This case study describes how a postgraduate degree in cross-disciplinary art and design can be conducted in a fully online studio environment. The program comprises a structured sequence of core-courses which contextualise a wide variety of elective choices by illuminating their theoretical, practical and disciplinary connections. Electives include subjects such as creative thinking processes, drawing, sculpture, digital illustration, art curation, textiles, photography, understanding and…

This case study reviews and analyses the outcomes of an initial attempt to develop an alternative design studio model for lateral entry Masters students; one that departs from the concept of ‘foundational’ knowledge. The implementation of the Melbourne Model in 2008 necessitated a new approach to design studio education. Under this model, students with no design background but with an undergraduate degree are now able to study architecture or landscape architecture in only three years. We…

This case study addresses the issue of deskilling of tertiary Fine Arts students. As contemporary art practice has shifted from a primarily material to an increasingly conceptual activity, Fine Arts education has been transformed accordingly. In the colleges, Critical Studies has been introduced while formal technical instruction has declined. For many students, ideas and relations matter more than mediums or skills. And for an increasing number, it’s as if “the desire to make art is…

The Museum of Urban Mythology is a studio based design project for final year Bachelor of Interior Architecture students in the Faculty of the Built Environment at University of New South Wales. The project is important and innovative for the way it includes a critical content in design and how it uses an interdisciplinary approach to design education. Like most design projects, there is a brief that describes a “client”, “project” and a “site”, in this case an existing building….

One of the key tools used to assess studio learning in architecture is the critique. Typically, the critique process requires students to present their designs and receive feedback from an assessment panel. In 2005, we became concerned that this process, in the context of second year learning was becoming less effective as students were not engaged in the process beyond their role to present. In addition, the critique process, which is considered pivotal and sacrosanct to…

This case study outlines the major review process of a foundation level Studio Design subject. The subject introduces organisational principles and concepts of visual design practice and has been running since 2002. It now requires a staged, major revision of content, conceptual frameworks; inclusion of indigenous content and a major redesign of delivery strategies and use of new technologies to accommodate a recent, rapid increase in student numbers; widely varying cohorts…

This intensive studio was offered to 25 second year Interior Architecture students. The studio sought to investigate issues with branding and identity, the unfolding of program over time and the relationship between the interior of a building and its urban surroundings.The studio compressed 12 weeks of core studio time within a period of 2 weeks. Due to the nature of the studio students had to respond to tasks within a shorter time frame, reducing the time for prolonged…

Keywords: interdisciplinary, creative arts, core courses, third yearT
his case study describes the role of a number of core courses in the third year of a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree at the University of Southern Queensland. In a major restructure of the Bachelor of Creative Arts degree, the disciplines of Music, Creative Media, Theatre and Visual Arts are linked into a single degree program and students have the opportunity to choose courses and majors across…

Keywords: Art and Design, core studies, first yearC
ore studies in Fine Art and Design is an introduction to fundamental themes, concepts and principles common to Art and Design studio practice. The two Core studies subjects complement studio majors (Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Printmaking, E Media and Visual Communication) and facilitate interdisciplinary practice by developing a common formal language and conceptual framework between all visual art and…

This studio tests the repeating of a studio programme/project/brief two years in a row, incorporating refinements based on reflection on the first delivery of the studio. It uses a template into which students position the elements of their design work, for example, plan, sections, elevations, perspectives, detail and writing. It necessitates a team approach but individual responsibility. That is, the overall success is a combination of both. It asks for a…

The Art and Natural Environment units form an introduction to the fundamental themes, concepts and principals central to engagement with, and creative representation of, the natural and altered environments in Tasmania. rnrnCentral to the delivery of each unit is the experience gained during two four-day field trips to remote areas of Tasmania.rnrnThe two subjects complement each other, as well as forming core units of the Graduate Certificate, Graduate…

Over the course of an intensive workshop week at the Tasmanian School of Art (TSAH), each team of 3to 5 school students from across 16 state and private schools, worked collaboratively to develop sculptures under the instruction of John Vella (Head of Sculpture), technicians Ian Munday and Stuart Houghton, and a team of TSAH student volunteers. The sculptures were exhibited at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in response to the 2009 City of…

Patterns of formative assessment are commonly delivered through formalised review sessions and perhaps informal studio discussion. The structure of formal reviews usually places students in direct conversation with teachers but often excludes other students despite best efforts to be inclusive at the review. We cannot assume students develop a culture of informal peer assessment. Developing more regular, fluid and structured interactions between…