The Visual Turn: An Educational Response

cltad 4th International Conference Enhancing Curricula: using research and enquiry to inform student learning in the disciplines 3-4 April 2008 Lyce Francais, New York

Introduction

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Photo taken by yukesmooks in Sydney with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

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Photo taken by yukesmooks in Sydney with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. Approximately 2000 figures thought to be about 16,000 years old.

Introduction

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Photo taken by yukesmooks in Sydney with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. Approximately 2000 figures thought to be about 16,000 years old. 100,000 Brownie Box cameras sold by Kodak in 1900, the first year of its production.

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On November 13, 2007, it became the two billionth image uploaded to flickr.

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Peoples increasing reliance on imagery to communicate with others, construct identities and order the world.

2007 77.6 million viewers watched 3.2 billion videos on YouTube 2009 1 billion camera phones will be in use worldwide

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In this new world shaped by technology and global visuality literacy, identity, social standing and economic flourishing have been freed from language and context and increasingly depend on

peoples ability to comprehend and construct images while simultaneously employing newly valued cognitive proficiencies and innovative thinking.
2007 82 million digital cameras sold worldwide 2008 14 million photos uploaded to Facebook everyday day

Introduction

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The University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design

Masters Program in Collaborative Innovation Studies (CIS)

2007 initial program planning begun

Introduction

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The University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design

Masters Program in Collaborative Innovation Studies (CIS)

Stanford University Hasso Plattner Institute of Design Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design Germanys Zollverein School of Management and Design North Carolina State University The Center for Universal Design University of Toronto Rotman School of Management
2007 initial program planning begun 2009 program will launch with plans for a cohort of 21 students

Introduction

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The University of North Texas College of Visual Arts & Design

Masters Program in Collaborative Innovation Studies (CIS)

1. program goals 2. proposed learning outcomes 3. organizing principles 4. course of study 5. faculty involvement 6. student population 7. guiding pedagogy: basis & application 8. assessment philosophy 9. future plans

Program Goals

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First, to offer students and faculty from diverse backgrounds and disciplines the opportunity to collectively consider what it means to be literate in todays world.

Visual literacy [is] a group of skills which enable an individual to understand and use visuals for intentionally communicating with others.

1978b Lynna & Floyd Aushburn

Program Goals

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Second, to produce graduates who can spark and sustain design-driven innovation and positive social change.

Visual literacy is both insight into and a starting point for identifying and attempting to mediate pressing social, economic and environmental problems.

Proposed Learning Outcomes

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To enable students in the program to situate visual literacy and design-driven

collaborative innovation within an expansive socio-ethical context while concurrently valuing and seeking to integrate specialized disciplinary knowledge and world views.

To enable the students in the program to collectively explore future possibilities

while remaining grounded in authentic situations and sound research methods.

Proposed Learning Outcomes

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Students seeking to be visually literate will desire and be able to: analyze the syntax (form) and semantics (meaning) of imagery determine the sociocultural contexts within which images are created and understood understand visual media and its ability to frame meaning evaluate the aesthetic merits or intrinsic value of images realize the instrumental aspects of images including their purpose and intended audience employ the knowledge and skills necessary for effective visual expression grasp the ways in which images and their manipulation can fuel change for good or ill

Proposed Learning Outcomes

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Students engaged in design-driven innovation will desire and be able to employ abductive reasoning as means to envision new possibilities and as a heuristic for acquiring knowledge and framing analysis realize that collaborative, interdisciplinary engagement enriches design theory and improves design practice grapple with intractable or ill-defined problems while accepting that their solutions will remain illusive or indeterminate detect heretofore unrealized or unexpected patterns, systems or constructs and synthesize them into novel, responsible solutions use active empathy tempered with reflexivity to gain insight into and respect for human subjectivity and diversity realize that design solutions are always matters of choice rather than truth designers, and their actions are subject to public and ethical scrutiny grasp the ways in which design-driven innovation can fuel change for good or ill

Organizing Principals

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Abductive reasoning, or inference to the best explanation, is a heuristic model

well suited to tackling ill-defined problems thrown up by a constantly changing and rapidly evolving visual culture.

Collaboration builds authentic contexts, foster synergistic reasoning,

encourage active empathy and allow for socially constructed learning.

Interdisciplinarity allows faculty and students to produce cognitive advancement in ways that would have been unlikely through single disciplinary means.
Principals Abductive Reasoning Collaboration Interdisciplinarity

Course of Study

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1. Major required studies 21 credit hours ADES 5510 Process and Methodology for Innovation ADES 5520 Design Research Methods ADES 5530 Design Research Methods II ADES 5540 Collaborative Design Studio ADES 5550 Brand Experience and Culture ADES 5555 Design and Its Social Ramifications ADES 5560 Special Topics (repeatable for credit) ADES 5842 History of Graphic Design 2. Practicum courses (interdisciplinary collaborative independent study) ADES 5590 Practicum in Collaborative Innovation Studies I ADES 5595 Practicum in Collaborative Innovation Studies II

Course of Study

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3. Interdisciplinary studies 9 credit hours (linked to major required studies) Students may choose courses from the following disciplines, depending on their academic goals and research interests: Cultural Anthropology Marketing Sociology Psychology Decision Sciences Radio, Television, Video and Film (media studies) Applied Philosophy Library and Information Sciences Behavior Analysis

Faculty Involvement

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Nine faculty members of varying ranks are currently involved in the CIS program.

3 Communication Design, 1 Cultural Anthropology, 3 Marketing and Logistics and 2 Information Technology & Decision Sciences (ITDS)

Faculty Involvement

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Multidisciplinary approaches disciplines will function as separate,

additive voices, adding scholarly breath perspective and knowledge.

Interdisciplinary approaches disciplinary world views, methods and

skills will be blended in order to study applied themes, problems, ideas or questions.

Transdisciplinary approaches disciplinary synthesis will becomes the

purpose of a particular problem, course or body of research.

Student Population

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A diverse cohort disciplinarily & scholastically

21 students 7 communication designer majors 14 from the social sciences, select engineering and technology disciplines and specialties within business administration. Graduate students seeking MFAs or PhDs Postgraduates or working professionals seeking to augment prior educational experiences

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Guiding Pedagogy: Basis

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Constructivist theory will inform the programs pedagogy. Constructivism rests

on three propositions derived principally from situated learning theory.

1 2 3

Learning is a function of and draws its authenticity from the context in which it occurs. Cognitive dissonance puzzlements is the principal source of learning stimulation. Knowledge is non-foundational: it derives its authority and worth by virtue of negotiated truth agreements existing between members of knowledge communities.

Guiding Pedagogy: Application

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Constructivist learning models:

Cooperative Learning (CL) Project Based Learning (PBL)

2 3

Constructivist curricular structure:

Linked Courses (course-based learning communities)

Supported by Socratically based learning models:

Studio Critiques Peer-Driven Seminars

Guiding Pedagogy: Application

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Constructivist learning models:

Cooperative learning (CL) places students in small, often autonomous groups to maximize their own and each others learning. Project based learning (PBL) uses authentic, complex problems as the impetus for learning and fosters the acquisition of both disciplinary knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Guiding Pedagogy: Application

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Constructivist curricular structure:

Linked courses (course-based learning communities) give students and faculty the opportunity to share topics of study, acquire collaborative working skills and exploit the relational aspects of disciplinary knowledge. Linked courses offer ample opportunity for curricular level interdisciplinarity, especially when paired with PBL.

Guiding Pedagogy: Application

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Socratically based learning models:

Studio critiques and peer-driven seminars are teaching models well known to the humanities, law and the arts. Both foster critical thinking skills, encourage reflexivity and challenge students to actively question themselves, received knowledge and normative convention.

Assessment

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Education must evaluate what and how well students are learning, the effectiveness of learning models, instructional methods and faculty involvement, whether learning outcomes are being achieved and if a particular program is attaining its long-term goals. Assessment rubrics provide the means to fulfill this need.

Assessment

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Assessment Questions:
1. What is being assessed (e.g., knowledge, skill, attribute, etc.) 2. What evaluative tools or methods will be used to conduct the assessment 3. Is the assessment fair (i.e., how will any potential bias be mitigated or eliminated) 4. Who will be or should be conducting the assessment (e.g., faculty, students or others) 5. What reporting tools will be used to share assessment results and with whom 6. What type of assessment (e.g., formative, summative, peer) should be used when 7. Is the assessment valid & reliable (i.e., measuring what it is intending & consistent) 8. Do assessment rubrics provide the information necessary to evaluate high-level considerations: pedagogy, learning outcomes, programmatic goals, etc.

Assessment

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Other Considerations
The program faculty will also need to determine how best to integrate disciplinary specific assessment criteria and standards in those instances when instruction and learning occur collaboratively and/or interdisciplinarily.

Jointly developed and clear learning outcomes, cross-disciplinary sensitivity and the ability to translate academic rigor from one discipline to another will be the keys to creating viable assessment rubrics in these instances.

The Future

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Collaborative Innovation Research Initiative (CIRI)

The mission of the CIRI will be to create a self-sustaining environment in which interdisciplinary, design-driven innovation research will be undertaken to provide tangible benefits to groups served by the university and beyond. As an applied research extension of the CIS program, the CIRI will provide CIS faculty and students with the opportunity to pursue and participate in national and state funded grants, as well as privately funded corporate, non-profit and community based research initiatives.

Requested Funding $1.5 million dollars in university support for the 2009-2011 academic years. Anticipated Research Return $3 million dollars in federal, state and private funding.

The Future

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Together, the new CIS program and its CIRI research arm will provide its faculty and students with
the vital learning and research environment necessary to extend the boundaries of scholarship surrounding visual literacy and design-driven innovation the wherewithal to help themselves and others navigate an increasingly visual world the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to spark and sustain meaningful and durable social, economic and environmental change

Thank You
Keith Owens Assistant Professor, Communication Design College of Visual Arts & Design The University of North Texas kowens@unt.edu