Pedagogical templates : a comparative study of higher order reflective making

Schon’s notion of reflection-in-action implies a constructivist process of learning, especially valid in the teaching of professional disciplines such as architecture. Action becomes the instrument of conjecture and learning arises in the context of reflection upon the act. Such a process of interleaving action and reflection constitutes a “higher-order” process of reflective making. Research in design studies has shown that strategies for making differ markedly between professional and novitiate designers. Further, such studies have shown that skilled designers employ past experience and precedents to create context for new problem situations. To address the lack of context in novitiate learning situations, we propose the use of “pedagogical templates” for the promotion of “higher-order” strategies in design learning contexts for supporting beginning design students. We focus on the use of digital media, specifically for the design, implementation and delivery of constructive learning situations. This paper presents the use of a pedagogical template in the creation of constructivist contexts for two complementary courses, a traditional design studio and a computer modelling course at Deakin University. The resulting implications for design learning and the integration of physical and digital forms of making through the use of a pedagogical template are discussed.

A virtual environment for cultural and linguistic inclusivity teaching in a global environment

The Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) operational policy on 'International and Culturally Inclusive Curricula' states that Deakin will incorporate international/intercultural perspectives and inclusive pedagogies into its courses in order to prepare all students to perform capably, ethically and sensitively in international, multicultural, professional and social contexts.

This paper is about a specific project to internationalise the teacher education curriculum through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This project is scoped in the context of the UNESCO thrust of 'Education for All' in agreeing that inclusive societies begin with inclusive education practices. In our view current strategies have been insufficient to ensure that marginalized and excluded children receive access to their right to education.

The project aims to operationalise part of the UNESCO Dakar Framework for high quality learning environments by responding to ‘…the diverse needs and circumstances of learners and giving appropriate weight to the abilities, skills and knowledge they bring to the teaching and learning process’ by minimising language acquisition barriers that can otherwise impede effective communication and learning.

In addition, we need to be mindful of the marginalisation of people from non-English speaking backgrounds and therefore, in this initiative we use ICT to bridge the 'tyranny of distance' and offer a curriculum that values cultural and linguistic diversity.

In this paper we will discuss how we intend to develop these project principles. In particular we will indicate our plans to use relatively low cost, accessible software to develop a virtual environment where students can enter text in their native language, view foreign language text in their native language, hear text in their own language and automatically encode text into MP3 files and attach the files to messages.

Democracy at risk : the cultural negotiation of hatred, rights and freedom

The idea for this panel emerged from a research project being undertaken at the Institute for Globalisation and Citizenship, Deakin University, Australia, – Moving On ›Cultural Negotiation‹ in Theory and Practice for the 21st Century.

Traum a dream

"Traum A Dream ... can be designated as activating object, with all lines of thought and action leading through it. Traum A Dream is a film that comes out of a life-long experimental animation practice; a body of work that has been evolving over 35 years. This is now more than half the time I have carried a trace of the trauma in my real and lived-in body, some of the personal events, which I reveal here.
This film was produced at a time when I was coming to terms in my personal life, remembering abuse from childhood. Traum A Dream emerged after an unsuccessful attempt to lay bare that abuse in a previous project, which co-incided with the conclusion of my CD-Rom Diary V 3.2 production."

"A representaion of traumatised space depicting a person who is consumed by a body of pain, consumed by fire. Slowly something is remembered." www.innersense.com.au/mif/debruyn_films.html