I aimed to try and collect initial data with a range of different methods as to allow students with different preferences or personalities to engage on their own terms, this also helped me analyse what is the most effective way of engaging the students.
What stands out is that engagement increased when there were less hurdles to go through before providing ideas and less formality in its format.
Lowest uptake – Padlet board
Medium engagement – Whiteboard
Highest – In-person Conversations
This mirrors research in participatory design and ethnographic methods which shows that direct and embedded methods often yield richer and more nuanced data, especially in creative education settings where formality can feel off-putting or artificial.
Key themes that came up:
- Peer Visibility
Across all three methods, students express wanting to see each other’s work:
- The Padlet post suggests a course exhibition, allowing informal feedback and visibility.
- In-person conversations reflected interest in supervised studio sessions feeling more lively and collaborative.
2. Social Interaction & Belonging
There’s a clear desire for more informal social contact across year groups:
- Pub invites and birthday calendars on the whiteboard.
- Suggestions for a buddy system in conversations.
- General wish for more of a “vibe” in the workshop during Supervised Studio.
3. Ownership of Space
Students expressed confusion and frustration over the set up of the overally formal environment of the university:
- Workshop space rules (e.g. no posters set by the university) make it feel corporate or “not creative”.
- They responded positively to the introduction of the whiteboard; engagement was playful and consistent.
From this information, although limited, it is clear the students are wanting a space to show work in a non formal setting, non work related social activities, and sense of individual identity in their work environment.
Things to Note:
- Although the in-person conversations had high engagement they were only undertaken with 2nd and 3rd years who I have classes with and therefore are students who have a sense of familiarity with me and felt self to share ideas. I was unable to find time to talk to first years, who I have never met, in person and can imagine the conversation may have felt more compulsory for them.
- The Padlet uses a digital format through Moodle and email links, students have expressed to me their dislike of the Moodle interface and how they find it confusing to navigate, this automatically pout this method at a disadvantage.
- It is hard to know what students and therefore year groups engaged or wrote on the whiteboard and Padlet board, therefore although this research aims to gather information about what the course as a whole wants out of its community it may only be one year group or even the same individuals provide feedback and therefore isn’t a full comprehensive overview of the cohort as a whole.