Birth of the project theme for Unit 5
In my studies at Bournemouth University, I researched and explored the idea of Design Research as Design Practice where as a design educator my work continuously wrestles the tensions between research, practice and teaching. I argue that the process is part of the research and practice and has just as much weight as the artefact.

Because of the process of design thinking and design solving, designers have permission and freedom to practice and skirt the edges of what is known, what is yet to be known and what is yet to be solved. As practitioner and a teacher, I have had my own tensions on research, practice, process and product, and when developing and planning assignments for my students, it is because of these tensions, why I question and think about how students approach the learning of visual communication design and its other related disciplines.

Some of these concerns are how we plan assignments with design thinking and problem-solving as assessment goals, what instructional methods are appropriate for the teaching and learning, the site of learning, diverse backgrounds and learning styles of the students. In addition, how we might engage students in the learning of the visual communications, and how we might get them curious and motivated enough to start their innate independent spirit necessary for their exploration and investigation in art, design, technology and media making.

Because problem-solving is at the heart of design I chose this overarching theme as the catalyst for my exhibition.

Visual Communications as a discipline mixed with rote rules, standards and industry requirements that as daunting as it may seem on paper, is important as students get to fine-tuning their design or media artefact. In speaking to some of my fellow design faculty, one of the problems we have is to balancing instruction of those essential industry practice fundamentals with thought-provoking and engaging thematic concepts as stimulus prompts for engagement. Another idea was how to use grouping and pairing effectively, almost intrinsically, so that students would use the opportunity to bounce ideas between themselves while learning together so it seemed less like work. In a nutshell, for students to enjoy the learning while benefiting from it.

The idea for unit 5 came about from the pedagogic unit 4, where observations of student behaviour during a given assignment was documented. I decided to curate and develop unit 5 around Problem-Based Learning at the site of creative tension and tacit practice, which is Lab 4 in the Visual Communication Department in the School of Visual Arts at the Edna Manley College.

In unit 4, students were assigned a real-world problem, based on intercultural communication. The Lab was then transformed into an active learning environment – mimicking a design studio or agency, where co-design and collaborations with lecturers took place. Not enough of the feedback about the site of learning detailed in my unit’s report, therefore unit 5 was the perfect opportunity to do so. The result a phrase called Creative Crowding which describes an activity and a learning site.

Why Creative Crowding?
The making of the title and why it is important to mention, as I researched themes involving problem-solving, sites of learning, third space and dialogic knowledge or knowing which assisted in formulating the theoretical grounding of the title.

Presentation

View the Creative Crowding powerpoint

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