Abstract
In this chapter, the author shares specific case examples where universal design for learning (UDL) principles were used to deliver formative feedback to graphic design students, beyond giving written feedback. These cases are examined through the lens of UDL and its guiding principles, supported by a theoretical framework of appreciative feedback. Influences of critical pedagogy are also explored. A brief literature scan provides support for effective appreciative feedback strategies that support both theoretical as well as emotional growth in the learner. Case examples are shared, detailing the practical aspects of implementing recorded audio feedback in a face-to-face class, as well as the use of annotated video feedback in an online class. These practical examples outline not just the educational strategies, but provide detail on the technical aspects as well. The chapter concludes with a section outlining some best practices as learned by the author, as well as limitations and challenges faced along the way and opportunities for improvement.
TopBackground
Graphic design education occupies a space that requires students to demonstrate both cognitive and affective domain objectives. Graphic design is not art. In fact, practitioners are increasingly referring to their work as communication design, because naming it as such describes more specifically what it represents: the purposeful design of communication. Communication design encompasses many genres, but all have at their core the goal of delivering, impressing upon, or instilling a ‘communication event’ to the viewer (Barnard, 2013). In this way, the communication design educator must help the learner to understand formal, cognitive aspects of visual communication. There are specific strategies and concepts that support visual communications, or graphic design. For the purpose of clarity, the more familiar term, graphic design will be used for the remainder of this chapter.
Due to its communicative nature, graphic design is not considered art. However, it does embody an artistic aesthetic. Good graphic design must be visually pleasing, and it often must appeal to the emotional considerations of the viewer, as well. Where fine art can be decoded and interpreted solely by the viewer to take away whatever meaning as comes to them, the communicative aspect of graphic design requires that, while it may evoke an emotional response, the message received be applied within a context (Jackson, 2008). An effective graphic designer must always walk a line between formally accepted design strategies, and artistic expression; in other words, blending cognitive and affective design processes in order to reach a viewer in both a cognitive and affective manner.
Because of this educational duality, it can be difficult to give learners feedback in a prescriptive way. To be certain, there are many graphic design standards of practice that can be identified as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. There are, however, also many ways for a student to approach an assignment, and while an experienced practitioner will immediately see opportunities for improvement, the student is often unable to discern their work as clearly. Self-assessment can be particularly difficult, as the student has not yet developed the skills or experience to make positive improvements to their work. It is not uncommon for new graphic design students to be given feedback to improve upon their work, yet they re-submit the next iteration in an even worse state of affairs. This is not any indication of poor work habits on the student’s part, but an example of the difficulties students face in building upon the required skills of self-assessment. It is also true that this challenge is not only faced in graphic design education, but endemic to learning itself. We have likely all heard the expression, how does one know what one does not know? Through extensive study, David Boud and Elizabeth Molloy provide support for overcoming this challenge through effective educational feedback:
Both students and teachers need to see feedback as a way of promoting learning through fostering active learners, not as individual acts of information provision and reception. That is, feedback is not viewed as ‘telling’, but as ‘appreciating’. It ends not in ‘telling’, or even ‘reading’, but in acting. (Boud & Molloy, 2013, p. 706)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Graphic Design: The deliberate process of designing visuals and text to communicate a specific targeted message.
Affective Domain: A domain of learning that involves feelings, values, or emotional responses.
Appreciative Feedback: A method of providing feedback through a positive, forward-looking dialogic practice.
Diagrammatic: Using a visual representation (graphic) to demonstrate a concept or to illustrate a relationship.
Dialogic: A process of sharing information, based on two-way communication between parties.
Critical Pedagogy: With roots in critical theory, an approach to teaching that calls for the questioning of power and privilege in the learning environment.
Formative Assessment: Assessment of learning to provide information to students for the purpose of helping them improve their learning.