Contextual Background On the MA Biodesign course we face challenges around teaching a new evolving discipline to larger year groups, we can not always keep up with new pedagogies as they don’t exist. On top of this we are within a University which lacks space and is undergoing program wide restructuring.
Evaluation Last year we got an opportunity to contribute to the field of research in Biodesign through a workshop we delivered during dutch design week (Dutch Design Week, 2023), as well as organising a Biodesign symposium for our students to engage with the growing Biodesign community around the world (Augmented Architectures, 2023) . We have been able to bring these experiences back into our teaching, yet students don’t always see the value in this and time and resources don’t always make this viable. As for lack of space and the University restricting these are things that are not easy to address.
Moving forwards
The concept of the Ecological University: In Ronald Barnett’s concept note higher education in 2050 is discussed. What resonated with me is the role of the tutors not teaching, but generating scenarios for students to motivate their own learning, and harness critical thinking (Barnett, 2021). Barnett also mentions the idea of connectivity, especially in relation to the world and others ecosystems around us (Barnett, 2021). I can draw from some of these principles and formulate sessions that take place in other spaces of the University as well as beyond it’s walls. We are already making use of the roof top space for our year 1 project this year and the yearly field trip we go on, though not always practical to do I can host sessions in Unit 2 around storytelling and prototyping in different real world environments.
Dual tutors and tutor groups: During my observation of Emma’s session, I saw the usefulness of having two presenters and voices addressing a larger year group. Her co-tutor Patrick added another level of expertise and helped to break up the session to make it more engaging for students. As our course is growing we seem to have less staff available, sometimes I am the only one running a session. This year we have two tutor groups in unit 3, my colleague takes half of the year group for tutorials, but perhaps developing some joint workshop or learning session together can be beneficial this will also help manage planning activities.
Joint work in progress show: Barnett mentions that students should be forming connections with the world and each other (Barnett, 2021). Over the last two years I have advocated for our students to take part in a joint work in progress show with other courses and tutors on board. This has grown this year and it has been a great opportunity for students and staff to meet each other and exchange feedback, it has built up communication and critical skills in analysing the work of peers. We get good feedback about this experience, though some students do struggle a bit when taking on the feedback.
There is a growing opportunity here from students and staff to find more ways to collaborate as well as move beyond the walls of the University in order to teach more radically and effectively.
References:
Augmented Architectures (2023) Biocalibrated: Tools and Techniques for Biodesign Practices Symposium. Available at: http://www.augmented architectures.com/about_BIOCALIBRATE.html (Accessed: 8 March 2024).
Barnett, R. (2021) Towards the Ecological University – A Concept Note from Ronald Barnett, iesalc.unesco.org. Available at: https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/eng/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Barnett-EN.pdf (Accessed: 08 March 2024).
Dutch Design Week (2023) The Microbial Council. Available at: https://ddw.nl/en/programme/9882/the-microbial-council (Accessed: 8 March 2024).