MA VisCom Revalidation report

MA Visual Communication The story of the course evaluation and development

MA Visual Communication The story of the course evaluation and development

Background Over the last year, the School of Visual communication management team, including the core MA Visual Communication teaching team met regularly, mostly every two weeks, to evaluate the course, reflect on it and discuss possibilities for its development.A room was created within the Parkside building to act as a physical meeting space for the course evaluation, where analysis, thoughts, ideas and decisions were white-tacked to the wall, alongside a time-line to revalidation.

The physical space helped to communicate a clear visual record of the team’s thinking over such a long period of time, and it helped the team initiate, evaluate, develop or discard key thoughts, together as a team.

It also acted as a public place for other people in the School to view the development if they wished to.

The room was a perfect space to invite practitioners, graduates, students and others to discuss the course evaluation and planning. The fact that the evaluation, ideas and plans were on the walls for them to see, helped inspire discussion.

It was the complete opposite of death by PowerPoint and encouraged team members and guests to comment.

A similar process had been successfully initiated by the Head of School during the planning for the revalidation of the BA Visual Communication course and the MA process took that as an inspiration.

An online version of the physical space was also created by the MA Deputy Course Director. This could be added to regularly as the core teaching team reflected on the course delivery whilst working with the students and communicating with other tutors, practitioners, and researchers. The resulting points were brought to the larger meetings as fuel for discussion.

For the last two years the core teaching team had met almost daily. The meetings examined the effectiveness of the teaching and learning methods, the course structure and the possible impact on the course of changes that inevitably take place within the practice of visual communication and the industries that provide employment for graduates.

These discussions were less formalised than the larger School level meetings. Seen from outside, the meetings looked like a small group of academics

relaxing over a coffee together, but in fact they were crucial to the evaluation of the course by creating ongoing evaluation, fresh after delivery. Students were included within these informal discussions.

The design of the Parkside building, with its break out spaces and coffee pods, encourages such informal but important interactions. Some of the results of these sessions were integrated into the course over the last two years, within existing regulations.

This is an international course. During the first stages of the course, many of the students take time to become used to living and learning in a new country: many miles from their family and friends, communicating in a language that isn’t their first one and living and learning in an unfamiliar country.

The culture of a Masters course is also different to that of a Bachelors. It takes time for UK students to familiarise themselves with this. The students from overseas also face that particular culture change.

Therefore, many students are much more prepared to engage in discussing their experience of the course during the second half of it.

Over the last two years in particular, this has resulted in the most fruitful discussions about the course between students and staff happening between April and September.

Elements investigated in the evaluation of the course • • • • • • • • •

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Applications to the course Graduate feedback Graduate employment Student progression Course results Student feedback Practitioner and industry feedback External examiner feedback Reflections by the course teaching team on their experience of delivering the modules, including: briefing, learning outcomes, assessment, feedback, relevance to student cohort, relevance to industry and practice Reflection on any areas of synergy with the undergraduate courses within the School of Visual Communication Reflection on areas of synergy with PhD level study within the Faculty and University.

Developments within the visual communication industries and practices Expectations those industries have of a Masters

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level graduates, either in a full-time or free-lance capacity Objectives of the University, Faculty and School.

Methodologies • • • • •

Interviews Discussion groups Documentation Desk research Observational research.

Interviews Over a six month period a set of guests were invited to discuss the course plans and give feedback.

The guests included graduates of the course, and other practitioners from areas of visual communication, such as graphic design, brand design, design thinking, information design, user experience design, typography, creative advertising, exhibition and event design, photography, illustration and animation plus academics and students.

Those guests included Rob Waller and Andrew Boag, both leading communication design and information design consultants. Rob Waller is also Adjunct Professor of Communication Design at the Hong Kong Polyechnic University and Visiting Research Fellow at the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Royal College of Art. Andrew Boag is also Co-Chair of the Information Design Association and was Special Projects Manager at Monotype. Also Award winning illustrator, designer and graduate of the course, Gareth Courage, from Bangkok Illustrator and graduate of the course Allison Saeng, from Hong Kong UX designer Liam Ho, from Penang Malaysia illustrators, university lecturers and graduates of the course Eleen Tan and Siew Fong Ooi, from Shanghai brand design consultant and graduate of the course, Louise He, PhD researcher and illustrator Diane Maybey, from Bangalore India designer and graduate of the course Supriya Patankar, from Malta, graphic designer and graduate of the course David Debono, photographer Lorenz Gullachsen, Advertising agency Creative Director David Harris, Director of Connect Communications and previously head of brand at Audi UK Neil Burrows, Stephen Chamberlain animator and Visual Communication tutor.

Also included were academics such as the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of ADM Tim Wall,

the then Director of Research at BIAD Clive Richards, Caroline Archer coordinator of research in the School of Visual Communication, Derek Cassidy the then Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of ADM, Shane Walker Director KTP Programmes in the Faculty of ADM and Tony Cobb publishing designer and PhD supervisor at the RCA. A selection of current students was also included.

All were presented with a short description of the existing course and the teams’ evaluation of it so far. Guests were asked to comment on this.

Practitioner/industry guests were also asked a series of questions related to Masters graduates.

The questions were designed to elicit their views of and expectations of a Masters graduate in Visual Communication. The first question was a general one, ‘What are your expectations of a masters graduate entering your field?’This was followed by a series of questions developed from the various internal MA development sessions carried out in the School.

The questions prompted the guests to evaluate particular attributes of a Masters graduate: a. multi-disciplinary team work b. able to work across more than one discipline themselves c. problem solving skills including: research skills, analytical skills, evaluative skills creative thinking skills, innovative thinking skills, aware of recent developments in new media and technology, ahead of developments in new media and technology d. craft skills (and which) e. professional skills (and which) f. capable of building a business case for their solutions g. capable of taking responsibility for a project across more than one aspect of it h. wide and in-depth professional network i. clear strategic career goals j. able to solve problems through design thinking.

The guest interviewees were asked to rate each of the above attributes from 1 to 10.

A chart of the percentage of ratings for each attribute is in the Appendices.

Asking the guests to rate each attribute from 1 to 10 prompted them to say more about the attribute than they were originally going to, and in some cases re-think their original response.

Some employers were not as clear about the differences between the attributes of an MA and a

BA graduate until they went through the process of grading the attributes. Other guests were already clear of the distinction between an MA graduate and a BA graduate and the value an MA graduate should bring to their organisation, as either an employee or a free-lance.

applications. Student numbers have also been fairly consistent over the same period at an average of 41 per year. There was a high of 53 in the 2011/12 cohort and a low of 34 in the 2013/14 cohort. The present cohort is 45. Applications from UK based students dropped for a while but have now increased.

This suggested that MA students need to be well aware of the specific attributes they will bring to an organisation or client after graduation, in order to present themselves as a Masters level problem solver.

The ‘Times Higher’ in their 10th January 2013 issue, stated that the number of UK students on postgraduate courses across UK universities had decreased by 8% in 2011/12. ‘Times Higher’ considered that was because of a drop in applications for part-time study. Earlier ‘The Guardian’, in their 30th January 2012 issue, suggested a drop in mature students across UK courses. At that time, the MA Visual Communication course at BCU had experienced a decline in the numbers of students from the UK, part-time students and mature students applying. The present School and Course Management teams considered that was a result of a decision by a previous management team in the School to stop promoting a part-time MA route. The promotion of the part-time route was re-instated and has resulted in an increase in UK and mature students, many of whom are part-time students.

The programme that was evaluated by the School Management team and the course team had been validated 5 years earlier but had developed from its inception 15 years before that.

The title of the course evaluated was ‘Master of Arts in Visual Communication’ and consisted of two routes: a Professional Route and a Research Route.

The Professional route contained 7 award titles, for instance MA Visual Communication (Illustration) and the Research Route contained 4, for instance MA Visual Communication (Photography: documentary practice).

The course had a total of 180 credits, across three stages: Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert), Postgraduate diploma (PG Dip) and MA stage. It offered both full-time and part-time options.

Evaluation of the programme that the team evaluated The analysis revealed that particular strengths, weaknesses and opportunities were found to have developed over the programme’s history.

Applications The programme is successful in terms of

applications. Both applications and the numbers of students studying on the programme have been fairly consistent and healthy since year 2010.

Applications and student numbers The applications have been fairly consistent over the last five years, with an average of 130 applicants per year. There was a high of 139 applications for the 2010/2011 intake and a low of 117 for the 2012/13.

For the present 2014/15 cohort there were 129

In 2012/13 the cohort of 37 contained only 3 UK based students, all full-time, in 2013/14 the cohort of 34 included 7 UK based students 2 of those were part-time. The present 2014/15 cohort of 45 contains 10 UK based students, 9 of those are part-time (the 2 part-time students in their second year, are not included in this chart).

Progression from the BA Visual Communication Course has been growing slightly over the last three years, with 3 students in 2012/13, 3 in 2013/14 and 5 in the present 2014/15 cohort. More applied but decided not to take a place for financial reasons or issues of the time that they were prepared to give to the course.

Progression from the Schools’ BA Course in Hong Kong has been constant at 2 per year. In each year more students applied but failed IELTs or didn’t take up the offer for financial reasons. We are now encouraging the Hong Kong students to take IELTs earlier in their course.

Over the last three years, progression from the Schools’ BA Course in Bangkok has been less successful with 1 in 2013/14. Although that student persuaded 2 other Thai students to apply and they are now part of the 2014/15 MA cohort in Birmingham.

The communication of increased funding opportunities and more discussion with the School’s undergraduate students and staff about the value of Masters study will be built into the course promotion.

The course was described last year by the external examiner as now a truly international course in both the student cohort and content. This has developed over many years. 5 to 8 years ago the student cohort was largely Chinese. Since then the course has increased its intake from the rest of Asia, the EU and the UK, giving a far more balanced international cohort that has become a strength of the course.

Of the present 2014/15 cohort 38% are from China, 22% from the UK, 13% from the EU and 29% from the rest of Asia. The 2013/14 cohort had 47% from China, 21% from the UK and 3% from the EU, China and the 2012/13 cohort had 45%.

Applications by route, award and subject.

Applications have only been received for the Professional Route, none for the Research Route.

That doesn’t mean that students on the course have not been interested in research. In September 2014 two graduates of MA Visual Communication at BCU were accepted onto the PhD programme in the Faculty of Art, Design and Media in the university.

Two other graduates of the course are in the process of applying for PhD study starting September 2015.

Those four students are interested in research as an element of practice. Not as a separate course. Other students of the course have developed an interest in research as a form of R&D research and development in their subject.

In terms of the award titles and subjects, many of those who applied had an interest in a broad subject, such as illustration or graphic design, and therefore required guidance in forming a more specific interest for Masters level study. They would apply for one of those wide subject titles. A smaller number were much clearer about a defined subject that they wanted to master, such as the design of print within a digital environment, and would be less concerned about an award title than their area of study.

Within the existing course titles, illustration, multi-media design, visual identity and branding, photography, creative advertising and visual communication have all been applied for.

Scenography hasn’t, yet some forms of three dimensional graphic design have.

Cohort

Applications for the cohort

Size of cohort

2010/11

139

39

2011/12

138

53

2012/13

129

37

2013/14

117

34

2014/15

129

45

Applications and student numbers

Cohort

Percentage of students that were from Percentage of UK students that were the UK part-time

2012/13

8%

0%

2013/14

21%

28%

2014/15

22%

90%

Students from the UK

Cohort

Percentage of mature students in the cohort (age 30 plus)

Percentage of mature students that were UK based

2012/13

0%

0%

2013/14

9%

100%

2014/15

16%

86%

Mature Students

Cohort

Number of students progressing from the Percentage of MA School’s BA Courses in cohort Hong Kong.

Number of students from the BA Visual Communication Course in Birmingham who applied for MA.

2012/13

2

5%

4

2013/14

2

6%

3

2014/15

2

4%

8

Progression from the Schools’ BA programmes in Hong Kong and Birmingham.

Cohort

Percentage of Percentage students from from the EU the UK

Percentage from China

Percentage from the rest of Asia

Overall number of students per cohort

2012/13

8%

12%

45%

35%

37

2013/14

21%

3%

47%

29%

34

2014/15

22%

13%

38%

27%

45

Students by country of origin

In recent years there has been a growth in enquiries for particular areas of visual communication that are not listed in the existing titles but are within the description of visual communication and are often a development of of the original specialisms. Those are user experience design, animation, film and video.

Graduate employment The MA Visual Communication course has many overseas students. Traditionally they have been difficult to track once they’ve returned to their home country. This has been particularly the case with Chinese students who have been unable to communicate outside of China.

Recently, with the growth in choice of social media this has situation has improved. Although some Chinese graduates are still difficult to find, many graduates from other countries, and some from China, are now much easier to contact.

Therefore the course team have begun an exercise in contacting graduates of the course through: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the university student email and particularly the course’s own social media site on Minigroup.

Minigroup is used by students and tutors on the course to share information, ask questions, upload work and generally communicate. The cohorts of the last 3 years are still part of it. So those graduates who still choose to use it, are able to communicate with the course as we are with them.

Over the last 6 months a database of graduates and their employment has been built. It is still being developed but has enough graduates whose information has been verified to show patterns of employment. Information has been verified of 54 graduates who graduated over the last 4 years.

The following charts reveal patterns of employment.

Teaching and learning The existing course is a taught Master’s and its design was informed by the QAA descriptors for a higher education qualification at Level 7: Master’s degree, published in ‘The Framework for higher education qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland’, August 2008. The developments of the course will continue to be informed by those descriptors, alongside the QAA Master’s degree characteristics

Employed within a company involved in visual Freelance communication at a senior or midmanagement level

Own business

Placement

PhD study Lecturer or other post Higher grad Education study

61%

9%

3%

3%

17%

7%

Type of employment

User Graphic IIllustration Experience design Design

Brand Retail Publishing design design

Photography

Advertising

24%

13%

7%

7%

9%

31%

7%

2%

Specialisms Graphic design is too general. It will need follow-up questions to determine what area of such a huge subject they are working in. But it gives an indication of practice.

Thailand Spain

China

India

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Dubai

Kuwait

Malta Grrece Cyprus

Malaysia UK

7%

10%

12%

6%

7%

4%

2%

7%

5%

2%

38%

Country of employment.

China will have a higher percentage than revealed here but there is still limited access to western social media.

Cohort

Highest percentage of students passing a module

Lowest percentage of student passing a module

Average percentage of students passing all modules

2013/14

100%

94%

96%

2012/13

100%

91%

94%

2011/12

98%

83%

91%

2010/11

97%

89%

93%

Module progression: Highest and lowest percentage of students passing modules

March 2010. Although the descriptors are a guide to a wide range of courses, it became clear to the team reviewing the course for revalidation that they describe attributes of a leader and/or innovator within visual communication practice and research.

And holders will have:

including the quality of feedback.

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QAA Descriptor for a higher education qualification at 7 descriptors: Masters degree

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It also reflects that the course did have difficulties with the quality of English held by some overseas students. The external assessor quotes below from the reports of 2010/11 to 2013/14 show that the quality of English spoken by overseas students on the course has improved considerably. This is down to a series of reasons: an improvement in the screening of applicants by overseas marketing, course management reviewing applications, the work by the faculty’s English language tutor, increased experience of the course team in teaching an international cohort.

(Also used as a reference point for postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diplomas) Masters degrees are awarded to students who have demonstrated: •

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a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice. a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create knowledge in the discipline. conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

Typical holder of the qualification will be able to:

• deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non- specialist audiences.

• demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level • continue to advance their knowledge and understanding and to develop new skills to a high level.

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the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment and requiring: the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility decision making in complex and unpredictable situations the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development.

The existing course is a taught Master’s degree, with two stages: Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma leading to the third stage, the MA stage.

Post Graduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma stages each contains three modules, the MA stage contains two.

The modules in the first two stages were designed to develop the students knowledge and abilities required for them to successfully complete the MA stage and become masters of a part of their area of practice.

The modules in the PG Cert and PG Dip stages were designed to develop knowledge, abilities and skills in research, analysis, evaluation and their professional practice within visual communication.

The modules in the MA stage were designed to develop analytical and evaluative skills, increase critical awareness of current problems and new insights within the students area of practice, and develop responses to those through self-initiated projects, including the dissemination of their learning.

Module progression rates The progression rates per module (percentage of students passing that module) over the last four years has been healthily consistent and increasing.

Over the last two years, two modules resulted in 100% of students passing. Particularly satisfying was that the 45 credit Advanced Practice module in the MA stage of 2013/14 resulted 100% of students passing it (see chart on opposite page).

External Examiner feedback The external examiner reports for the last 4 years reflect a successful course that has had very good working relationships between students and staff,

External examiner quotes from 2010/11 to 2013/14.

“The students overall view of the course was very positive, particularly with regard to the help and feedback they received from the academic staff.

The one negative comment which surfaced, came from some of the UK and European students, who felt there was a lack of opportunity for meaningful informal group discussions because of the poor understanding of English by some of their fellow students. They felt that this sometimes resulted in students feeling isolated rather than part of an integrated group. From this one can only conclude that there still is a language issue to be addressed”. (from 2010/11) “This year I interviewed 19 students, representing a wide range of marks. Overall as stated previously in this report, this years cohort had less high flyers and was rather flat in comparison to last year. The feed back from students however remains very positive and their level of satisfaction with the course is high.

Amongst the students I interviewed, I was encouraged by the overseas students understanding of English, which was to a higher standard than in previous years”. (from 2011/12) “I am satisfied that the programme continues to deliver what the documentation promises. I interviewed twelve students and their feedback was very positive.

They were particularly complementary regarding the support they received from the academic staff. This was a particularly good year with marks predominately in the middle to upper range, reflecting the strength of the course and the improved standard of work.

I was grateful once again to be able to meet with the staff members and discuss any relevant issues arising from my visit. It was agreed that it would be useful to

produce a more detail timetable for students on arrival highlighting the hierarchy of the modules and giving a clear sense of their value in marks which contribute the final award. Finally, I continue to feel very confident in the staff and their delivery of the programme, I believe it is in safe hands and heading in a positive direction” (from2012/13) “The assessment processes continue to be appropriate and in line with the programmes aims and learning outcomes, and the working relationship between staff and student is quite exceptional.

The work produce by the students this year is to a higher standard overall than I’ve seen on previous visits. The higher quality of this years intake along with a more varied range of nationalities has achieved the richer mix of abilities that I expect on an MA course.

We discussed a range of topics including the much improved quality of the student intake this year. This plus the improved range of international students has had a huge impact on the overall standards achieved.

This year I interviewed six students of varied abilities.

It was interesting how important they thought the international element was to their learning experience.

They were also very appreciative of the detailed written feed back they are receiving from the staff. This is something I’ve always encouraged because of the huge contribution it makes to the students education.

The only regret expressed by several student,s was not being able to spend even longer on the course, as they had benefited so much from the learning experience during their studies for the MA. Clearly this reflects very favourably on both the course and the staff”. (from2013/14)

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) The national Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) results have risen over the last three years.

The overall satisfaction result rose from 75% in 2012 to 83.3% in 2013 and 100% in 2014.

(An absolutely accurate comparison of overall satisfaction between 2014 and previous years can’t be made, as in 2014 the question was a separate question at the end of the survey, and in previous years it was calculated from all the other answers. It is still a result that shows progress in a positive direction and was a

positive answer to a clear question asked of students were you ‘satisfied with the quality of your course?’).

The score for organisation and management dropped from 81% in 2012 to as low as 41.7% in 2013. That was a difficult period for the course and school as student’s experienced operational difficulties with the old building before moving to Parkside in the last two months of their programme.

It was also the year that the previous programme director left at the beginning of the year and the present one took over at some short notice, which initially unsettled some students.

Fortunately those temporary issues eased and in 2014 the score for organisation rose again, this time to 88.2%.

All other measurements over the last three years have had scores over 65%. The results for 2014 have seen all of the measurements increase considerably.

Three of them: overall satisfaction, quality of teaching and the appropriateness of skills acquired, achieved 100%.

The reasons for this increase are likely to be: the Parkside building is a more conducive environment to learn and the course and delivery have matured over the last 5 years.

In particular the development of a learning community was commented on favourably by students last year.

Conclusions The evaluation of the existing course has revealed elements of it that are working well and be disseminated, some that have been experimented with over the last few years and now should be developed, and others that have not worked that should be replaced or altered.

Areas to improve Structure •

The separating of the course into two routes has not worked in practice. No student had applied for the research route. That does not mean that students have had no interest in research.

In September 2014 two graduates of the MA enrolled as PhD students in the Faculty of Art, Design & Media at BCU. Two others are in the process of applying for PhD study in September 2015. Many students on the course see research

PTES student survey 2014 (2013/2014) Overall Satisfaction

100%

Teaching

100%

Skills

100%

Engagement

94%

Information

94%

Assessment

88%

Organisation

88%

Resources

82%

PTES Survey 2013/14 cohort

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as part of their practice, but not as a separate discipline.

The title ‘Professional Route’, distinguishing it from the ‘Research Route’ can suggests that a researcher isn’t a professional, or that a practicing visual communicator doesn’t involve themselves with research. The professional visual communicators that we interviewed agreed with the students, perceiving research as an element of practice. The researchers interviewed, considered that, in art and design, practice can be an important element in research.

The award titles listed under the two routes of Professional and Research have confused applicants. It’s been the issue that generated most questions and has caused confusion in applicants. For instance, someone wanting to develop their skills in creative advertising would only be able to research the subject, as the title ‘Creative Advertising’ was only listed under the Research Route. Someone wishing to research graphic design couldn’t do as it was only listed under the Practice route.

The structure was also found to be difficult for students to understand in terms of the relationship between modules. Particularly how the learning builds from one module to the other across those three stages.

Elements of the course that are working well •

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The programme has become international in approach and content and has developed an international cohort of students. The present cohort includes students from Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India and the UK. The cohorts of the last five years have also included students from Spain, Germany, Malta and Cyprus. The course team have developed a process of teaching an international cohort at level 7. The development of this should process should continue and disseminated.

The programme manages to be both interdisciplinary and specialist in approach; a synthesis that is important to the definition of visual communication and the changes within its related industries.

Strong partnerships with commercial and noncommercial organisations have developed and are becoming an important element of the course. This should be developed as it

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brings to the students, opportunities to work on development work with organisations at a Master’s level. The course team have begun to describe the process as research and development R&D. It gives students more opportunities to develop and innovate than many placements can do.

Also with the student’s career development in mind, in the PG Dip stage, the building of a professional network, based upon the setting of a strategic career goal, is a strength of the course.

As is the related process of evaluating the developments in new media and technology that may have an impact on a student’s specialism.

The delivery of an audience (or ‘user-centred’) approach to solving visual communication problems has developed within the course over recent years. This should develop as user centred thinking and user-experience become increasingly important in the visual communication industries.

The development of creative thinking skills as a means of problem solving, has also become one of the elements of the course that has helped students learn how to innovate.

A merging of research, analytical, evaluative, creative and practical skills has resulted in graduates taking both research and development into their careers (including PhD study and practice) or bringing both creative and analytical thinking to the organisations they work for is a strength and should develop.

The programme is process driven with an emphasis on clear module learning outcomes that have been useful for both international students who have English as a second language and seasoned professionals from the UK and overseas.

The 8 modules across the 3 stages, PG Cert, PG Dip and MA are effective. They are linked, and build knowledge and abilities in a way that supports students to take on the challenges of the MA stage at the end of the course. This was evidenced in 2013/14 when 100% of students passed the final MA stage module. The links between modules though should become more obvious, as should the links between analysis, evaluation and practice, as students still find those links difficult to make.

Development of craft skills.

The skills of disseminating knowledge has developed as part of the course. They should now be part of all stages of the course Consistent and healthy applications to the course

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Consistent and high module progression rates Graduate employment across the spectrum of visual communication including:creative advertising, brand identity, illustration, user experience design, video, games design, display design, photography, animation and general graphic design, teaching and PhD study, from the UK to the Middle-East, China and many other countries.

Over the length of the course a learning community developed through both an online and physical space. This has been recognised by the external examiner and graduates. It is based upon the group learning and teaching process used, the use of a physical space that students can experience as a home and the use of the online space called Minigroup that allows for ease of sharing information, views and learning resources.

At the end of the 2013/14 full-time academic year many students described the course as the best year in their life. That’s not just their experience of the course itself, its also the experience of community that was created by people from different countries, languages and specialisms. So much so, that on the first day of this new cohort of 2014/15, nine graduates of the previous cohort turned up to introduce the new cohort to the course

Characteristics of the course The evaluation of, and reflection on the strengths of the course, revealed characteristics of the course that the team believe should be developed: • • • • • • • • • • • •

process driven learning learning community understanding audiences an emphasis on problem solving development of a professional network built on clear career goals and objectives partnerships with industry, organisations and practitioners that can be described as research and development (R&D) international cohort and content processes that develop skills of innovative thinking understanding the effect that developments in new media and technology have on practice the development of craft skills the understanding of how to take a concept into production the skills of communicating a business case or strategy.

Together, they can be described as ‘design thinking’, a term that was traditionally used more often in architecture and product design, but has grown in use within visual communication. It describes a certain approach to solving communication problems.

An approach based on processes of thinking such as: understanding the audience and user experience, being able to research, analyse, critically evaluate, communicate the business case or strategy behind the work, solve problems, work in partnership, provide innovative solutions and understand the production process.

Those characteristics will define the structure, content and delivery of the course as it progresses over the next five years.

in the revalidated course. More emphasis will placed on the dissemination of research and practice. Also on the different forms of research and purposes of research in visual communication. The Dorst levels of Proficient, Expert and Master help distinguish between the levels of PG Cert, PG Dip and MA levels of the course and will be used to do that.

Proposal The characteristics of design thinking will be both continued and developed in the learning and teaching of the revalidated course.

Research and practice will merge, as they already were, in what had been called a professional route, but the research elements will be increased and more clearly defined (See the module profiles and course specification In 2010, Kees Dorst, one of the leading academics document).

“The Master designer has taken their way of working to a level of innovation that questions the established way of working of the experts, and their work is seen as representing new knowledge in the field. Such work is published in various ways: not just through design outcomes, but also through pamphlets, reflective papers, interviews, etc.” Dorst, 2010.

“Originality in the application of knowledge…show originality in tackling and solving problems… evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.”

QAA Descriptors, 2008.

“Solve problems in creative and innovative ways.”

QAA Master’s Degree Characteristics, 2010.

A questioning approach, originality in tackling and solving problems, creativity and innovation are represented in the existing MA Visual Communication course. The dissemination of that work through publishing and seminars is included in the existing course, but will be given more emphasis

MA Visual Communication MA Visual Communication (User experience design) MA Visual Communication (Digital interface design) MA Visual Communication (Illustration) MA Visual Communication (Graphic design) MA Visual communication (Typographic practice) MA Visual Communication (Brand experience design) MA Visual Communication (Advertising design) MA Visual Communication (Film) MA Visual Communication (Animation) MA visual Communication (Motion design) MA Visual Communication (Photographic practice).

The separate research and professional routes The modules have been streamlined into two in each will disappear. stage of the course, PG Cert, PG Dip and MA. Each

Two of the practitioners interviewed were prominent practitioners in design thinking and recognised the course characteristics as having an essence of design thinking. in design thinking developed a description of what he referred to as “levels of designing”. Those levels were ‘Novice’, ‘Advanced beginner’, ‘Competent’, ‘Proficient’, ‘Expert’, ‘Master’ and ‘Visionary’. The team noticed that Dorst’s description of ‘Master’ was very similar to the description of a Master in the QAA Descriptors of 2008.

One course with 12 Awards

The award titles will be clearer than the previous course in order to help course promotion in the UK and overseas. They include practices of visual communication that the course can support, have attracted students or are emerging practices of visual communication.

The proposals in this review have been developed through an extensive process of re-examination of the programmes’ strengths weaknesses, opportunities and challenges — as they exist within a context of change in visual communication specialisms, organisations, industries and practitioners. The programme was found to be fundamentally a successful programme and its aims and philosophy still relevant.

The weaknesses have been recognised and proposals designed to improve those areas.

Particularly through the redesign of the structure from two routes to one and awards which are based upon changes in the visual communication industries, market demand and the strengths of the School.

stage will contain a 45 credit module and a 15 credit module. The 45 credit modules will develop the interrelated skills of research, analysis, evaluation, innovation and practice make transparent the development of those throughout the programme.

The 15 credit modules will be devoted the dissemination of knowledge and practice.

The strengths of the course have been identified and planned for development including: • • •

• •

the continuing development of the learning community the development of the processes of delivery to an international cohort the continuing development of partnerships

with organisations, industries and practitioners in the form of R&D hubs the development of dissemination of student knowledge and practice through publishing and symposiums. the development of Minigroup as on online learning and communication tool.

Appendix Outcomes of the interviews

Guests were asked to rate (from1 to 10) particular attributes of a Masters’ graduate: a. multi-disciplinary team work b. able to work across more than one discipline themselves c. problem solving skills including c-1) research skills, c - 2) analytical skills, c - 3) evaluative skills, c - 4) creative thinking skills, c - 5) innovative thinking skills, c - 6) aware of new developments in new media and technology, c - 7) ahead of developments in new media and technology d. craft skills (and which) e. professional skills (and which) f. capable of building a business case for their solutions g. capable of taking responsibility for a project across more than one aspect of it h. wide and in-depth professional network i. clear strategic career goals j. able to solve problems through design thinking.

Attributes

% that rated the attribute as 1

% that rated the attribute as 4

% that rated the attribute as 5

% that rated the attribute as 6

a)

% that rated the attribute as 7

% that rated the attribute as 8

% that rated the attribute as 9

% that rated the attribute as 10

17%

8%

58%

17%

50%

25%

25%

b) c-1

8%

92%

c-2

8%

c-3

8%

c-4

8%

8%

c-6

92%

8%

d)

92% 8%

8%

e) f)

8%

g)

16%

h)

8%

i)

8%

84% 8%

25%

67%

33%

8%

51%

8%

25%

51%

8%

76%

8% 8%

84% 92%

8%

c-7

59% 92%

8%

c-5

j)

33%

8%

25% 8%

51% 42%

8%

42%

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