Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Learning how to create a Moodboard

Size of student group: 33 students

Observer: Carys

Observee: Fflur

Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?

This session is an early part of the Intro to Unit to teach Year 1 BA Students on the Bags and Accessories Course how to create a Moodboard, this is a requirement of the Assessment Brief.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

Year 1 students, who started at the beginning of this academic year (September 2023), this session was delivered during the Intro to Workshops (Week 3).

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

Students will be expected to create a successful Moodboard visually explaining their creative vision for their project.

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

Students will be required as discussed in the briefing to create a Moodboard as a part of their portfolio for Intro To Unit.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

This session shows examples and thoroughly explains to students what’s required in a Moodboard. My main concern is if a student misses the session they don’t catch up on the Powerpoint uploaded onto Moodle, which usually results in incorrect interpretations of a moodboard in their final submissions.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

The session is specified in the Timetable, and in the Scheme of Work document, The PowerPoint from the presentation is also on the unit’s Moodle page.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

As Carys is much more experienced in teaching, I would like to gain insight into what she thinks of my delivery, I will ask questions such as – How can I improve the Presentation? Is it too long, too short, too text heavy, too many examples etc? Should I try to create a more interactive session, so the students do more Peer learning?

How will feedback be exchanged?

We set up a Teams meeting to discuss the observation, Carys will be feeding back to me verbally and on the ROT form.

Part 2

Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:

Thank you Fflur for taking the time to talk through this session with me. It sounds like it was successful, and you were able to share clear and positive rationales for how you structured the session. I’ve noted down a narrative of the session, based on your description, followed by the chat we had which incorporated suggestions and comments.

Narrative of session

• You shared a 20 minute presentation, which is part of a longer 1.5 hour session in which students create their own moodboard, before feeding back to the group.

• You explained that teaching took place in an open access area, which meant that there was some background noise. You said that in future, you might consider splitting the group in half if possible.

• You shared that at this time of year, new students are enrolling on a daily basis, and you are still getting to know the students.

• You explained the rationale for showing examples of student work, and how it is an easy way to convey what students are working towards. You showed not just first year examples, but also the work of students in later years, to set the bar high in terms of level.

• You reintroduced key ideas, such as primary and secondary research.

• During the session, you would go around and check in on students, having informal chats and get to know them, providing feedback where necessary. You explained that the moodboard activity is a good opportunity to get to know students and their work, as they bring in their own ideas, interests and practices.

• You then asked for students to volunteer to share their moodboards, and other students would provide verbal feedback.

Suggestions and observations

• You asked about the length of the presentation, which you said was about 20 minutes long. You felt that this was an optimum length in terms of student focus and concentration, and I agree. I also felt that that it was a good amount of content for this amount of time.

• You asked whether there are too many examples. You talked about how the different examples show different moodboard practices, and you provide specific bullet-points of things that each moodboard demonstrates. You also shared that you include student moodboards form different year groups, so some were quite advanced/aspirational. I agree with your assessment here, and thought that showing some of the more advanced student work may generate excitement for the students starting this journey. I also felt that by showing a diverse range of moodboards, it would help to ensure students know that they can do their own thing and there is no single ‘right answer’.

• You asked if the slides are too text heavy. I shared the ‘7 x 7 rule’, which recommends using no more than 7 lines, with no more than 7 words to a line (excluding slide titles). We also acknowledged that the additional content can be helpful at times, and talked about how bold font can be used for emphasis and to highlight key words. You said that you might try to condense some of the writing down in future.

• You shared that the slides would be available on Moodle, so students can review them if they miss the session. I noted that this is good inclusive practice, and the amount of text would support students to be able to follow the content in their own time.

• You asked for any other feedback I had about the session. We talked briefly about constructing Learning Outcomes, and the idea of constructive alignment. I explained that these ideas, while influential, are not beyond critique, and that I had a good sense of the session from the LOs you had written.

• We also talked about incorporating active learning techniques into the presentation element of the session. This could include brainstorming ideas with students, or asking them to generate their own ‘dos and don’ts’ of moodboards.

• We talked about strategies for students feeding back on one another’s work. You shared that in some sessions, you use anonymous post-its as a strategy, which sounds like a great idea – although we acknowledged it wouldn’t work for this session. I suggested Think Pair Share as a tool for generating and depersonalising feedback.

Part Three

Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:

Thank you for your time and for reviewing my session Carys, I appreciate having the discussion, and receiving your notes above- Having had time to consider the feedback here are my thoughts.

• In general, I’m happy with the length of the session (20 min) for the initial Moodboard induction, however, as Carys suggested, having more peer interaction during the workshop would be beneficial, especially as students are new to the course and encouraging them to mix and discuss work-related subjects would be great. Next time I present this session, I will initiate an activity pairing the students to discuss the ‘dos and don’ts’ of Moodboards before I show them examples and lists of what we at UAL require on a Moodboard.  

• I’m glad I included Moodboard examples from all three years, to inspire and help students develop their work. Many of the new students have varying degrees of CAD abilities, this can be a useful tool when creating moodboards, and I try to encourage students to create professional well-thought-out moodboards from the start.

• I will try to implement the ‘7 x 7 rule’ for my future sessions, to ensure my PPT’s aren’t too text-heavy. Some pages might require additional writing (especially to ensure students who miss sessions can catch up) But as a rule of thumb, I think this is a great idea.

• We talked about LOs, the discussion helped me understand what was required from LOs and prepared me for the Workshop session we were about to have as a cohort.

• We talked about strategies for students feeding back on each other’s work, And Carys suggested Think Pair Share, this is a new term for me and I think this could work, I will try this method in a session with my students soon to see how they react, and implement it more often if I think it helps the students develop their submissions through a more intimate peer review.

Overall I’m looking forward to testing these strategies out to see how the students react, and to hear their feedback on the new strategies. Thank you for your Suggestions Carys.

My PPT from the session.