A Question Of Research

  My main approach for this module was use of the library as at the beginning of the module I lacked confidence in my ability to find research material given how little I used it during my undergraduate degree. I used this module as an opportunity to strengthen my research skills to find relevant books and journals. Additionally, I used lecture notes as a reminder of what was said during each lecture and my personal main takeaways. I found the lecture time to be really stimulating for my focus and some of my best ideas/thoughts originated whilst sat listening to presentations and discussions. I didn’t use a sketchbook much, only a few times throughout the project but when I did, I used it for visual development as well as a way to understand my thoughts in a visual manner. I found it useful for mind mapping and ‘play’ purposes, which is how I developed my idea both conceptually and as a visual outcome. Initially the most challenging aspect of the module for me was understanding the...

  As a creative practitioner with a keen interest in education and communication, I have found through my research that materiality and creative thinking can help to create an inclusive and engaging piece of learning material.  Originally, I set out to answer the question of whether or not physical elements of design can help increase engagement and focus with learning for individuals like myself who have an attention deficit disorder or dyslexia. I wanted to explore the idea of ‘levelling the playing field’ between those who fit into the ideal learning style for school settings and those who do not. As someone who struggled throughout school and was not seen as overly intellectual/intelligent until I reached university, I wanted to look into ways of communicating visually.  As my research progressed, it became clear that the focus shouldn’t necessarily be on individuals with learning disabilities but rather an inclusive way of educating for all! Fairly early on I had the...

 I was always going to use some form of hand rendered design to construct the presentation because of what the project was! I just didn't quite know what that element was going to be or how it was going to look. Following on from the watermark design I wanted to create something along those sorts of lines, communicating throughout the presentation that it was about inclusion but in a way that didn't take away from the information on the slides. I started with ink, edited and randomly placed within the space with a low capacity: Just didn't quite feel right to have such an intense font alongside an laready quite intense background, in terms of the solid lines of the words. However, using a softer font took away from the legibility so it was clear there needed to be a more even ratio of hand rendered to digitial... Watercolour! Softer lines and softer colour without editing, I just didn't know exactly where to go with it. At the time, I was planning the content of each sl...

 Whilst it may not be a requirement of the unit to produce a creative outcome, I still wanted to at least start to visualise the concept I've grown throughout this project if nothing else for my own clarity. Throughout the project I've mentioned this concept of a 'mini scavenger hunt' and collected ideas for interactive and engaging means of education (activities) that could be included. I wanted to find as many ideas as I could that would relate to the different learning styles, to create an inclusive piece of learning material.  I didn't manage to come up with quite as many ideas as I had hoped for but nonetheless there is quite a large selection of both activities and outcomes for the information gathered to be presented through. I started to make a few connections through the activities as well, that link to the idea of the information gap. There are a number of activities that link to the information gap here, such as the QR code poster, the quiz and riddle, to...