Author: Emily Sunnucks

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Object based design session

Size of student group: 10

Observer: Carys Kennedy

Observee: Emily Sunnucks

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?

To discuss a session that I ran on 22.2.24 titled ‘design research review’ – the session was for a duration of 2.5hours and was constructed as such:

• First 10 mins – reflect on the most recent hand in and how they were feeling following their first submission
• Split class into two (approx 5 per group), 1 group to do the ‘object based exercise’ and 1 group to participate in group feedback relating to their chosen brand and research topics.
• Last 10mins of session for reflection of exercise.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

I’ve been working with this group since they joined us in October and am their design tutor as well as year group tutor.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

LO1     Utilise research to support the design and development process (Enquiry).

LO2     Create commercially focused design ideas for footwear design (Realisation,  

                Process).

LO3             Contextualise your design ideas through the writing of a design rationale   

               (Communication, Enquiry).

LO4             Demonstrate effective presentation skills including Verbal and Digital methods

               (Communication).

LO5         Work in a team effectively (Communication).

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

Students will make a shoe, produce a technical file, sketchbook and portfolio – This session focused on the very beginning stages of the project: research/enquiry

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

I wanted to reflect generally on the time management of the session, as I felt group 2 didn’t benefit as well from the designed activity.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

NA

What would you particularly like feedback on?

The structure of the class and how to manage the designated lesson time so that students get the most out of the session.

How will feedback be exchanged?

Through the form

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Thanks Emily for talking me through the object-based learning activity you did with your students. You described the activity, where you asked students to bring in an object which represents their identity. In the session, you asked students to write about the object for five minutes; you then gave them ten minutes to draw the object. You explained that the intended learning outcome was for students to observe details more deeply, and to practice ‘noticing’. You acknowledged that your students are often multitasking and moving between images/videos very quickly, so this activity gives a rare opportunity to pause on one particular activity.

You split the group into two groups of five. One group did the object-based learning activity, while you discussed sketchbook feedback with the other. The group size was dictated in part by the sketchbook feedback, as you felt this works better in smaller groups. We paused to think more about group size and felt that the OBL activity could potentially work with a large group if you wanted it to (at least, the writing and drawing stages).

With the first group, you felt the activity went well. You noticed that the students were ‘bemused’ but they went along with it. You felt that the 5-minutes to describe the object in words ended up being a little too long, and you said you would reduce this next time. You chose not to tell students why they were being asked to do this, so as not to spoil it for the second group.

With the second group, there was less time due to an unexpected interruption. You felt that you couldn’t give Group 2 as much attention, and that it didn’t feel like quite enough time. You also noticed that, even though you had given them a break, some group members were ‘frazzled’ by their feedback.

Afterwards, you had a debrief with the students, asking open questions, and asking them how they could use this activity in their practice. You explained the intended learning outcomes, and the hope that by writing and drawing they are noticing in different ways, going deeper and seeing things they might not have noticed previously.

In the time since the activity, you noted that several students have been talking about the activity, and you have noticed that some of their designs are more detailed. You felt that the activity has begun to impact on their practice, and that their work is enhanced as a result. You noted that it is nice to ‘get away from the slideshow’ and do an activity which is more physical and embodied. You commented that the activity has acted as an ‘anchor point’ for students to refer to.

You said that you would have liked to have time for the students to share what they have drawn with other group members, but there was not enough time for this. You thought that, ideally, this activity could be done as an icebreaker with a group, with time for feedback.

We talked about the possibility of flashcards or written instructions, so students could work independently on this activity without you needing to monitor both groups – although it does sound like you managed this well.

I asked about what strategies you had to support students who may not be confident writers. You said that you let students know that their writing was just for them and wouldn’t be shared; you also invited students to write in their dominant language if they prefer. This prompted me to signpost you to an upcoming session about Decolonisation and Linguistic Diversity, which I thought might be of interest for you.

Throughout your account of the OBL activity, I noticed how attuned you were to the students – to their enjoyment, their ‘bemusement’, their being ‘frazzled’ after the sketchbook, and their attentiveness in the activity. You described a really strong level of responsiveness to your students, and it sounded like you took positive steps to create a safe environment where students can experiment. I’d invite you to try out other physical, embodied or just ‘different’ activities with your students, and see how they (and you) respond.

Part Three

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

The discussion with Carys about this session was thought provoking and a helpful way to reflect on the activity with a view to making it stronger.

The course material for the TPP unit of the PGCert has been really inspiring for me as a relatively new teacher and I have been enjoying devising and trying out new ways of teaching my students key skills that they need to learn as a designer. The activity as described was inspired by the ‘Object based learning’ lecture and I also trialed a ‘mini’ version of the activity for my microteach activity.

I completely agree with Carys’ reflections about how the activity went and would like to discuss the possibility of extending this design session by one-hour next time I run it. This would enable me to situate this activity at the start of the session for the whole group as a ‘warm up’ for the rest of the session, whilst allowing them to learn a new way of perceiving and viewing their research, with suitability for design.

I will plan to describe each of the stages to my students as I did before. If I am not able to extend this session by an hour, then I will plan to make flash cards as cues for the next part of the activity, so that the students can be independent of me while I am focusing on giving sketchbook feedback to the other group.

Based on the experience of running this session three times (including the microteach), I am planning to make the following changes:

1. I will reduce the writing activity to 2minutes and will explicitly state that non-native English speakers can write in their own dialect.
2. I will make space for a debrief at the end of the activity to consolidate the learning of the students.

I would also like to continue to develop my overall lesson plans to include and make space for more activities such as this, to give the students space to really develop their core as a footwear designer. It’s been insightful to see the progression of the students work from last term to this term, the overall quality and seeming understanding of design process has really increased. This could obviously be because of many factors, but on hearing and participating in some of the conversations with the students I believe that this is in part because of the different ways in which I am facilitating the learning of their specialism.

I’m looking forward to continuing to research and develop new ways of teaching them in the future.

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. 

Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: End of unit assessment

Size of student group: 10

Observer: Stephanie Cooper

Observee: Emily Sunnuck

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?

The feedback is conclusive of the students first unit ‘Footwear Design Technologies’ in which the students have to select a concept and undertake design process to produce a final shoe. They also have to produce a technical file documenting all of the new footwear pattern cutting and making skills learnt in their first term.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

I’ve been working with this group since they joined us in October

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

LO1 Utilise technical applications and processes involved in footwear design and development (Knowledge, Process).

LO2 Engage with pattern cutting techniques for specified footwear and genres (Process, Realisation).

LO3 Apply skills appropriate to the required construction for specified footwear (Process, Knowledge).

LO4 Undertake practical experimentation which includes learnt technical skills (Enquiry, Communication).

LO5 Accurately record design and technical processes (Communication).

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

Students will make a shoe, produce a technical file, sketchbook and portfolio

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

It will be helpful to get some feedback on my assessment write up.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

NA

What would you particularly like feedback on?

The tone of voice – how well feedback is written in terms of clarity and encouragement

How will feedback be exchanged?

Through the form

Part Two

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Emily provided examples of written feedback following a project which was from the first unit with the outcome of designing and making a shoe with supporting sketchbook, portfolio and technical information. There was a wide range of grading examples to review with grades between A to F. The feedback addresses the students personally by name with a positive and encouraging written tone and in all the examples there is a prolific amount of informative comments summing up the project outcomes and suggestions made about how the students could improve their work both technically and creatively.

The listed descriptions of the areas of the project outcomes that were successful and the areas that required more attention are clearly communicated and relatable to the specific elements of the submitted work. Emily has taken great care to explain the specifics of the design realisation and also how the student has explored and executed proportion, shape, detail, technical process and time management. There are clearly a very wide rage of elements to the project requirements including concept research, design development, sketch book creation, portfolio edit, making processes and technical specifications that are covered in the feedback with clear descriptions of specific area of discussion with praise, advice and constructive critique given in equal measure.

The project clearly had very specific requirements which the students needed to include in their process and they were informed if this requirement had not been met and given clear suggestions as to how this could have been approached differently and improved. Emily is very generous in congratulating a student who has achieved a high grade and writes with genuine pleasure in being able to award an A to a deserving student. Equally Emily is supportive and understanding if a student has not achieved a high grade and is careful in writing the criticism to encourage more communication and better engagement with the tutor team. 

In the E and F grades the feedback was very clearly written and explained why the work did not reach the requirements in the learning outcomes. The student was given an opportunity for an additional tutorial as a follow up, which is a really supportive way to progress and create more tutor engagement with the student and creating a further opportunity for receiving advice.

There are some really detailed areas of feedback and suggestions, including explaining how to use colouring pens, how to annotate, create a portfolio and very specific technical information in the shoe making process which offers solid advice for the student to follow and clearly demonstrates Emily’s personal technical ability and how this is shared with the students.

There are some areas of the feedback that veer into more informal and less academic use of wording, such as describing a layout as ‘plonked’, but given that the general tone of the written feedback is coming from a highly approachable, open and encouraging place, this is in keeping with the overall friendliness in the tone of the wording.

 Emily’s feedback demonstrates how positive and approachable she is as an educator and how this reflects in her teaching style along with an enthusiasm and passion for her subject, which is really well communicated in her written critiques. Emily also includes very detailed and specific technical information that originates from her own skill set and offers students valuable insights into improvement of their technical making skills.  

Part Three

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

I feel really pleased after reading Stephanie’s observations on my written assessment. It’s good to read that my assessment feedback is digested as being compassionate and considerate of my students’ feelings and needs, as this is the way that I intend my feedback to be acknowledged and, when marking, I spend a considerable amount of time writing it to be perceived in this way.

Going forward I will continue to be mindful of the students’ feelings and needs and writing feedback that reflects this. I will also plan to improve my language to be written in a more academic manor and steer away from words that are not typically used in this capacity.

Overall, I feel that this written response to my feedback has been a great confidence boost. I can often feel nervous when constructing assessment feedback, thinking about how it will be interpreted by the students. Particularly for the lower tier or fail grades. Having been a student, I realise how impactful it can be to the student’s long term and I always try to come from a place of genuine support. Having received this feedback that I will feel much less nervous and more assured when completing assessment in the future.