Enriching Drawing

A three year project to develop a computer based learning package in drawing.

Until the latest round of funding, United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE) through the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP), despite an overall budget of around £75 million, had not made any sizeable investment in learning technology for art and design. Art schools have always been in the forefront of the use of computers as tools. In design, in layout, in the manipulation of images, and in the creation of art, lecturers and students have possibly formed the most expert group of computer users and their needs have driven some of the most innovative packages.

However, there has always existed a healthy scepticism as to whether computers have anything to contribute to teaching and learning in art schools. This is not surprising. Apart from the provision of ready access to resources through the internet, learning technology has been dependent on pedagogic situations where new skills or concepts had to be acquired by the student and where the class as a whole would move ahead in expertise which would be tested by the examination. The computer is ideal for a situation where, for example, the student has to learn the basics of a scientific discipline. Information can be given, processes can be simulated and at each stage of the package the student can discover whether they are understanding the material. Questions can be posed and often quite sophisticated feedback given to the student. Contrast that with the situation in art. In art there are few certainties. The emphasis is less on facts, the needs of the student are individual and the assessment of the student is through a piece of work demonstrating creativity and the development of ideas.

With a grant from TLTP of £300,000 and matching funds to give a budget of around £800,000 a consortium of art schools and universities led by the London Institute is engaged on a three year project to create interactive multimedia learning packages on drawing. Drawing is central to all that is produced within the broadest spectrum of art and design. It is the core around which the conceptual and intellectual development of students takes place. Drawing allows individuals to learn to look, to record what they see, and is used to develop thought and ideas for artwork and for design, in both two and three dimensions.

In 1995-96 almost 5% of students in UKHE were in art and design. If related subjects with a clear interest in drawing such as architecture, engineering and technology are included the total rises to almost 16%. This growth in numbers has created problems which the package seeks to address.

The approach adopted by the London Institute and its partners in the Falmouth College of Art, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication and the Universities of Ulster and Brighton is intended to create materials which give full respect to the richness of the subject. The packages will come at drawing from many different angles and controversy will be welcomed rather than shunned. In addition to a thorough treatment of the basic skills such as drawing on paper, drawing with the computer and draughting, the programs will explore the historical development of our understanding of spatial representation from the origins of perspective, through drawing machines to 3D and computer graphics. In all the work the importance of how to see, how to interpret, and how to innovate will be paramount and due weight will be given to the theoretical, philosophical and contextual elements. Considerable use will be made of video to show practitioners at work and discussing their particular approaches to drawing.

The project got underway in June 1998 and the initial period was spent in blocking out the areas of drawing we wish to address, and researching our pedagogical approach. The second phase of the project was to write detailed descriptions of the planned modules focusing on the aims and objectives of the module and how the content was to be presented and made interactive. The project is now in the development stage which is using Director.

There is a considerable body of evidence that in order for learning to take place effectively on the computer, the user has to be involved in tasks where decisions have to be made. The learning should be active and consequently there is a continual pressure to find ways of engaging the student. While assessment within the field of drawing is difficult, we are convinced that the student will gain by reviewing what has been learned and by receiving sensitive feedback on progress, so we are exploring ways in which this can be possible.

In a project of this nature it is vital to expose ideas to the widest audience before committing them to development and we have been disseminating information about the project to art colleges and other institutions with an interest in drawing. To date, staff from more than ninety institutions in the UK and the USA have expressed an interest and we are allowing them access to our deliberations. We are eager for as wide a participation as possible and interested faculty can sign up to the list from our website at <http://tltp.linst.ac.uk/>.

The finished package will be distributed on DVD since that medium allows the packaging of the product on one disk with a more than adequate space for high quality graphics. The finished product will be available to UKHE at the beginning of 2001 though beta versions will be widely distributed for testing well before that date. As the project progresses, prototype modules will be trialled in the classroom situation, both in the consortium partners and also in a number of other interested institutions. From the evaluation of these prototypes, which will be carried out by the University of Glasgow, we will make changes to incorporate what we learn from student and staff use. The results of these evaluations will be widely disseminated. The project intends that the package will be made available outside of the United Kingdom though its primary audience is first year degree students in that country.

Since the project is probably the largest investment ever in learning technology in art it poses a considerable challenge. Its aims are ambitious and wide-ranging and while it in no way seeks to supplant the traditional relationship between staff and student, it intends to make a significant contribution to the richness of the learning environment in the area of drawing. It will do this by producing products which will emphasise the development of observation, skill and accuracy and the understanding of form and space. Though the package will encourage the use of the computer for drawing, the focus of the materials will remain on traditional drawing tools. However, it will certainly promote the new approaches to drawing which are made possible through technology, and will aim to improve the ability to utilise software applications for three-dimensional modelling and to enhance the teaching of formal drawing systems such as projection and perspective. When completed it will be a valuable resource for use in the classroom and for the independent student.

The proposed presentation will demonstrate examples of the development to date, deal with project management issues and invite discussion and participation from interested faculty.