Creative Spaces 

Molly OwensSenior Lecturer, Advertising University of Wales, Newport

My background

Industry experience

Academic experience

The course

Media: moving image, screen-based, new media, print, nonconventional

Design for print and screen, creative concept, copywriting, moving image/storyboards, new media (apps, online magazines), social media

Why study learning space and its impact on creativity and output?

Higher-order skills. HEIs & the creative economy central to UK economic

development. The importance of ‘creative’ skills is increasingly

important in post-industrial economies. The creative and cultural industries are increasingly

recognised as a ‘defining feature of the British national identity.’The UK has the largest creative sector in the EU.

Built pedagogy

“Architectural embodiments of educational philosophies.” (The ways in which a space is designed will shape the learning that happens in that space.)

Rethinking learning spaces (and challenging traditional assumptions)

“Environments that provide experience, stimulate the senses, encourage the exchange of information, and offer opportunities for rehearsal, feedback, application, and transfer are most likely to support learning.”

Strange and Banning: research that links the physical attractiveness and lighting of a space to the motivation and task performance of learners in the space.

Scott-Webber: space configurations exert powerful influences on the activities of knowledge creation, communication, and application.

Teaching and learning needs

The need for a creative environment

The need for communities of practice

The need for professional practice

The problem(s) & data collected

Difficult to adapt the space for different needs

Light pollution and sound pollution

Student experience and engagement, and impact on creativity – students found the space “depressing”, “sterile”, and “uninspiring” (per interviews and surveys)

Collaboration across courses – students/course isolated by the spaces, determined by surveys and assessment of reflective work

Creative People, Creative Jobs, Creative Spaces

GOOGLE

Lego

Facebook

Needs of the space

Studio practice

Lectures

Seminars

Crits

Student presentations

Technical demonstrations

Solutions

In and out-of-class exercises

In-class “events”

Leaving the space for a class session

Successfully establish online studios/communities of practice/collaborative environments

Booking another room when possible

Light and sound pollution – impossible to resolve without leaving the space

Setting up an online collaborative studio, using exercises

Using Facebook to ensure a feeling of inclusion – a feeling of inclusion by group members means that they are more likely to participate in their own learning (Haslam, 1997)

Team-building exercises that extended beyond class time and took students out of the space – collaborative exercises act as catalysts to confidence-building, help to form friendships and form a sense of belonging (Gabelnick, 1990)

Learning communities, communities of practice

Trips outside the classroom

IKEA

National Waterfront Museum

“I learned something valuable, and it stays in my mind more than a PowerPoint.”

“I liked going on the trips because we get to see things in person and not just on the internet or in a book or magazine.”

“I didn’t think I could write, until we had an exercise in Swansea Waterfront.”

“The environments were fun because they helped us think of ideas for our projects.”

“I felt more creative and inspired after going on location, I picked up a lot of ideas.”

“I picked up ideas and when I went home to work I was more inspired.”

“I felt more creative – they were fun and the exercises were a welcome distraction when we had lots of work on.”

“It’s nice to change our environment.”

“They were different than just sitting in the classroom. I was able to get inspiration from the outings.”

“They are fun and more creative. Feels professional.”

“Like them because there is always inspiration outside of our boring classroom.”

“I expected a long day out where we’d have to make a lot of notes and talk to boring people about boring things. But I was pleasantly surprised this didn’t happen.”

Why social media?

The same three characteristics of communities of practice set out by Wenger (1998) in Communities of Practice also exist in the digital realm: domain, community and practice.

The shared domain and its definition will sustain the process of learning together over time, providing an identity for the community through which members recognise each other as learning partners. (Wenger, 2009)

Why social media?

In Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities, Wenger states that what makes interactions on the Internet attractive and productive is the ability to experience “learning friendships” which occur when there is a common interest and a space to learn together. (Wenger, 2009)

Space and online communities

Social-networking sites help to foster relationships between students regardless of physical and geographical boundaries

Communities of practice generated by social media generate ‘social capital’ by allowing users (practitioners) to develop relationships and share knowledge

The difficulties

Lots of pre-planning and thinking differently about delivery and communication

Evaluation & conclusion

Summative and formative assessment, peer assessment

Student surveys, student interviews, focus groups (painfulness of process mentioned, along with an increase in confidence on both sides)

Increase in student satisfaction: 92% in the NSS (up from 68%)

Review of content posted on research and development folders, blogs, social networking sites

Final student work assessed showed dramatic improvement of quality