Education

Newsplash Studio

Newsplash was a project-based learning centre at Otago Polytechnic, from 2012 – 1017. 

Following the experiences of design students in one New Zealand educational institution, this paper considers the opportunities and challenges created by project-based learning where students are engaged in live innovative projects. Students gain skills and confidence by working in teams on live projects. These are sometimes classroom-based and at other times facilitated by Otago Polytechnic’s commercial innovation studio. A high level of motivation and engagement are evidenced through both types of learning activities. As this polytechnic takes on the role of innovation facilitators for the wider community, with the aim of generating income to cover the decline of government funding, we consider the risks and benefits to students learning through engaging with these live projects and workplace learning contexts as a part of their education. 

https://www.academia.edu/80955900/Making_a_Splash

Design education with the More-Than-Human: Owheo Rising

Owheo Rising was a collaboration with visiting research Nina Czegledy (CA), Ron Bull (Kai Tahu Māori cultural advisor) and staff and students from the Schools of Art and Design – a collaborative teaching project– that extended the collaboration to include our local river.
A symposium began this student project bringing multiple perspectives of the river that runs through the Otago Polytechnic campus. Students from both schools first learned about the social, environmental and cultural histories of the river, and engaged in experiences with the stream as a living being. The images below depict The Paper Boat project. A student team developed hand-made paper embedded with seeds required to grow the native grasses in the stream that endangered native fish need to lay eggs. It was designed with local kindergarten children and teachers as stakeholders, along with the fish and stream itself.

Images: Students gather around the Owheo river to prototype a paper boat race
Images: Students gather around the Owheo river to prototype a paper boat race

Fulbright Scholar in Residence 2016 – 2017

I spent a wonderful 10 months at SUNY Canton, in Northern New York, as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. Along with collaborative teaching projects (with Professor Kathleen Mahoney at SUNY Canton, and Trudy Lane, Dunedin), and ongoing research, I met amazing people, and had life-changing experiences. 

Super gratitude to the Fulbright Association, Fulbright New Zealand — Te Tūapapa Mātauranga o Aotearoa me Amerika, and the Fulbright Enrichment programme.

https://www.academia.edu/79861525/Here_I_am_Doing_Culture_Together_A_collaborative_exhibition_project_that_considers_cultural_ideas_from_New_Zealand

https://www.academia.edu/79860646/Here_I_Am_A_Collaborative_Exhibition_Between_Technology_And_Art_History_Students_Exploring_Culture_And_Identity