Feedback and Comments from Shani-Louise Osei: Lecturer in Learning and Teaching Development
(Notes taken from my 1-1 tutorial on Teams call on 21/06/24)
Shani’s feedback provided clear guidance on how to proceed with the intervention. Shani suggested narrowing and prioritising steps, due to the unit’s timeframe and focusing on a specific student group.
• Looking for and finding data that shows how many international students there are, as well as how many students are neurodivergent. With this data, I can try to find a focus for my intervention.
• Try and contact the Student services or Language center, to ask what support is available, what kind of access do international students have, how aware are the students of these services and what time in the year do we sign post these services to students. This will help me figure out where my workshop might fit in.
• Ask the Language Centre if they have any data on the number of international student that are neuordivergent. If they do not, I will ask if they can point me to the right person.
Additionally information below was earlier to the call.
You presented a workshop that aims to support students with note taking manually and digitally. This is an interesting proposition because the insights you are reflecting on are related to your own positionality. You have also listed a number of logical elements to your intervention.
However you may wish to consider prioritising what steps are most important to you considering the time constraints of this unit.
Additionally, you may choose to focus on one particular student group to begin sharing your work with, such as neurodivergent, international students.
Finally please find some further questions as provocations to support your evolution on this unit, with what we hope to be supporting resources:
Feedback and Comments from Amy Henry: Senior Lecturer Graphic Media Design
I met up with Amy to discuss our interventions and what steps she and I were looking to taking to address our interventions and reflective reports.
I had a lovely discussion with Amy about her invention about reducing barriers. We also discussed the creation of safe spaces within her classroom, and that of her colleague who teaches MA Graphic Media Design. She showed me pictures of the space and I can see why the intervention come about. Making this invisible space visible, as well as being a more multi-functional space that feels like a place of co-creation with her students.
I recommended that she look into this journal that I read on the TTP unit, Orr and Shreeve’s 2017 – Signature Pedagogies in Art & Design, as it talks about creative practitioners teaching practices and studio space for students.
We talked a bit about a Co-create space with her students and I love the bean bag idea they had ready. I think we need one of these in the LCF lounges.
After I shared my presentation to Amy about my intervention, she seemed excited about my intervention into note talking in digital and manual formats. I had spoken to Amy about looking for a software to use for my intervention to help students note take and she had observed similar software.
Amy recommended exploring the following to use for improving students notetaking and potentially use it in my workshop.
Microsoft OneNote (with dictation), which I was aware of and is still a great solution to use.
• Notion
• Otter.ai
• Riverside.fm
Amy had mentioned AI audio to text transcription tools may be a helpful.
She gave me an insight that maybe Notion could help students take visual notes of the lessons and then this way it will be easier for students to record the information they need.
We also talked about student not being able to sync their notes with teaching content that I am delivering, as that would require them to multitask.
We also had conservatives around the ethics of students recording from a mobile device like an iPhone, a device or software.
We also spoke about collecting data and doing a survey to help inform my intervention and to create my workshop. All in all, I had a lovely conservation with Amy and she provided me with some resources that I will be checking out.
Figure 1 – Presentation slide 1 – Taking digital and manual notes (2024)
Feedback and Comments from colleague: Specialist Technician (Learning and Teaching) CAD/CAM
She had wondered how useful notetaking really was for students. This is because during our supervised studio sessions, she do not often see students using and referring to their notes. It would therefore be interesting to get the students perspective on the usefulness of notetaking.
In addition, she agreed with your sentiments that students appeared to struggle making notes, especially as they have to make notes whilst switching between different software, including PowerPoint. Perhaps notetaking is more useful when done after a class, as it could be that during a class or lesson, it could be causing more of an unhelpful distraction.
QUESTIONS
1) Is notetaking useful for students if we do not see them using their notes during supervised studio sessions?
2) Is notetaking a distraction during the lesson as they also try to navigate PowerPoint and the software?
3) What are the student’s perspectives on notetaking?
Interviewed Feedback:
Feedback and Comments from Ilga Leimanis: Academic Support Lecturer Online at UAL
(Notes taken from Teams meeting 06/08/2024 at 9:30am)
I interviewed Ilga Leimanis, an academic support lecturer at UAL who had done her MA thesis with some parallel from her project to mine. She provided with following resources below and in the coming months, I would review them to inform me to help plan and design my workshop.
Latour, B. (1986) “Visualisation and Cognition: Drawing Things Together” in H.
Kuklick (editor) Knowledge and Society Studies in the Sociology of Culture Past
Barthes, R. (1979) The Preparation of the Novel. New York: Colombia University Press.
Carroll, R. (2013) The Bullet Journal Method. HarperCollins Publishers.
Causey, A. (2017) Drawn to See: Drawing as an Ethnographic Method. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Lucas, R. (2016) ‘Inscriptive Practice as Gesture’, in L. Allen and L. Casper Pearson (eds) Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing in Art and Architecture. London: UCL Press, pp. 217-223.
Berger, J. (2005) Berger On Drawing. Aghabullogue: Occasional Press.
List of illustrations
Figure 1. Marfo, A (2024) Presentation slide 1 – Taking digital and manual notes [Slide]
Figure 2. Marfo, A (2024) Presentation slide 2 – Taking the intersectionality approach [Slide]
Reflective Report – Taking Digital and Manual Notes
Introduction
As a computer aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) specialist technician in the School of Fashion, I work across eight courses interested in learning CAD/CAM software or those seeking to incorporate CAD/CAM into their projects. Initially, I was unsure about how to connect and find a common theme to make changes that would further help the student experiences with our pattern cutting software.
In order to create an artefact, I reflected on: conversations with students, discussions with colleagues, conservations around Intersectionality (Crenshaw,1990) the Critical Race Theory Framework for Education Policy (Bradbury, 2020), , as well as my own teaching practice. Through this reflection, I identified a connection between the various courses I teach on. The artefact will focus on the topic of taking notes, both in digital and manual formats.
The reason for looking into note taking is some students can be more advantaged or disadvantaged due to their individual privileges when they are engaging in the learning and retention of information. This can be visually demonstrated by using the ‘Privilege Walk’ (Bryan 2022). Having reflected on this, I considered the barriers (Adepitan, 2020) students encounter with regards to their notetaking methodology. I have observed this barrier through many conversations I have had with students. I have also seen students take notes for their independently submitted work as well as when they are notetaking for their personal use to build knowledge.
My Positionality
Due to the fact I experienced a diverse international childhood and lived in three different countries with different English dialects, I am familiar with language diversity as it is very relatable for me.
I was born in Belize, at age four I moved to Ghana, where my mother tongue Twi was spoken. I lived there for seven years before settling in England at the age of eleven. In all of these countries, the language of instruction in education was English, due to colonial history. Whereas at home and in social settings, we spoke our native languages and used various dialects (Bradbury, 2020).
Being a bilingual speaker, when I moved to a multicultural European city like London, I found it challenging to understand and speak English at times due to the different dialects used in Ghana and Belize. These are experiences that some international students with multiples languages may have also encountered when moving to England as children or entering the education system here (Bradbury, 2020).
Higher education teaching practices continue to be practiced in traditional ways (Freire,2006) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, Continuum. to some extent and not sufficiently anticipate the linguistics (Bradbury, 2020) needs of students with intersectional identities as non-native English speakers compared to those accustomed to English education system and digital software. This is evident when using and instructing CAD/CAM software to teach which does not account for students who may be partial to a different dialogue or be bilingual. How can students who are non-native speakers take in instructions and take notes in English whilst learning a new software. (Bradbury, 2020).
As a result, I am taking the intersectional (Crenshaw,1990) approach within my research, as people’s identities have clearly complexed intersectional constructs involving many components including, diversity, class, disability, race, gender and social identity (Crenshaw,1990).
Context
In my CAD/CAM teaching practice, students are required to take digital notes in taught lessons. These notes help students create the portfolio notes required for submission and support them during their independent learning in supervised studio work. Research and observation strongly suggests that taking notes is invaluable to independent learning. However, multitasking during a lesson can be especially difficult for Neurodivergent students and indeed all students (this is the essence of Universal Design (Gibbs, 2019), when discerning what is important and taking notes.
From my own teaching observations, I have seen how some students have struggled to take notes during lessons, tutorials and independent work. This can impact their ability to understand and therefore retain information.
Reasons for this difficulty:
Notetaking is briefly introduced for 10 minutes in a lesson. As a result, students must learn both the software and take notes at the same time (Byrne, 2018).
There can also be a language barrier. We have a majority of the international students and if English is not their primary language, they are resorting taking notes in their native tongue. This greatly adds to the cognitive load. It can also lead to inaccuracies when translating later into English, especially if a direct translation doesn’t exist. In addition, neurodivergent students may find it challenging to keep up with lessons whilst taking accurate notes. My aims for this work were inspired by videos featuring Ade Adepitan (Paralympics, 2020) and Christine Sun Kim (Art21, 2023), Asif Sadiq (TEDx Talks, 2023) that expand on the intersectionality of disability, race, gender, equality and social identity.
I plan to create a workshop on notetaking methodologies, skills, and best practices for both digital and manual formats. This will benefit students for whom English is a second language and those with learning difficulties, as well as where these issues intersect. With that said, this intervention could benefit all students, addressing nuanced note taking and writing issues. The aim is that this intervention will address Universal Design and benefit all students across UAL. By assessing and reviewing the data through an intersectional lens, I can determine if it aligns with my expectations.
Why is the workshop important?
I support eight LCF courses (BA and MA). The UAL’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Annual Report (2022/23), from 2021/22 to 2023/24, Asian, Black, and Mixed students increased by 1-2 percentage points (ppt), now making up 12%, 9%, and 13% respectively. White students decreased by 4 (ppt), makes up 63% of the student population. With the increase in multicultural students, it shows that we need to ensure our teaching methods are more diverse to benefit everyone. (see figure 1)
Fig 1. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Disability data for students report. (2022.2023)
The UAL Active dashboard shows that in the School Design and Technology, students with a declared disability decreased from 17.58% to 16.52% in 2023/24, whilst those without a declared disability increased from 82.42% to 83.48%. Not declaring learning difficulties is another barrier to closing the attainment gap. (see figure 2 & 3).
Fig 2. University of the Arts London Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics – the last 3 years of Students disability data (2021-2024).Fig 3. University of the Arts London Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics – the last 3 years of Students disability data (2021-2024).
The data lacks an intersectional overview, excluding details on types of disabilities and diverse backgrounds. It does not show how many international students are neurodivergent, raising questions about data collection and not published.
Cultural barriers and fear of stigmatization regarding neurodiversity diagnosis can prevent access to academic and specialist study skills support and higher education institution funding (HDI). This makes it difficult to assess this data from students with intersectional identities. This could possibly lead to further marginalisation for these groups.
How can UAL close the attainment gap if it does not meet the diverse needs of its students? This intersectionality needs to be at the forefront. The data above supports the need for this intervention. (Carroll & Ryan,2005).
Feedback from Survey
I created a survey to generate feedback on how students use our support services to identify issues students faced when writing and notetaking.
The survey was sent to Academic Support, Student Disability Services and the Language Centre (see Appendix 1). The feedback explained the support we offered, such as one on one support and assistance for neurotypical and neurodivergent students (see Appendix 1 & 2). Having used these services during my PgCert, my reflection is that I can personally relate to students who need these valuable services.
These services are used though Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels (See Appendix 3), whilst (see Appendix 4) where it highlights notetaking and understanding expectations, are key issues for students.
(See Appendix 5) where it further describes various support options. However, we need more diversified student resources of which I hope my intervention will be a useful addition.
Learning whilst notetaking in another language can be a challenge for students (See Appendix 6). (See Appendix 7) where it evidences the importance of clear communication as my question was misinterpreted, causing offence. It appears digital notetaking is likely the preferred method for neurodivergent students (see Appendix 8).
(See Appendix 9) which recognises the diversity of students, whilst (See Appendix 10) which shows notetaking is crucial for independent learning. To ensure inclusivity, we should remove barriers such as mandating students provide notes in English if they have already noted them in their preferred language.
Feedback from Peers, Colleague and Students
“Question – I would like to know what the student’s perspectives on notetaking are?”
My colleagues asked me this question because she wanted to know students’ perspectives on notetaking.
Often, we see students stop taking notes in the lessons or not one to supervised sessions. One student noted that while notetaking is important, it is challenging to learn the software, use the mouse and keyboard, and take notes simultaneously.
I met Amy (from my PgCert class), and we exchanged feedback about our interventions. Amy recommended exploring Microsoft OneNote (with dictation), Notion, otter.ai, and Riverside.fm for improving students’ notetaking and potentially using in my workshop.
Reflection
I decided to delay sending out the student survey until the Action Research Project (ARP) as it the end of term and I think this data need done by student at later date to avoid skewed data.
Upon reflection, I realised that I should have provided more detail about my intervention in the email with my survey to Student Services for a clearer overview (see appendix 11).
Moving forward
Although I could not complete all aspects of the intervention, I plan to continue it in the ARP, with more resources and action plan. I will create and test the workshop, either with a small focus group or as a full session. I will focus on international students with time permit probability those who are neurodivergent.
I interviewed Ilga Leimanis on Tuesday 6th August, an Academic Support Lecturer at UAL who had done her MA thesis on a similar area to my research interests. She provided me with some resources (see appendix 12) and in the coming months I will review to help design my workshop.
Adepitan, A. (2020). ‘Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism’. Interview with Ade Adepitan. Interviewed by Nick Webborn for ParalympicsGB, 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
As/Is (2015) What Is Privilege?. 4 July. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5f8GuNuGQ (Accessed: 22 July 2024)..
Bradbury, A. (2020). A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England, Race Ethnicity and Education, Issue information, 23:2, pp. 241-260. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1599338 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
Bryan, J. (2022). Privilege Walk [Online]. University of Warwick, n.d. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/dean-of-students-office/community-valueseducation/educationresources/privilegewalk (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
Crenshaw, K. (1990) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43 (6), pp.1241-1299. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiJjODZhMDgzZi01OGI2LTRmY2MtODMxYy1kNmIzZWU2NGI1NjciLCJlbWFpbCI6IjEzMzgwMzUxQGFydHMuYWMudWsiLCJpbnN0aXR1dGlvbklkcyI6WyI5ZDA5NDcxMy00Nzc0LTQ5ZmQtOTZkNS1kYzRmMTdlMDQ0NDQiXX0&seq=1 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
Davies, M. (2022) ‘The White Spaces of Dyslexic Difference: An Intersectional Analysis’, in S. Broadhead (ed.) Access and Widening Participation in Arts Higher Education: Practice and Research. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 143–158. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97450-3_7 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
Kim, C. S. (2023) ‘Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21’. Interview with Christine Sun Kim. Interviewed for Art21, 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=1s (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
The Best Note-Taking Methods for College Students & Serious Note-takers (2023) Available at: https://www.goodnotes.com/blog/note-taking-methods (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
University of the Arts London (2024) Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics 2022/23. Available at: https://dashboards.arts.ac.uk/dashboard/ActiveDashboards/DashboardPage.aspx?dashboardid=5c6bb274-7645-4500-bb75-7e334f68ff24&dashcontextid=638524920468662402 (Accessed: 28 May 2024).
University of the Arts London (2024) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/432141/SPCB23435-EDI-report-2022-23.pdf (Accessed: 28 May 2024)
University of the Arts London (2024) Note taking, writing and referencing. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/assistive-technology/note-taking-writing-and-referencing#notetaking (Accessed: 22 May 2024).
Bradbury’s journey speaks about Critical Race Theory (CRT) and how it can be used as a framework for examining educational policies.
Key points raised:
The impact standardised assessment policies may have on bilingual learners.
The education policy can often fail to deal with the linguistic needs of bilingual learners
By using CRT, we can create more inclusive policies that does not disadvantage bilingual learners.
Garrett’s Journal examined how racism can affect career progression or the trajectory of minority students in academia. It also notes how PHD students often fail to reach academic positions. The journal shares the experiences of Maya who is a Black and neurodivergent person. Whilst people welcomed her thoughts on race, they dismissed her perspectives on neurodiversity. Maya’s experiences reinforce the need for an intersectional perspective to prevent marginalising individuals by disregarding aspects of their identity. Garrett underlines the importance for universities to adopt a nuanced, intersectional approach to inclusivity to enhance all students’ career prospects.
Sadiq’s video was insightful highlighting how to improve discussions around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). DEI training given in organisations or educational settings usually overlooks people’s intersectional identities. Reflecting on his own studies, he recognised the need for more diverse role models in his field. He also clarified that conversations around DEI, should focus on equity rather than just equality and the framework must be adapted to each country and context.
Having watched the video “The School That Tried to End Racism” they used the ‘privilege walk’ with young participants. It was a visual way to highlight how different people in society are disadvantaged.
Although it address racial discrimination and prejudice, we should be careful not to cause harm to young or vulnerable participants, when discussing and educating on potentially sensitive issues.
Recurring themes
The resources seem to focus on marginalised groups and the impacts on them.
Addresses the negative impacts caused by racism.
How the intersection of identities impacts people.
Injustice caused by prejudice.
Diversity our teaching resources.
Teaching Context
The UAL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report (2022/23), shows the percentage breakdown of each ethnic group within the student population. In figure 1, it shows the percentage of Asian students increased by 1 percentage point (ppt) from (from 11% to 12%), and Black students from 8% to 9%. Mixed students increased by 2ppt from 11% to 13%. However, White students decreased by 4ppt from 67% to 63%, and the ‘Other’ category remained the same at 3%.
Figure 2 highlights the attainment levels for students by ethnic group. The data shows that between 2020/21 and 2021/22, attainment dropped across the board except for ‘Other’. The Asian group had the largest drop of 7pp from 75% to 68%. The Black group dropped by 4pp from 73% to 69%, Mixed from 80% to 77% and the White group from 87% to 85%. Whereas the ‘Other’ group increased by 2pp from 63% to 65%.
This makes me wonder if the decline in attainment across most ethnic groups is down to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that said, there is still a noticeable attainment gap to close between the different ethnicities. Perhaps if we were to diversify our resources, teaching methods and assessment criteria, this may help to reduce the attainment gap seen in the data.
Fig 1. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Student data for students report.(2022/23)Fig 2. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Attainment data student report.(2022/23)
References
Bradbury, A. (2020). A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England, Race Ethnicity and Education, Issue information, 23:2, pp. 241-260. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1599338 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education, Globalisation, Societies and Education, Issue information, pp.2–5 & 7-11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2024.2307886 (Accessed: 22 July 2024).
After watching Appiah’s video, I found it quite challenging to understand the main points he wanted to convey about religion. One of the main concepts was that because religion cannot be accurately and consistently defined, it therefore does not exist. He also said that if religion is not real, we may as well not believe what a person says is true.
The video called Faith: What does it mean to be a young person of faith today? The Interviews with young people, some of them explained that faith forms part of their identity. They feel a sense of community and that believing in a higher power gives them joy and peace (Coventry UK City of Culture, 2021). One girl mentioned that whilst she is not overly spiritual, when we all pray together it brings us closer and creates a sense of community among them. Based on the views from this video, it seem to contradict Appiah has thought that religion cannot be defined. Instead, it informs us that faith forms a part of people’s identity.
In the article, Reki explores how religious identity intersects with other aspects of a person’s identity such as race, gender and class. He identifies a key point that our biases can cause us to make assumptions, in turn cause harm. I agree with his point that it can be often difficult for religious people to share, as it could lead to being scared to face injustice or prejudice.
Jawad’s blog focuses on Muslim women in sports and the challenges that arise from the intersection of faith, culture and sport. She emphasises the importance of creating an environment where Muslim women and girls can participate in sports, without compromising modesty and their beliefs. She advocates for a holistic approach that respect their religious practices.
Singh brings attention to stereotyping if everyone from the same community is viewed as identical, despite the community being diverse. To educate people, he challenges stereotypes wherever he goes. As commendable as this is, I believe it should not be his responsibility. Not everyone has the strength to confront others in the same way. Singh also discusses how he educates his students in the classroom on how to engage and challenge people with empathy, in a constructive manner and not destructive. This is something I would like to incorporate into my teaching practice (Singh, 2016).
Recurring themes:
Cultural barriers and societal barriers
Community and diversity.
Challenging stereotypes.
Epistemic Injustice and Inequality.
Inclusive practices.
Religious Identity.
Teaching context
The UAL’s EDI Report (2022/23) shows a decrease in the percentage of students declaring their religion or belief, from 34% in 2019 to 29% in 2023/24 (Figure 1).
The report details the various declared, undeclared, or undisclosed religions and beliefs (Figures 2 and 3). According to the UAL Active dashboard for the School of Design and Technology, about 57.1% of students declared no religion or belief, while 12.2% preferred not to say. Both data raises question, why this students not disclosing their faith. Is this due to safety concerns, biases, or is it the way the data is collected, barriers in sharing their faith in educational environment, potentially leading to injustice, stereotyping, and prejudice? Are we, as a university, creating an atmosphere that respects and values all aspects of students and staff’s identities, or are we fostering silence around faith and belief?.
At times is challenging to discuss my faith in an educational setting due to timing, space, and the risk of being misunderstood. It is easier to share my Christian faith with staff and my team, but I have rarely shared it in large classroom settings, though occasionally with students in smaller groups when it comes up, especially when it relates to UK public holidays or weekend plans.
I had an experience once with a student asked for my help ideas for a gift for his mother with British heritage to take back home. I asked him what his mother’s interests was and in end found out, we shared a Christian faith. He then decide to buy a liberty print fabric to make her church dress. This interaction gave me a sense of freedom to share an important part of my intersectional identity.
There are some Quiet Spaces across UAL, which are creating a safe place for people to share their faith. (Figure 4)
Fig 1. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Religion or belief data for students report.(2022/23)Fig 2. University of the Arts London Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics – Student faith data (2023/24)Fig 3. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Religion or belief data for staff report.(2022/23)Fig 4 Using Quiet Spaces at UAL (2023)
Coventry UK City of Culture (2021) Faith: What does it mean to be a young person of faith today?. September 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDYy0U7WtkM (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
Reki, J. (2023). Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Approach, Hypatia, 38 (4), pp. 779–800. Available at: https://philarchive.org/rec/REKRIA (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom. 1 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk (Accessed: 17 July 2024).
“I am disabled because society has not allowed me to shine and not because of my disability” (Adepitan, 2020)
Adepitan’s quote highlights how breaking systemic barriers will allow individuals with disabilities to shine and this ultimately benefits everyone in society. He urges society to rethink how we view and address disability, underlining society’s responsibility to remove the barriers disabled people face, rather than focusing on people’s limitations. He shared how the Paralympics is an example of how when people are given the right environment, they can succeed and “the sky is the limit” (Adepitan, 2020).
Adepitan shares his own experiences whilst highlighting the intersection of race and disability and the oppression faced by the BAME community. Towards the end of the video, he asks society the question, “Do we really really as a society want to tackle inequality?” (Adepitan, 2020). If so, we must hold ourselves accountable and make changes, no matter the small.
“Scale equal visibility and that has the ability to shape social norms” (Kim, 2023)
Christine Sun Kim discusses her experience as a deaf artist, wife, and mother intersect with her identity. Christine’s explains how she uses her art to normalise disability by educating, start conversations about disability. Collaborating with others, her partner and daughter has broadened her ideas and perspectives as an artist. Kim’s highlights the benefits of living in Berlin, where the government supports its citizens including free childcare, ample space for her art and not have to worry about debt in comparison to her friends in New York. Kim’s emphasises the importance of visibility for the deaf community, stating, “If you don’t see us, we have no place to be.” She wants society to acknowledge and recognise the deaf community.
The interviewer in the video said:
“If things are accessible for the disabled, they are going to be accessible for everyone, enjoyable for everyone”(Parapride, 2023).
During the interview with Chay Brown, the above quote resonated with me. I agree that inclusivity benefits everyone and not only those who have a disability. Brown went on to say we should ask people what accessibility needs they require, rather than assuming. Brown also made the valid point that having an accessibility budget in place will ensure accessibility needs can be met for every event. Chay also discussed being non-neurotypical and that his disability is not visible, but is hidden.
Highlighting the need to break down societal barriers and systems.
Overlapping identities affects their lived experiences.
Society’s failure for not creating the environment for everyone to succeed.
Creating an environment that is inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Burden put on the Individual person with the disability rather than society.
Scale for visibility.
Teaching context:
The UAL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report (2022/23), shows the percentage of students declaring a disability, increased from 16% in 2019 to 18% in 2022, then decreased to 15% in 2023, and rose again to 17% in 2024. Comparing 2019 to 2024, this is an increase of 1 percentage point (ppt) (figure 1).
The report shows the differences between home, EU and international students (figure 1). Whilst the percentage for home and international students remained relatively, the same between 2019/20 and 2023/24, EU students saw an increase from 10% to 21%.
Fig 1. University of the Arts London – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Annual report 2022/23.- Students Disability data report.(2022.2023)
In my teaching context, I support eight LCF courses (BA and MA). The UAL Active dashboard, under the School Design and Technology, shows from 2021/22 the number of students with a declared disability decreased from 17.58% to 16.52% in 2023/24. Those with no declared disability increased from 82.42% to 83.48% (Figures 2 & 3).
FFig 2. University of the Arts London Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics – the last 3 years of Students disability data (2021-2024)Fig 3. University of the Arts London Active Dashboard – Student profiles: characteristics – the Students disability data (2023/.2024).
Both data sources indicate home students are more likely to declare a disability than EU and international students, possibly due to cultural and language barriers. Therefore, they may not have disclosed their disability needs in time, before the survey is taken. To improve inclusivity, as a university we should ensure all spaces and resources are accessible to everyone, regardless of their declared disability status, which enhances the student experience for all.
References
Adepitan, A. (2020). ‘Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism’. Interview with Ade Adepitan. Interviewed by Nick Webborn for ParalympicsGB, 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU (Accessed: 12 July 2024).
Brown, C. (2023). ‘Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023’. Interview with Chay Brown. Interviewed for Parapride, 13 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 12 July 2024).
Kim, C. S. (2023) ‘Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21’. Interview with Christine Sun Kim. Interviewed for Art21, 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=1s (Accessed: 12 July 2024).
Some students can be put at more of an advantage or disadvantage due to their individual privileges when they are engaging in the learning and retaining of information. This can be visually demonstrated by using the ‘Privilege Walk’ (Bryan 2022). Having reflected on this, I considered the issues students encounter with regards to their notetaking methodology. I have observed this issue through conversations I have had in the past with students. I have also seen students take notes for their independently submitted work as well as when they are notetaking for their personal use to build knowledge.
My intervention aims to enhance and improve students core knowledge and note taking in BA/ MA/ PGT, and whilst they are creating their own individual notes for their assessed project. I have seen how some students struggled to take notes whilst trying to keep up with the lessons. I can personally relate to this challenge as a neurodivergent staff member, and through my past experiences as a former student, and currently whilst being on the PgCert.
In my CAD/CAM teaching practice, students are required to take digital notes in taught lessons. The notes help students create the portfolio with notes required for submission and supports them during their independent learning in supervised studio. I myself and other students agree that taking notes is valuable to learning and becoming self-dependent. However, it can be difficult multitasking by take notes when in a taught lesson.
There are many reasons for this difficulty:
The encouragement provided for students to take notes, is only briefly introduced for the first 5 minutes in every lesson. As a result, students have to learn simultaneously the software’s we teach as well as how to take notes using it.
Our teaching practice uses windows PCs. However, across home and international students, they are often more familiar with apple computers or touch screen computers.
There can also be a language barrier. For example, we have a majority of the student cohort being international students, whereby they find it difficult to note-take in English where it may not be their primary language. In the end, they end up taking notes in their mother tongue. This can create issues when they need to translate their notes back into English. If done later, the translation may not be entirely accurate.
Neuro-divergent students can find there are too many things going on at the same time and therefore they do not have time to take proper notes and keep up with the lesson.
In order to conduct my intervention I plan to:
Conduct a series of surveys to collect data and information to inform key points of my research from staff, students, tutors and peers.
Have conversations with staff, peers and students around the topic of notetaking and getting their feedback.
Look at the UAL Data to inform my research and approach.
Widen my research into theories with the aim of conducting a series of inclusive teaching practice methods to help create a workshop for notetaking.
Plan to research inclusive note taking software.
Hold a small focus group regarding the best software of taking digital notes.
Create a workshop that is to be presented prior to the start of the first taught lesson that helps students know how to create notes.
Time and resource permitting, I will look at the assessment requirement to see whether students whose mother tongue is not English, can submit in their mother tongue.
References
Adepitan, A. (2020). ‘Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism’. Interview with Ade Adepitan. Interviewed by Nick Webborn for ParalympicsGB, 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU (Accessed: 27 May 2024).
Davies, M. (2022) ‘The White Spaces of Dyslexic Difference: An Intersectional Analysis’, in S. Broadhead (ed.) Access and Widening Participation in Arts Higher Education: Practice and Research. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 143–158. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97450-3_7 (Accessed 27 May 2024).
Kim, C. S. (2023) ‘Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21’. Interview with Christine Sun Kim. Interviewed for Art21, 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=1s (Accessed 27 May 2024).
Before I prepare a workshop, I make sure to check it against the unit brief, so that I am informed on how I will need to structure the students’ formative assessment.(Nicol, Macfarlane-Dick, 2021).Reviewing the brief, also ensures my workshop is in keeping with the learning outcomes.
On the Master Pattern and Garment Technology course (MA PGT) in Unit 1, I created a workshop about the specification sheet (spec sheet) that is divided into two parts. In the first part I deliver a presentation on the history of the spec sheet, show what a spec sheet looks like and explain how students can create their own.
In the second part, students are divided into groups and given an image of a garment (leather biker jacket), an incomplete technical drawing, and an incomplete spec sheet. I am assessing them based on how well they identify and fill in the missing parts of the technical drawing as well as the spec sheet, using the information I shared with them in part one. This exercise helps to share useful knowledge that will better prepare them for industry.
Once they have completed this task, they will give feedback in groups to me and their peers and explain how they found completing the exercise. However, I noticed that students can be shy when working in groups with unfamiliar classmates, resulting in less interaction. Another issue is that where we have a lot of international students, they may struggle giving feedback if English, if it is not their first language.
Evaluation
I have been conducting this workshop for four years now and I always try to make some slight improvements each time. Also, before the feedback stage of my workshop, I make sure to go around the room and observe the individuals in the group in a general way. I have found that students can effectively communicate with each other, and I am comfortable for the students to discuss the exercise in a language that they are more comfortable communicating in. Then when it comes to feedback, as I have observed how they were working on the exercise, I will do my best to convey what they learned from the exercise and share with the wider group. This is because I do not want any students to feel like they are not able to contribute to the feedback part due to language barriers. I also tend to see that there is usually one student who will be a spokesperson for the group if they feel more comfortable doing so. This is somewhat effective, but I am also concerned that this may mean there could be individuals who may not have fully grasped everything, and because of the feedback format, I would not be able to identify this. (Biggs,1999)
Moving forwards
Going forward, I will try to cater to a wider range of diverse students and their individual needs. For example, to help make more students feel engaged at the feedback stage, (Race, 2001). I will give students the option to use Padlet to upload the technical drawings and completed spec sheet, as an alternative to feeding back to the group verbally. Padlet also allows students to share written feedback which can be easily translated into English.
Also, I will consider sharing the exercise with the students ahead of the lesson, to allow any students who may feel nervous feeding back to the group, to do so digitally rather than in person. This improves my teaching practice as it means, no matter the needs of the student, they will be able to give feedback and I can assess them in a way that is suitable and comfortable for them. (Biggs,1999)
References
Biggs, John. (1999) ‘What the Student Does: teaching for enhanced learning’, Higher Education Research & Development, 18(1), 57-75.
Nicol, D.J.& Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2021) ‘Formative Assessment and Self‐regulated learning: a Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice’, Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), pp. 199–218.
Race, P. (2001)‘A Briefing on Self, Peer and Group Assessment’, Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN), 9.
Additional References Readings
Brooks, K. (2008). ‘ Could do Better?’: students’ critique of written feedback’, Higher Education Academy.
In the last year, being able to consistently plan for improvement in the effectiveness of my teaching practice hasn’t always been easy. This is because a lot of my technician role involves being physically available for students, and the demand has increased since we moved to the Stratford campus. There are times when I am not actually available to support students, and so I sit in the studio space away from others. However, this still makes me visible to students and I get interrupted.
My role involves supporting academics, checking hardware and software are working, planning workshops and student resources, which I find gives little time to reflect and plan effectively. As we work with multiple courses with various submission dates, sometimes we offer additional supervised studio sessions. This also takes time away from planning, and sometimes means I have to plan workshops outside of working hours.
I recognise the need to be more disciplined when supporting students, as I tend to take extra time to support them, which eats into my planning time. I understand that without proper planning, I cannot effectively refine my teaching methodologies, or ensure learning outcomes are clear and match up against the curriculum standards.
Evaluation
To combat these issues, I often try to go to a quiet space and use any spare time I have to improve my teaching practice. Upon reflection, this is not always successful as we no longer have private offices in our studio spaces, and therefore I can be easily interrupted by students and staff.
Also, should an urgent hardware or software issue arise, this pulls me away from planning which reduces my ability to improve my teaching methods.
When there is more than one technician available on site, sometimes we allocate one technician to catch up on admin tasks and planning. This sometimes works, unless the work demands are too much for a single technician.
During quieter periods, usually Saturdays, I am able to plan better and reflect on my teaching methods. I then try to pull it all together between Monday to Friday when I get a chance.
I have also tried to block out time in my diary, but if there are urgent technical issues, outside of my control, then I have to attend to them.
Moving forwards
To reduce interruptions, I will explore moving to another location in the building or a different floor where I am not visible to students. I will also discuss with my line manager, whether I can have an allocated day once a fortnight, to visit another UAL site with a library, to plan more effectively. I will also discuss with them whether we can introduce hybrid working and allocate a day to work from home if I can’t visit those other sites.
I will seek to continue to improve my knowledge and skills. For example, one of the reasons I am on the PgCert course is to formally learn about how to improve my teaching practice methods.
I will also look into short courses, as I would be interested in a refresher course on pattern cutting knowledge. Any areas to strengthen my knowledge will ultimately help me improve my teaching practice.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” This thought-provoking quote by Benjamin Franklin inspired me to think about how I can effectively move forward when planning and teaching. I then searched for theories to develop a framework and structure that aligns with my teaching practice.
Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Teaching students from various linguistic backgrounds CAD/CAM software, Gerber,Lectra and Optitex
Size of student group: Variable between 5-25
Observer: Lindsay Jordan
Observee: Andrea Marfo
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
Developing students’ understanding of the software to enable them to digitally pattern cut and simulate the pattern in 3D.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I work with different cohorts of students from different courses throughout the academic year. I support them in taught lessons and supervised studio sessions.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
For students to understand the terminology and language used in relation to software interface and function.
To pattern cut digitally and simulate garments in 3D by using one of the software.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
To gain knowledge and understanding of the software.
To produce digital pattern of their garments by using the software.
To produce 3D simulation of their garments by using the software.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
I am concerned about the different linguistic backgrounds of my students, and I want to ensure that they do not get confused by the technical terminology that I use while explaining the software functions.
I am concerned whether the language I use to explain software functions is simple enough. Even if I use simple language, I am still concerned that some students might misunderstand me due to differences in language backgrounds between them and myself.
After reading the Journals of Wang & Dovchin 2022, I became aware that I may unintentionally contribute to students feeling a sense of not belonging in the lesson. This can happen when I repeat certain phrases or speak at a pace and tone that differs from what they are used to in their language and culture. Even repeating a single word or sentence multiple times can make them feel like I assume they do not understand what I have said, even though that may not be the case. It could simply be the way I am phrasing the word or sentence that causes confusion.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
N/A
What would you particularly like feedback on?
The type of language I use and whether it is simple and easy to understand for all students of all various language backgrounds.
How will feedback be exchanged?
Written
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Waiting for the written observation
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Need the written observation to complete the feedback.
References
Dovchin, S. (2020) ‘Introduction to special issue: linguistic racism’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,22 (7), pp 773-777.
Wang,C, Dovchin,S. (2022) ‘Why Should I Not Speak My Own Language (Chinese) in Public in America?’: Linguistic Racism, Symbolic Violence, and Resistance, Tesol Quarterly,
Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: BA Fashion Design and Development Lesson & Demo workshop: Pattern Scanning & Marker Making on Lectra & Nscan Software
Size of student group: 18 Students
Observer: Kira Oliver
Observee: Andrea Marfo
Part One Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
This is optional to their curriculum, The demo to Nhega scanner and Nscan software is an additional knowledge/Intro session that students have the options to use CAD/CAM software (Lectra and Optitex) / Hardware to enhance their studies and their projects in the future.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
This will be their second lesson with the Lecturer and me, but I have been working with the course BA Fashion Design and Development (FDD) for 3 years now, so every year I deliver this demo scanning workshop within their lesson with new group year 2 cohort.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Students will be able to:
Prepare manual pattern or draping fabric piece to scan, and checking all key information e.g. Grainline, Notches, Cutting information, Drill holes, Darts etc).
Setting up Nscan software, scan manual pattern to make digital pattern, set up for file type for (Exporting).
Tidying up patterns on the software (Nscan).
Opening DXF pattern pieces in Optitex and Lectra and saving them.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
N/A
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
Taking notes whilst observing the demo, especially when moving from the hardware (Nhega) to software (Nscan). This is due to students finding learning technology overwhelming with all the different moving parts and information given.
Students finding it hard to follow the demo workshop once they have finished their taught lesson.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
They were verbally told last week and will repeat at the start of the lesson again today.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
Are students able to retain information and explanation giving to them about the software and Hardware?
Students be able to use the Hardware and Software independently after this session. Will they be able to use them confidently?
The language and terminology used to teach/ explain the software and hardware.
How well do I support the lecturer and students during the taught lesson and after the demonstration of the Nhega Scanner and Nscan.
How will feedback be exchanged?
Written and Spoken
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions, and questions:
First Part of Lesson (supporting other teacher)
Great unobtrusive support of late individuals while other teacher speaking in a relatable and not harsh manner.
Takes over the student work on the PC which is required to bring them up to speed with the rest of the class. In this setting it is needed, but in others it could potentially take away from their chance to problems solve for themselves (not to case here but something to be aware of).
When demonstrating she always explains in clear relatable English – perfect for this setting.
Clear signs between staff members.
When supporting individuals, she creates a good rapport between the two of them with jokes and dedication to their work.
When supporting other tutor, she stands at front just behind other teacher which is great as she can see all student’s computer screens and their faces when they look forward to the teacher and so she can identify when anyone gets stuck and is not in the other teacher’s way.
Second Part of Lesson (Andrea leading a demonstration)
Before jumping in she checks existing student knowledge so can gear the information well.
Asks questions and praises existing knowledge which builds students up and increases their confidence and therefore engagement with the subject. She also expands on these points which builds student knowledge.
Uses objects to demonstrate and show students physically what to do. This increases student interest as it is like ‘watching a film’ something they find more interesting than just listening to the information. IT also helps visual learners retain the information better.
The information she is trying to impart is very complex and heavy so difficult for students to take in from just watching and listening especially at the end of another session, it may be helpful to use students to demonstrate as well to keep the class more interested than when it is just her.
Explains file type changing with a lovely simple real-world analogy which students should be able to use to grasp a complex concept easily.
She repeats important points throughout the demonstration and also has these on a hand-out which is great for supporting the knowledge retention of these particular facts.
Gives industry examples and therefore context as to how this would be used. By giving real-world examples, it allows students to relate to and understand why this information is important and where they might actually use it in the future.
Asks questions at the end of the session to gauge student’s understanding and fills in any blanks. Also gives finishing information about how they can take this forward.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Your comments & ideas to follow up:
Thank you, Kira, for your feedback and attending my session. It was a pleasure having you there. Your observations have brought light to the areas I can improve in my teaching practice. I appreciate your suggestions as they are practical and can be implemented to improve my teaching skills.
General things
I will work on involving students in the demonstration so I can keep them more engaged. I want to implement the suggestions made and continue to work on enhancing the student experience, even with the complexities posed by our software and hardware.
I plan to apply these suggestions to each area and create an action plan on how to improve in each of them. I will implement these changes in the coming months.
First Part of Lesson (supporting other teacher)
Thank you for providing feedback. I appreciate your positive comment about my interactions with the students and fellow staff members. I will strive to work on this and be consistent with my approach towards all students and staff members to ensure this enhances the learning experience and environment.
I have taken your feedback on board about taking over the student’s mouse during a lesson to help them catch up. I appreciate you acknowledging that sometimes this is needed in the lesson. This is something I have been conscious of as I do not want to take away the student’s ability to learn by practicing themselves. I am open to exploring alternative ways to support students during lessons without always resorting to taking over their mouse.
Second Part of Lesson (Andrea leading a demonstration)
I acknowledge the positive things you highlighted, such as when I ask students about their existing knowledge. I am pleased to hear that you found it positive when I expanded on their answers to deepen their understanding of the subject matter and the complexities of the software. Additionally, I am glad to hear that my use of real word examples was helpful and that students can feel confident about how they can apply this knowledge in the real world. This is something I am conscious of, as I want students to feel confident that once they leave university, they know to apply this to their businesses, or even give them a better chance of employment.
I completely agree with you when you say that it can be difficult for students to understand this complex topic, especially when it is taught after another session. Based on your feedback, my action plan is to have a discussion with the academic who is doing the taught session. During the discussion, I will ask about the possibility of moving my part of the lesson to the beginning and adding a break between my session and theirs. If that is not feasible, I will discuss the option of adding a break between when their session ends and mine begins.
Further to this, there are sessions when I am not given enough time after the academic taught lesson, due to it running over. This leaves very little time left for the students to practice my demonstration. Your suggestion of using the students as part of my demonstration is a great way to make the most of the limited time available whilst still getting them to practice even when the time is shorter than I would like. Moving forward I will explore more ways of involving students throughout my sessions to make them more interactive and engaging. Thank you for your suggestion.
