realised?
Yes, but more practice would be advisable.

Does the learning design help students to apply criteria that indicates they are learning appropriately?
Yes, but criteria could be made more explicit to them at the start of the learning design.

Is appropriate feedback available at key points in the learning process?
Yes, there is appropriate feedback in both a written form and through online forums, however, more timely feedback by instructors would improve this.

Is there a clear alignment between the activities conducted and how the students are assessed?
Yes, there is a good alignment between activities and assessment.

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