This part contains a practical guide to the goals and outcomes in art, media and design courses.
Typically, holders of an honours degree in fine art, design or media disciplines will be able to articulate and combine knowledge, understanding, attributes and skills in effective ways within the contexts of creative practice, employment, self-fulfilment and further study and research. As the authors of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)’s subject benchmark statement for art and design note, as an honours graduate, you will be able to apply, consolidate and extend your learning in various contextual frameworks and situations that take you beyond the field of art, media and design to engage with wide social and cultural issues (QAA 2008: 4.2).
An honours degree also confirms that the holder has acquired relevant technical knowledge and practical skills as outlined above, and will be able to employ materials, media, techniques, methods, technologies and tools associated with the disciplines studied with skill and imagination while at the same time observing good working practices.
Master’s degrees in art, media and design are awarded to students who have usually completed a bachelor’s degree and possess:
Most master’s degree programmes require you to complete a master’s thesis or an extended research paper. Depending on the field, your master’s thesis may entail conducting a thorough analysis of a specific subject. Some master’s programmes offer alternatives to the master’s thesis, such as written exams or other written projects that are less rigorous than theses.
A doctorate of philosophy (PhD) is awarded to candidates who, having usually completed both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, can show that they have critically investigated and evaluated an approved topic. A PhD student:
Key criteria for such doctoral research are:
These criteria entail the demonstration of certain academic abilities, including the ability to:
Practice-based postgraduate research projects in art, design and media are those that include as an integral part of their research and final presentation the production of original artefacts in addition to, or perhaps instead of, the production of a written thesis.
The nature of the relationship between the written component and the practice-based component in practice-based research is flexible, but involves students in approaches to systematic inquiry that may not be so centrally concerned with linguistic modes of signification – that is, with objective, conceptual, discursive, analytic skills. Instead, they may focus on dimensions to research that are practical, empirical, concrete and performative (involved in actions rather than analysis). These involve planning, acting, observing and reflecting, and practice-based projects invite ways of thinking that respond in an immediate fashion and are more fully immersed in a living, bodily and participatory context.
Broadly speaking, the goals on any educational course involve and encourage the following:
In active learning, through project-based inquiry you develop the following skills:
Your understanding of the cultural context of your practice is essential. It provides knowledge of how your practice relates to that of others in society. This gives you a deeper understanding of originality and personal expression, and without such knowledge you would not have any sense of the nature of your own creativity nor that of the culture in which it is set.
In learning about the contextual setting of your discipline(s), you will also engage with the various related theories within historical, contemporary and cultural settings that inform that context. As a consequence, you will develop your own critical relationship with these discipline(s) (see Section IV and Section V).
You will also understand the broad vocational context within which your study sits, and the range of professional practices that inform it. You will:
The outcomes of art, media and design almost always combine the conceptual and the practical. Along with the development of your cognitive abilities when learning, you will also produce material outcomes that require the application of practical skills. Some of these skills may be appropriate only to specific contexts, whereas others will have a generic or transferable use, often within a professional context.
As art, media and design students, you produce your work with an awareness of an audience and/or professional need. You also develop verbal and written communication skills as a result of interaction with your peers and tutors, both formally and informally, and by using the standard formats of reports, briefs, journals, essays or dissertations in relation to assigned work. You also learn to express, articulate and synthesise your knowledge and understanding.
Higher education in art, media and design aims to develop both subject-specific and more general knowledge, understanding, attributes and skills. These can be defined under three headings:
The authors of the QAA’s subject benchmark statement for art and design (2008: 4.1) declare that the principal aims of education in general are to:
Individual levels of achievement in relation to learning outcomes are reflected in the final grade awarded.
The emphasis given to the following learning outcomes will vary according to the main discipline studied and the aims of the specific programme.
Subject-specific knowledge, understanding, attributes and skills are considered to be fundamental to the study and practice of your chosen discipline, and many of these things you will learn are also potentially transferable to other contexts beyond art, media and design.
As students in art, media and design, you will develop skills in communication and expression through visual and plastic forms. As the authors of the QAA subject benchmark statement for art and design declare, you will be able to use visual languages to ‘investigate, analyse, interpret, develop and articulate ideas and information’, and be able to ‘employ materials, media, techniques, methods, technologies and tools associated with the discipline(s) studied with skill and imagination whilst observing good working practices’ (QAA 2008: 4.3).
The evidence of this will be shown in a variety of ways. For example, you will produce a body of work that demonstrates an ability to generate ideas, concepts, proposals, solutions and arguments independently and collaboratively in response to set briefs and as self-initiated activities. This will mean employing both convergent and divergent thinking in the processes of observation, investigation, speculative inquiry, visualisation and making.
In order to achieve these goals, you will also learn how to select, test and make appropriate use of materials, processes and intellectual and physical contexts. This will enable you to develop your projects from conception through to material outcomes (QAA 2008: 4.3).
In addition, you will learn how to manage and make appropriate use of the dissemination of your work, and apply resourcefulness and entrepreneurial skills to support your own practice, also in relation to the practice of others (QAA 2008: 4.3).
You will recognise the significance of the works of other practitioners in relation to your own practice. You will be informed by professional practice in your discipline, including the critical and contextual dimensions of your discipline in particular, and of art and design in general. For example, you will study business, cultural, economic, environmental, ethical, global, historical, political, societal and theoretical contexts (QAA 2008: 4.3).
You will be aware of the implications and potential presented by innovations in the current and emerging media and technologies of your discipline, and will engage with interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary practice in art and design (QAA 2008: 4.3).
Finally, you will assess the relationship between the aesthetic and more practical and functional dimensions of your work, and you will be aware of your relationship with audiences, clients, markets, users, consumers and participants (QAA 2008: 4.3).
These are normally part of the subject curriculum but are neither specific nor unique to art, media and design studies. They have potential applications in a wide range of contexts.
Typically, you will acquire the ability to self-manage. That is, you will study independently, set goals, manage your own workloads and meet deadlines, while also anticipating and accommodating change and working within contexts of ambiguity, uncertainty and unfamiliarity (QAA 2008: 4.4.1). In addition, you should be able to organise your time effectively while undertaking course work, and control your stress levels and maintain your health.
You will learn critical awareness. The QAA’s subject benchmark statement for art and design emphasises an ability to ‘analyse information and experiences, formulate independent judgements, and articulate reasoned arguments through reflection, review and evaluation; formulate reasoned responses to the critical judgements of others; [and] identify personal strengths and needs’ (QAA 2008: 4.4.2).
You will be able to demonstrate information skills. This entails sourcing, navigating, selecting, retrieving, evaluating, manipulating, re-presenting, transforming and managing information from a variety of sources through selecting and employing appropriate communication and information technologies (QAA 2008: 4.4.5).
Skills in communication and presentation are also very important. You will learn how to articulate ideas and information in comprehensible forms using visual, oral, written or other performative forms, and present ideas and work to audiences in a variety of contexts (QAA 2008: 4.4.4). This is particularly difficult for international students as it requires skills and confidence in a foreign language.
Finally, you will learn interpersonal and social skills. This means interacting effectively and with confidence with others. For example, you will engage your interpersonal and social skills through collaboration, collective activities and various forms of negotiation and dialogue (QAA 2008: 4.4.3).
18.226.104.27