We were asked to design a micro-teaching activity around OBL or Object based learning. Chatterjee (2011) emphasizes that ‘Objects have the power to inspire, inform, excite and educate; they can be used to acquire subject specific knowledge as well as more generic transferable skills such as communication and teamwork. Object-based learning in higher education draws on many of the learning strategies already known to inform students, including active learning and experiential learning.’
I had some limited experience of OBL drawing on when I initiated and participated in a session with the CSM Museum last year for our year 1 textiles and jewellery students, designed to discuss cultural appropriation. However, as it was in person where one could look, feel, handle the object the task at hand to translate this in a virtual environment was somewhat different. I decided to use this contradiction to plan my micro-teaching activity around colour – both virtual and physical, emotional and practical.
I designed the session aimed at Year 1 design students to discuss ‘colour and colour communication’. I wanted to choose something universal that everyone has to encounter in both their personal and professional lives and these interactions would form the basis of their engagement.
The session aimed at developing ‘visual literacy’ and ‘communication skills’ by looking at colour as an object. We discussed the emotional and intangible qualities of colour to begin the session. I showed the group the image above and gave them some time to articulate how they would describe this to someone who didn’t have a visual of it, without referencing the actual colour. (for eg: the colour of the sea) It encouraged them to draw on their own experiences and relate colour to a particular place or activity. Larry’s description, I thought was pretty spot on – ‘bright colour that can be added to a cone ice cream’.
For the second half of the session, I wanted to focus on the ‘practical’ side of colour. As designers, how do we communicate colour across physical/virtual spaces, across substrates, from studio to industry. As important as emotional poetic colour communication is, it often fails to translate if we use it in industry. For eg, the colour of the sea is different in different parts of the world, is different in the same place in different seasons, even on the same day at different times of day.
I asked the group if they knew of any colour systems that help designers to accurately communicate colour for print, manufacturing etc. Pantone was the most common answer, but no one knew that the Pantone numbers mean, are we supposed to read a Pantone number and know what the colour is? To be honest, I don’t know either. So, I use something called NCS or Natural Colour System, a colour system that is based on how we see colour, which we went on to understand through the three characteristics of colour – Hue (pure pigment), Value (lightness/darkness) and Chroma (amount of colour in a hue). Once we had understood how to use the notation, we went back to the colour I showed at the start to try and come up with it’s NCS notation.
In hindsight, I should’ve had another slide listing and showing various colour systems from around the world as no one had heard of any others – Munsell, Colour Aid, RAL or more obscure ones like Werner’s Nomenclature of Colour. I wanted to minimise the slides as the brief suggested we drive discussion around one object, however it would’ve been useful in this instance and given the group more resources to refer to after the session.
I received some very useful feedback from the group, which will help make the session more coherent and engaging.
Ocean and Karen enjoyed starting with the ‘conceptual’ part of the activity before jumping into the practicalities. They found the discussion around ‘colour systems’ interesting but would’ve liked more time to understand the notations and colour charts. The discussion around industry colour communication made Larry appreciate the difficulty of the task, having the tools to communicate the accuracy of the colours he wishes to match will be helpful in future interactions with his printers. Vikki suggested the use of Miro, which could help simplify the colour chart exercise and make it more of a group activity, rather than individual. At the time of the micro teach, I had not used Miro but have tried it since and agree that this would’ve made the session much more dynamic as it serves as a visual whiteboard where a group of people can brainstorm and collaborate.
In the past I have tried this session in person where the first part was more of a game, where I put a colour in an envelope and asked the students to describe it to their partners who tried to match the description to a colour in a Pantone colour swatch book. Vikki asked me to consider how I could bring this playful element into a virtual session.
On reflection, there was perhaps too much content to fit in a short 20 minute session and some pre-planning would’ve alleviated some of the time pressure. The feedback from the group unanimously stated that both parts were important and complemented one another, however a bit of time management would’ve helped the pace more. To introduce an element of play, I could send half the participants a colour through email and ask them to describe it to their partners in a breakout room depending on the size of the group.
I found the exercise very useful to think about planning future sessions and the importance of the inclusion of the element of play. Yes Gadamer, I hear you.
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I also really enjoyed my groups’ microteaching sessions. It was great to see different teaching methodologies and media being employed as well as the deliberate use of ‘silence’ or ‘time to think’. This was particularly successful in Ocean’s session where we were asked to look at a photograph – Still Water by Roni Horn. I have the tendency to fill the space and need to allow more time for thinking and reflecting.
Lauren’s session based around monsters and characters from films was very engaging. She started the session with a breakout activity sharing our favourite creatures which was really successful as we were bringing our personal understanding and references, rather than discussing one she chose for us. There was a lot of new information but she had planned the session well and covered all grounds at an accessible pace.
Bibliography:
Chatterjee, H (2011) Object -based learning in higher education: The pedagogical power of museums (Accessed: 19th May 2021)