Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: One to One tutorials with final year students
Size of student group: 30 students in the group / but for the observation time, possibly 3 to 4 students will be seen for the observation.
Observer:
Observee: Stephanie Cooper
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?
Unit 11 tutorials – Collection Realisation, creating garment prototypes from the student unit 9 design process
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
Since 1st year – so all 3 years of their study. As Pathway Leader BA Fashion Design:Communication
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Enquiry, Knowledge, Process, Realisation
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
A toiled Collection of 6 prototype looks made from an already created design process.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
none
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
In person as the tutorials are 1 to 1 so in 1 hour it is possible to see around 3 students
What would you particularly like feedback on?
The level of creative advice and clarity of information of suggestions made in the tutorial
How will feedback be exchanged?
Through the available format.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
I joined Stephanie on campus and in the design studio at CSM where she was facilitating tutorials with her final year students. It was interesting firstly to learn about the course structure which is a combination of marketing and fashion design and the benefits of the students studying both disciplines. One student observed had already secured a marketing position and Stephanie that his understanding of how to create a fashion collection, in particular the amount of work that goes into the creation of garments, helped him in the successful appointment of his role.
It was a real pleasure to observe Stephanie in action during her tutorial session. I observed that she is personable, welcoming, and open with her students, creating a safe space and a reciprocal dialogue which is both validating and useful to the students in the development of their work. Walking through the corridors of CSM you could tell that Stephanie is well liked on campus and it was great to get a sense of the overall operation prior to the tutorial observation.
During my time with Stephanie, I had the opportunity to sit through three tutorials and was struck immediately with the inventiveness and quality of the work produced by the students (something that has inspired me to actively encourage my own students to become more hands on in their experimentation). Whilst delivering her feedback Stephanie would continually refer to the student’s research and back to the work being shown offering up helpful suggestions as well as opening questions to her students that were thought provoking and inspiring. She was very good at identifying areas that needed attention, challenging the students to take ownership and rectify potential problems. Referring particularly to student number one who needed to spend some time adding in functionality to her garments but seemed to have a clear understanding of how to go about achieving the requirement by the end of her tutorial.
Furthermore, commenting on the structure, it was really interesting to hear that a sequence of tutorials have been booked in, in preparation for a big critique with the head of the course in a few weeks’ time. This demonstrated a real consideration for the student experience in its aims to build them up and enable them to feel ready both for important course deadlines as well as the professional world.
To conclude, it’s clear that Stephanie has struck a balance of giving good advice to her students while also being very mindful of their thoughts and feelings, empowering the students to help themselves taking a central role in the developmental process. I found my time with her very inspiring as a tutor and felt that I learnt a lot that I’d like to input into my own practice. Thank you, Stephanie!
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
It is really insightful to receive the observations made by Emily as I aim to allow final year students to be empowered by their decisions based on their in depth research while being aware of the implications that their creative direction can lead to and being fully responsible in taking ownership of their entire creative process. I open up a challenging discussion about the design decision making while supporting students within their learning environment, so it is helpful to see that Emily had observed this process and commented on it. It is very rewarding for me to see how Emily understood the main points of the discussions held with students in the tutorials and to see how this created a safe space to identify areas in the student work that needed more attention and further development, and also to allow students to feel confident about the important decision making made within the design process and to see this as an continuously evolving creative output that was enabled by a nurturing and challenging discussion in tutorials.
I am particularly going to focus and act on the area outlined by Emily about creating a confident build up to the students attitude towards their work before the up coming important presentation deadline and to help them feel empowered by what they will present knowing that they have received constant critique and appraisal throughout the tuition process. The comments made about students taking a central role in their decision making is a really good description of how I would like them to approach their learning.