Designing and planning case study.
I joined UAL in 2017 as an Arts temp support technician due to over recruitment on the BA costume for performance course at LCF. Having come from industry and having no experience in teaching, I had the benefit of observing the BA and MA specialist costume technicians for the first two years of my employment. I witnessed what worked and what did not work during their technical workshops and supervised studio sessions. When the BA technician retired, I was employed as the specialist technician to take over. I had the opportunity to look at the workshop plans and redesign them if I wanted to.
In the performance courses, we front load as many technical workshops that we can, to give the students the skills they need to become innovative and independent faster. All my technical workshops are delivered in Y1 with the aim to teach a range of processes in a short period of time that is fun for students and cost effective. I could not think of better replacements for these workshops and instead decided to redesign the delivery instead.
The previous technician delivered all the processes for the session at the beginning of the class. This meant the students had to keep focus for an hour and a half before attempting to remember and replicate all the steps they were shown. This resulted in cognitive overload. I could see that students were making multiple mistakes due to forgetting steps and the order in which they were done.
I decided to redesign the delivery of the first technical workshop that I would deliver, for Y1 BA students, to see how successful this was before modifying others. I focused on a scaffolded model of learning, delivering shorter demos, no longer than 15 minutes or three to four steps of a process, allowing questions to be asked, then allowing 20-30 minutes for students to then replicate the processes. Then progressing with the next demonstration to continue the following steps. The main aim was to help students keep focus and avoid that cognitive overload I had witnessed previously.
I planned to measure the success of this delivery would be through formative assessment during the workshops, feedback from students and whether the learning outcomes were met. Repetition of techniques through later workshops showed that students were able to retain these processes.
When I had chance to first put this new design into practise in November 2020, I noticed instantly how engaged students were compared to the previous years. The demonstrations were more manageable to deliver This led me to changing all the workshop plans that I deliver to the same format. Little research has been done on technical workshops and practical demonstrations, which has made it difficult to consider alternative methods. Vaughn and Mays (1924 cited in Petrina 2006, pg. 16) suggest guiding principles in teaching demonstrations.
1. The demonstration should be timed as to meet the immediate needs of the class with the work at hand.
2. The demonstration must present a single fundamental use, procedure or general fact (should leave a single strong, indelible impression in the minds of the students).
3. The demonstration must be brief.
4. The work of the demonstration must be creatively and skillfully done.
5. The whole performance must be accompanied by concise and discriminating questioning and by a clear, accurate statement or discussion of the vital points involved in the demonstration.
6. The demonstration and accompanying questions must not be confused by discussions of various related matters. Do not confuse the demonstration with subsequent discussions of details or content.
Discovering that my delivery is in line with these guidelines, albeit written 100 years ago, confirms that I made the correct choice to redesign the delivery of my demonstrations.
The change in delivery of demonstrations has been successful so far. However, due to cohort sizes increasing in line with the UAL Strategy guiding policy 2 (2023) , I am revisiting the workshop plans to see if I can make the delivery more effective using new AV systems/technologies that will be in place for Stratford.
Example of workshop plan 2020
Costume Technical Workshop Plan
| WORKSHOP TITLE | The Petticoat, pattern cutting to half scale |
| TECHNICIAN | Sarah Masters |
| TARGET COURSES | BA Costume for performance |
| OPTIMUM CLASS SIZE | 18 |
| DURATION | 3h Synchronous + 1h Asynchronous. |
| PREP TIME / CLEARUP TIME | 1 hour prep, 15 mins clear up |
| RESOURCES REQUIRED | Room D101/D104 Spaces for Technician to demo Pattern cutting tables 1.75m Calico per student/technician 50cm Petersham 1” tape per student/technician 50cm 1” Cotton india tape per student/technician 40cm ½” Cotton india tape per student/technician Trouser hook and bar Bobbin and bobbin case Pattern Master/set square 1m ruler Tape measure Pins Paper scissors Fabric scissors Chalk/Muji erasable pen White Thread Irons Sewing machines Overlockers with white thread Half scale dress stand |
| LAST UPDATE | 16/6/2020 |
| LEARNING OUTCOME SUMMARY | |||
| Students will learn be told about the history of the petticoat and how we make it for theatre/T.V They will learn about how to prep fabric before cutting. Washing/Steaming They will understand how to turn the half scale pattern into a full scale pattern. They will learn how to cut the fabric without the need for a paper pattern They will be told how this pattern can be altered in the future. Students will be taught how to do three different types of seams in the construction. Flat seam, Jean seam and French seam. Creating a samples before sewing the garment | |||
| DURATION | TEACHING PLAN | STUDENT ACTIVITY | |
| 1h (Async) | Students to look at processes in preparation for class. | Pre Read https://artslondon.sharepoint.com/sites/LCFTech/SitePages/1-2-scale-petticoat-class-one.aspx | |
| 10mins | Intro into the room, and explanation of what they will be learning. | Listening. | |
| 10mins | Handing out materials needed for the lesson. | Let students set up spaces and machines. | |
| 30mins | Demonstration of techniques | Listening. | |
| 30mins | Supervise and give direction | Students work on processes shown. | |
| 15mins | Break | Break | |
| 30mins | Demonstration of techniques | Listening | |
| 30mins | Supervise and give direction | Students work on processes shown | |
| 10mins | Relective crit and feedback on session | Class discussion | |
| 15 mins | Tidy up | Tidy Up. | |
| ASSESSMENT METHODS |
| Students must photograph finished petticoat for their technical log book alongside technical instructions |
| HYPERLINKS AND SUPPORTING LEARNING REFERNCES |
| Written and photographed instructions available on Moodle. |
| HEALTH AND SAFETY / NOTES |
| Students must have prior induction on workshop health and safety, sewing machines, Overlockers, irons and fire exits routes explained. |
| REQUIREMENTS FOR A REMOTELY TAUGHT SESSION |
| Computer/laptop Internet access Access to Moodle/BB collaborate Webcam/ camcorder Microphone |
| DURATION | TEACHING PLAN | STUDENT ACTIVITY |
| 3h (Async) | Students to learn the construction process from LCF Tech. | Read through LCF Tech guide and complete samples/ construction of petticoat. |
Petrina, S. ed., 2006. Advanced teaching methods for the technology classroom. IGI Global.
Masters, S 2020. Technical workshop plan, The Petticoat, pattern cutting to half scale
UAL Our Strategy (2022-2033) Accessed 10/3/23