OER in the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities De Montfort

University

Dr Tina Barnes-PowellHead of Postgraduate Studies and

Research Students, tbp@dmu.ac.uk

Initial operational considerations

• Firstly I had to develop an inclusive definition of OER to encourage the maximum amount of academic and professional service staff to engage with, and support the developing initiative.

• So we agreed that we would focus on any type of learning or teaching material that was already freely available for anyone to use.

Broader considerations

• At the time it looked like the development of OER also had the potential to support a number of elements within the University’s emerging vision, including the commitment to “develop a creative learning environment”, to “be a truly international university” and to “be (..) driven by innovative projects”.

• So it seemed as though we were in the right place at the right time…

Pedagogic questions• The five key issues we hoped to explore were:• 1. What sort of TEL relationships do we want to

foster within art and design?• 2. How do we build in flexibility in the short term

so that we can build for the long term changes?• 3. How can we design spaces within HE that will

give learners more choice over their preferred ways of working and learning?

• 4. How can TEL and OER in particular support more collaborative working inter and intra faculty?

• 5. What is the role of the expert in OER and digital learning spaces in general?

Other OER initiatives within DMU

• There were two other OER projects that were taking place within DMU, during this initiative. Both were funded from Phase 2 of the JISC/HEA programme of work. They were:

• SCOOTER: Sickle cell and thalassemia OER;• TIGER: CPD for interprofessional groups.

Institutional context

• The DMU SCOOTER project included a specific aim to develop OER Policy and Process at DMU, grounded in a critical pedagogic approach that is defined by the relevant academic team.

• Currently, DMU is still in the process of developing a consistent institutional approach to gaining consent and permissions to fit all eventualities of future DMU OER projects.

Early lessons learnt!

• Staff needed a lot more support and guidance in utilising web resources and technology in general for pedagogical purposes.

• There was a great deal of scepticism amongst

academics and technical support staff regarding the time and effort put into developing electronic educational resources.

Scaling down aspirations to areas of operational focus

The two areas that the Faculty agreed that OER could have the greatest impact was:

1. Enhancing studio pedagogy at UG level, 2. Supporting consistent approaches to

Research Methods at PGT level.

Project One: ELT How to Guides

Session 1 – Accessing and developing Inclusive OER.

Session 2 - Podcasting and effective Feedback.Session 3 - Recording key studio tasks

Drawing and VisualisationPattern cutting

Quick Win

• We developed a range of e-portfolio materials (these materials were provided by the Programme Teams), and interactive guidance on best practice for sketch books and tips for preparing for Art and Design interviews.

Art and Design Portfolio

• Insert CD

Longer term, sustainable changes

• While running this project I was leading a PGT review where I was working with colleagues to make HE art and design learning more agile, adaptive and imaginative.

• Firstly, I aligned all existing programmes to a common organizational structure to establish an economy of delivery, administration and management. Secondly, I was trying to develop a more flexible curriculum delivery.

New Curricula StructureExploration of Practice Consolidation and Development ResolutionTerm 1 Term 2 Term 3MAIS Research

Methods 15 or 30 Credits

MAISChoices 2 x 15 creditsOr 30 credits

MAIS

DissertationReport and Design ConceptsDesign/Practice Outcome and Reflective Report60 credits

Choice 15 credits

Creative Design Studio 30 credits

Action Research Laboratory + Specialist Design Project30 credits

P D P

Research Methods for Art and Design students

• This is an introductory PG module that introduces art and design students to a range of multi-disciplinary research approaches. All our students have access to a range of tools and skills that will help support them to take intellectual and creative risks in their PGT and PGR work.

• This module began running in October 2011 and replaced 11 previous research methods modules. In October it will also replace a range of Humanities research modules.

• The core research materials are all OER.

Research Methods

• The intention is that this module will support our students to pursue activities and interests that go beyond traditional art and design `subject boundaries’ and the university curriculum.

• All PGT and PGR students access this core module.

Some examples..

• Research Methods Knowledge base

Practice based research

• http://vimeo.com/user2713491

Curriculum Innovation

• Embedding multi-disciplinarity into compulsory and core modules within the Art and Design PGT programmes is a bold initiative for the Faculty.

• We are trying to teach design, and artistic creative problem solving, alongside subject specific technical and vocational skills.

• While we also offer all our students the opportunity to take part in entrepreneurial and design management modules. Collaborative working and OERs make this possible.

It still is a work in progress

• We are currently making judgements about student motivations to the on-line materials.

• We have begun to identify some of the barriers to on-line materials and curricula delivery tasks.

• There are certainly more areas that are problematic for our international students.

`Open Practice’ cross Faculty communication

• The project has had an unintended consequence of transforming the way that academics communicate and work together.

• Without the OER project, the restructuring of the PGT Curricula would not have happened.

• The project began in the Faculty of Art and Design, moved to the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities. Currently Research Methods is the module for all A&D PGR students and for 13 PGT programmes.

• From October there will be 24 programmes across Art and Design and Humanities who will be sharing the module – and more programmes want to join!

• So the module has provided the context for the establishment of a vibrant participatory PGT learning Culture.

• This is a big shift – we are a new Faculty, most of us didn’t even know each other a year ago, yet we are already enjoying working together.

Staff Development

• The initiatives haven’t been so successful at ug level.

• Possible barriers: subject traditions, “overload”, emphasis on producing subject specific materials, initiative fatigue, bigger more diverse community.

Achievements

• At PG level where the traditional practice and approaches has been to value independent research and the production of specific m level content; a real shift is taking place.

• Sharing resources enables us to sustain our PGT programmes.

Conclusion

• Our developing approaches to teaching practices, is gradually enabling us to support the needs of our learners in more diverse ways.

• Ultimately this will improve attainment across our PGT and PGR provision.