“Enriching Drawing”
Robin
Shaw
University of Glasgow, UK
A three year project to develop a computer based learning package in drawing.
Until the latest round of funding, United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE) through
the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP), despite an overall budget
of around £75 million, had not made any sizeable investment in learning
technology for art and design. Art schools have always been in the forefront of
the use of computers as tools. In design, in layout, in the manipulation of
images, and in the creation of art, lecturers and students have possibly formed
the most expert group of computer users and their needs have driven some of the
most innovative packages.
However, there has always existed a healthy scepticism as to whether computers
have anything to contribute to teaching and learning in art schools. This is not
surprising. Apart from the provision of ready access to resources through the
internet, learning technology has been dependent on pedagogic situations where
new skills or concepts had to be acquired by the student and where the class as
a whole would move ahead in expertise which would be tested by the examination.
The computer is ideal for a situation where, for example, the student has to
learn the basics of a scientific discipline. Information can be given, processes
can be simulated and at each stage of the package the student can discover
whether they are understanding the material. Questions can be posed and often
quite sophisticated feedback given to the student. Contrast that with the
situation in art. In art there are few certainties. The emphasis is less on
facts, the needs of the student are individual and the assessment of the student
is through a piece of work demonstrating creativity and the development of
ideas.
With a grant from TLTP of £300,000 and matching funds to give a budget of around
£800,000 a consortium of art schools and universities led by the London
Institute is engaged on a three year project to create interactive multimedia
learning packages on drawing. Drawing is central to all that is produced within
the broadest spectrum of art and design. It is the core around which the
conceptual and intellectual development of students takes place. Drawing allows
individuals to learn to look, to record what they see, and is used to develop
thought and ideas for artwork and for design, in both two and three dimensions.
In 1995-96 almost 5% of students in UKHE were in art and design. If related
subjects with a clear interest in drawing such as architecture, engineering and
technology are included the total rises to almost 16%. This growth in numbers
has created problems which the package seeks to address.
The approach adopted by the London Institute and its partners in the Falmouth
College of Art, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication and the
Universities of Ulster and Brighton is intended to create materials which give
full respect to the richness of the subject. The packages will come at drawing
from many different angles and controversy will be welcomed rather than shunned.
In addition to a thorough treatment of the basic skills such as drawing on
paper, drawing with the computer and draughting, the programs will explore the
historical development of our understanding of spatial representation from the
origins of perspective, through drawing machines to 3D and computer graphics. In
all the work the importance of how to see, how to interpret, and how to innovate
will be paramount and due weight will be given to the theoretical, philosophical
and contextual elements. Considerable use will be made of video to show
practitioners at work and discussing their particular approaches to drawing.
The project got underway in June 1998 and the initial period was spent in
blocking out the areas of drawing we wish to address, and researching our
pedagogical approach. The second phase of the project was to write detailed
descriptions of the planned modules focusing on the aims and objectives of the
module and how the content was to be presented and made interactive. The project
is now in the development stage which is using Director.
There is a considerable body of evidence that in order for learning to take place
effectively on the computer, the user has to be involved in tasks where
decisions have to be made. The learning should be active and consequently there
is a continual pressure to find ways of engaging the student. While assessment
within the field of drawing is difficult, we are convinced that the student will
gain by reviewing what has been learned and by receiving sensitive feedback on
progress, so we are exploring ways in which this can be possible.
In a project of this nature it is vital to expose ideas to the widest audience
before committing them to development and we have been disseminating information
about the project to art colleges and other institutions with an interest in
drawing. To date, staff from more than ninety institutions in the UK and the USA
have expressed an interest and we are allowing them access to our deliberations.
We are eager for as wide a participation as possible and interested faculty can
sign up to the list from our website at <http://tltp.linst.ac.uk/>.
The finished package will be distributed on DVD since that medium allows the
packaging of the product on one disk with a more than adequate space for high
quality graphics. The finished product will be available to UKHE at the
beginning of 2001 though beta versions will be widely distributed for testing
well before that date. As the project progresses, prototype modules will be
trialled in the classroom situation, both in the consortium partners and also in
a number of other interested institutions. From the evaluation of these
prototypes, which will be carried out by the University of Glasgow, we will make
changes to incorporate what we learn from student and staff use. The results of
these evaluations will be widely disseminated. The project intends that the
package will be made available outside of the United Kingdom though its primary
audience is first year degree students in that country.
Since the project is probably the largest investment ever in learning technology
in art it poses a considerable challenge. Its aims are ambitious and
wide-ranging and while it in no way seeks to supplant the traditional
relationship between staff and student, it intends to make a significant
contribution to the richness of the learning environment in the area of drawing.
It will do this by producing products which will emphasise the development of
observation, skill and accuracy and the understanding of form and space. Though
the package will encourage the use of the computer for drawing, the focus of the
materials will remain on traditional drawing tools. However, it will certainly
promote the new approaches to drawing which are made possible through
technology, and will aim to improve the ability to utilise software applications
for three-dimensional modelling and to enhance the teaching of formal drawing
systems such as projection and perspective. When completed it will be a valuable
resource for use in the classroom and for the independent student.
The proposed presentation will demonstrate examples of the development to date,
deal with project management issues and invite discussion and participation from
interested faculty.