Friends, designers, teachers...

What an interesting topic. What is good teaching? What is good design
teaching?

This is something that has taxed even educational researchers (I include
myself in that category even though I started out as a designer and
teacher). This debate demonstrates the findings of many studies of teaching,
teaching contexts and the object of study. The findings of many studies
illustrate that there is not one agreed definition of good teaching in any
context. There are qualitatively different ways in which design teaching can
be conceived, and approached. This debate shows that variation.

What is teaching? The act of making learning possible.

This is fundamental therefore to all studies of 'good teaching' too.
Conceptions of good teaching will vary according to context. Teachers can
change their conceptions according to the teaching environment and other
aspects of the context, for example teachers of first year undergraduate
courses will think of their teaching in qualitatively different ways when
they teach on postgraduate courses.

In research with design teachers (Drew, 2000) I identified five
qualitatively different conceptions of design teaching. These range from the
teacher as offering techniques and skill to students, through to the
teaching as helping to change students' conceptions. These categories of
description illustrate a dimension of the qualitative variation in design
teaching. Conception A in this study illustrates that even one-to-one
teaching contexts can still been conceptualised in transmission terms. The
other four conceptions identified incorporate a degree of
student-centredness which increases from B to E. Categories D and E also
demonstrate a community of practice dimension as a focus for the context of
teaching. The community of practice dimension is a strong feature of design
teaching, especially where teachers place emphasis on 'real world' learning
contexts to engage with professional practice issues (Drew & Williams,
2002).

So, if good teaching involves student-centredness, or a student-focused
approach, we might have a research question which would help with Mattias'
original query:

"Is there any correlation between being a good designer and a good design
teacher?"

There are some strong correlations between a student-focused approach to
teaching, teacher satisfaction and communities of practice in design. This
is the focus of a paper I'm jointly giving with Keith Trigwell at EARLI
(European Association of Research into Learning and Instruction) in August
2003. Trigwell (2002) reports that design teachers who describe their
teaching as student-focused are more likely to say they learn more during
the teaching of their subjects and are more likely to give students the
opportunity to explore their own creative ideas.

Entwistle, Skinner, Entwistle & Orr (2000) studied the views of students on
a postgraduate course about what they perceived 'good teaching' to be. The
conceptions of students provide a useful insight from the perspective of the
learner. They concluded that an expanded awareness of the relationship
between teaching and learning can be achieved if the teacher can see things
from the perspective of the learner. Marton & Booth (1997) have described
this awareness:

                Teachers mould experiences for their students with the aim
of bringing about learning, and the essential feature is that the teacher
takes the part of the learner, sees the experience through the learner's
eyes, becomes aware of the experience through the learner's awareness.
(Marton & Booth, 1997)

How do you and your learners/students conceive of good teaching? How do you
know? Some food for thought I hope. If anyone would like a more
comprehensive bibliography on conceptions of teaching I am in the process of
completing one and would be pleased to share it.

Best wishes

Linda

References (this mail only)

Drew, L. (2000) A disciplined approach: Learning to practice as design
teachers in the University. in Swann, C. and Young, E. (Eds) Reinventing
Design Education in the University (pp.187-193) Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, Western Australia

Drew, L. and Williams, C. (2002) Variation in the experience of teaching
creative practices: the community of practice dimension
Paper presented at 10th Improving Student Learning Symposium: Improving
Student Learning: Theory and Practice - 10 years on, Sheraton Hotel
Brussels, Belgium 5-7 September 2002

Entwistle, N. Skinner, D. Entwistle, D. & Orr, S. (2000) Conceptions and
Beliefs about 'Good Teaching': an integration of contrasting research ideas.
Higher Education Research and Development. 19, 1. (pp. 5-26)

Marton, F. & Booth, S. (1997) Learning and awareness. Mahwah, N. J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum

Trigwell, K. (2002) Approaches to Teaching Design Subjects: a quantitative
analysis.
Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education. 1, 2. (pp. 81-95)


*************************************
Linda Drew
Subject Centre Co-Director
Art, Design and Communication
Learning and Teaching Support Network
University of Brighton
68 Grand Parade
Brighton
East Sussex
BN2 9JY

Tel/fax 01273 643119

http://www.bton.ac.uk/adc-ltsn


> ----------
> From: Automatic digest processor
> Reply To: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhDs in Design
> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 0:14 AM
> To: Recipients of PHD-DESIGN digests
> Subject: PHD-DESIGN Digest - 18 Jun 2003 to 19 Jun 2003 (#2003-128)
>
> There are 9 messages totalling 904 lines in this issue.
>
> Topics of the day:
>
> 1. Good Designer = Good Design Teacher? (8)
> 2. Ph.D. studies
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 13:54:49 +0200
> From: Mattias Arvola <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Good Designer = Good Design Teacher?
>
> Dear Colleagues,=20
>
> I just had a brief chat with a colleague of mine here in the hallway. He
> walked passed my doorway and said:
>
> "Hey, I have a theory..."
> "Yes?" I replied.
> "There is zero correlation between being a good designer and being a good
> design teacher!"
>
> Now, we had a short discussion about this but I am sure we will return to
> the subject one evening at the pub, and it surely got me thinking. I
> certainly know that some of the students I have taught design are far
> bette=
> r
> designers than me, and I'm happy if I can create an atmosphere in the
> studi=
> o
> for peer learning as well as room for reflection over what it is that they
> are doing during a design assignment.
>
> So, what are _your_ thoughts on this matter? Is there any correlation
> between being a good designer and a good design teacher?
>
>