Learner Centered Design Education

This is a meandering reflection upon the ideas we churned in the cauldron that bubbled away 15 years ago. It was a different Australia. Though the people were equally gorgeous. What of things that we set in motion? That can be a treasure hunt for you. 

The Learner Centered Project received a university award in 2005. One and a Half years after commencement. It went on till 2007. The current project My First 6 Months (LINK) carries much of the dna of what is these days referred to as progressive pedagogy. My short hand, method, avoids these changing fashions in names for this kind of work. Thats it. It is just method focussed. Not content focussed.

Quote: From the Award submission text.

The Learner Centered Project (LCP)

The LCP is primarily concerned with bringing about change in the way the community of Industrial Design students and staff think about education, university life and each other. The staff within the program are committed to continually improve their pedagogic practices. Other programs in the school have also expressed a desire to try some of the innovations of the LCP.

Some of the changes brought about by the LCP to the Industrial Design program have been explicit; for example, the walls of the building have been painted red or learning contracts have been introduced to courses as a teaching strategy. Other outcomes have been implicit; for example, changes in staff attitude to their academic roles or positive responses from the program team to students articulating issues of concern. In their entirety, the complete range and depth of shifts has contributed to an overall sense of the learning environment of the program being remarkably different to what it used to be.

Approval of the changes experienced in the community is made obvious in the conversations, emails and attitudes expressed formally and informally amongst students and staff as they learn, study and work together. Satisfaction with these changes is also expressed in the increased amount of student activity and energy that is now present in the program building.

Anecdotal feedback from students certainly indicates an awareness and appreciation of the changes that enable them to have:

“full creative freedom” “a relaxed environment”

“a fun and approachable atmosphere”

“the ability to go where we want within the program” and to

“learn and experience a whole new level of design”

Since the LCP has been introduced, students sense a positive change in the dynamic of the Industrial Design community and are supportive of this shift, as indicated in the following student comment:

“I cant’ wait to see where we go and what we achieve as a group and as individuals”.

Full text: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/the-learner-centered-project-2003-2007/

Acknowledgements: 

Barbara de la Harpe: I was only meeting you for a coffee as part of my induction. You heard something in what I was saying. You supported me. So you were the awesomest. Thank you.

Helen McLean: You carried the whole project on your shoulders. We just came along for the ride.

John Milton: You held the whole community - all students and staff - in the meeting. 

Liam Fennessy: You were our 'activism' focussed agent.

And my audience? "Deja Vu !!! I was transported to your class in Back studio. Loved it. Thanks. Looking forward to more." (from Detroit)

ADDITIONAL 

Learner Centered Design Education: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/

This one is for you, Raja.

You and I would sit outside the Youth Hostel. Remember us laughing at the tours? Cold wind, and cross the water from St Marcos. We saw tour groups - being led by their guides. The Backpackers and the Tour Groups.

You are no longer with us. A young life. No more. You came from Holland and I travelled from India. It was our Italy tour. A time of endless conversations.

Dead Poets Society: Link

A Few Good Men: LINK

Learner Centered Design Education: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/

Design is what designers do #1

Blog Post: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/2021/10/26/design-is-what-designers-do-1/

Because I work within hospitals I do ethics applications for my projects. Because I have designed projects, written up their workplan, pitched them to hospital teams and executed the projects, I have learnt a lot about Ethics Applications. Because I supervise PhD students, Masters Students and Honours students - I say to them; "Hey, would you like to learn how to do an ethics application?". "So that you can put it into your CV and go looking for part time research work?"

I focus upon 'project design' aka how to design a project and how to describe the design as a workplan. 

For the nitty gritty details of ethics the youtube Playlist I have made does a good job to get your learning to a good place.

My YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU7nrcTLINEScnDKD2s56Ie95rBt94B_D

Outro music, Iain Soumitri: https://iainsoumitri.com/

This is a recording also available, since 2016, in a blog authored by Howard Erry. I am speaking here about a research project - I Love Blended Learning. This is what was in those days the School of Architecture and Design. I was at that time the Deputy Dean of a Design Cluster (Industrial Design, Interior Design and the Master of Design Innovation and Technology). The focus of the project was on activating teaching staff to use more digital and online affordances in their courses. The focus was also upon programs, to get them to have a deliberate toolkit and format of how they populate their Learning Management System (LMS). The LMS at that time was Blackboard.

Soumitri Varadarajan: http://soumitri.com.au/

The outro music is by Iain Soumitri - https://www.instagram.com/soumitristudio/

Imagine you are given just 2 hours to assemble an endnote bibliography for your (PhD) research project. This bibliography in addition is required to have 250 references. You are playing the role of a ‘research assistant’ in a high pressure research organisation – aka working for a ‘think tank’.

When doing a lit review you need to 'set up the bookshelf'

I use the book shelf analogy to describe - buying a shelf from ikea (setting up endnote with categories, tags and groups), going to the bookshop/s to browse (aka downloading bibliographies from the internet - aka "bibliography of socially engaged art", and peering into the bibliographies in dissertations), asking people to suggest books to buy (asking people about books and articles, authors they recommend).

This search is best done with four goals - two above the line and two below the line:

1. Philosophy: To get books/ works on the philosophy of ... (20)

2. The sociology of - aka ethnographic accounts  (20)

3. Field of Research: what are the works of others, case studies, artists, works, genres, ... in the research question area, (50)

4. Your Project: Your Reflections, your readings/ what are the texts from your past .. that have informed you up to this point. (50)

Then comes the task of buying the books and putting them into the bookshelf (this is done by inserting the book titles into the RMIT lib site and saving the RIS, reference, for that book - so you dont have to type into endnote), the buying of books (finding new references for your endnote) continues through the PhD and life after.

Once the bookshelf is full of books - a typical bookshelf may contain about 300 books, and many more articles (so an endnote ref list for a PhD can "start" with between 250 to 400 references) - the books needs to be organised. Some people organise alphabetically (or by color of spine) – a research ‘bookshelf’ is best organsied by themes. Multiuple overlapping themes – aka a since ref sits in multiple themes.

Say each shelf is a theme - so 5 shelves 5 themes/ 6 themes. These themes are the 'smart groups' in endnote. So you can teg references - insert the theme name into keywords. Once done you have a well organised library for your PhD.

Now you can start reading.

Intro: Silk, BBC Drama

Youtube: Importing excel into Endnote LINK

10 प्रश्न 10 questions 

Learner Centered Design Education: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/

Learner Centered Design Education: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/

The idea that the student has grown up as a goat herd and has played with goats. That she has an emotional attachment with goats. That she will miss the goats when she is at school. Is a powerful strength that provides a channel into activating the student's agency.

Intro voice Zain.

Learner Centered Design Education: https://rawslearn.wordpress.com/