BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design

BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design 2014/15 Award title BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design Programme code(s) GADES Faculty Arts, Environment and Technology School Art, Architecture and Design

Our Student Charter Our Student Charter outlines what you can expect from Leeds Beckett University during your time here, as well as what you should do to get the most out of your studies. Our Charter was developed by our University and the Students Union together. It is summarised here: Your University s commitments to you To help you get the most out of your University experience we aim to: Provide high standards of learning and teaching Offer a flexible and relevant curriculum Provide a supportive, inclusive and welcoming environment Prepare you for employment and lifelong learning Deliver responsive customer service Your Students Union s commitments to you To help you get the most out of your University experience we aim to: Represent students on and off campus Be open, democratic and fair to all Assist students with academic and welfare issues Support active student engagement Your commitments to us To get the most out of your University experience you should: Take an active part in your learning Give us feedback and information Seek support and advice when you need it Act responsibly See section 6 of this handbook for further information. 2

Our Student Entitlements As a full-time or part-time campus-based undergraduate student you are entitled to: 1. Access online learning materials and resources for every module through a virtual learning environment and have access to the resources and information of an up to date library. 2. Opportunities for on-going feedback on your work and progress towards your assessments in every year of your course. 3. Participate in a course induction, which will be provided at the beginning of each year of your course. 4. A meeting with your personal tutor once per semester. [All new and first year students will be invited to a meeting with their personal tutor within four weeks of the start of their studies]. 5. A course that has been informed in its development by external stakeholders (e.g. employers, professional bodies). 6. Participate in Personal Development Planning within the context of your course. 7. Have the opportunity to engage in embedded activities within your course which develop and enhance your graduate employability and lifelong learning. 8. Receive clear dates at the beginning of each module about your assessment, submission dates, when and how you receive formative feedback on assessment during every module, and how you will receive feedback on marked assessments within the 4 week feedback period. 9. Receive clear and easy to understand information about your course and the services available to you. 10. Be engaged, via your course student representative, in your course review, evaluation and development processes. 11. Have your questions to our University s services responded to within the advertised timescales in our corporate service standards. 12. Normally be given your course timetable no later than four weeks before the beginning of each semester. 3

Contents 1 Welcome to the Course... 5 2 Studying on this Course... 11 3 Assessment and Feedback... 14 4 Where to Get Help... 18 5 What to do if you... 20 6 Relevant Policies... 22 4

1 Welcome to the Course 1.1 Message from the Dean & Pro Vice Chancellor Whether you are joining us as a new student or returning to continue your studies, we hope you will enjoy your experience with us and find your studies interesting, challenging and relevant to your development and future career plans. The Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology, is one of the largest faculties within Leeds Beckett University and covers a wide range of subjects areas. The faculty is divided into the following five academic schools: Art, Architecture, and Design Built Environment and Engineering Computing, Creative Technologies and Engineering Cultural Studies and Humanities Film, Music and Performing Arts Our aim is to provide students with a research- informed, innovative and relevant curriculum that is linked to current industry practices and standards. Our courses are highly valued by employers, professional bodies and other stakeholders. Through our approach to student support and to teaching and learning we aim to place you, our students, at the heart of everything we do. You will experience a diverse range of teaching approaches. We also use a variety of different methods of assessment and attach considerable importance to providing you feedback on your assessments. We will be organising dedicated, school based feedback weeks for you to ensure that you receive feedback that would help with your future learning. As a faculty we strive to be student-centred and value your opinions and feedback. We want to hear about the things you enjoy and that you think we do well, but also want to know when you think there are ways in which we can improve your experience. There are many ways in which you can provide feedback including through your student academic representatives, through written or on-line module evaluation feedback forms and through student open meetings, forums with staff, and student representative meetings with me. The courses in the Faculty of Arts Environment and Technology are based at both City Campus and Headingley Campus. Our City Campus courses are situated in the heart of the city, where our accommodation includes the award-winning Broadcasting Place development, our impressive Built Environment laboratories, dedicated film and performing arts studios and extensive IT facilities. Our University s Headingley Campus is a leafy parkland setting housing our industry standard music performance studios, visual media, IT labs and dedicated Computing facilities. 5

In joining BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design, you become part of the Faculty s community. I would like to wish you well in your chosen studies and hope you have an enjoyable and successful year. Professor Mohammad Dastbaz Dean & Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Arts, Environment and Technology 1.2 Message from your Course Leader Welcome to BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design at Leeds Beckett University. Congratulations on being accepted onto the course and we hope you will all have an enjoyable, stimulating and fulfilling experience on the course. The BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design course is unique in bringing together a wide range of practices and disciplines, from typography to graphic design for print and screen, to illustration, photography and moving image/ animation and in allowing students the freedom to explore and pursue their own interests throughout the course. It has a prestigious history with a number of renowned graphic designers/ artists as alumni of the course, ranging from Graphic Thought Facility through to Anthony Burrill, Tado and Martin O Neill. Our alumni are working in various roles within design studios throughout the world, as well as within the wider creative industries. It is our feeling on the course that graphic arts and design are constantly in flux, primarily through the introduction of new technologies for production and distribution, as well as through the formation of new audiences and clientele. But at the base of this is the notion of graphic arts and design as a signifying practice or a visual language made up of images and words used in creative and purposeful ways to communicate messages to audiences across a range of media. As a result, on the course you will hopefully become equipped to deal with the practical, creative, critical and professional skills needed to excel in these creative industries. This handbook provides you with some of the information you will need to negotiate the course. You should find it helpful when you first start, when you are preparing for assessment and at any time that you need help or advice in connection with your studies here. If you still have questions or if you feel this handbook does not address the issues you have, please make sure you contact your Personal Tutor or Course Leader. The course team all current practitioners across a wide range of disciplines and experienced teachers are looking forward to working with you this year. On behalf of our University and the whole course team I would like to wish you well in your studies. Aidan Winterburn 6

Course Leader BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design 7

1.3 Academic Calendar Our standard student academic calendar is summarised below: w/c Monday Student Calendar 22.09.14 Student Welcome & Induction Week 29.09.14 Semester 1 Teaching Starts 06.10.14 13.10.14 20.10.14 27.10.14 03.11.14 10.11.14 17.11.14 24.11.14 01.12.14 08.12.14 15.12.14 22.12.14 Christmas Break 29.12.14 Bank Holiday / Christmas Break 05.01.15 Christmas Break 12.01.15 Formal examinations period 19.01.15 Formal examinations period 26.01.15 Futures Fest / Welcome / Refreshers 02.02.15 Semester 2 Teaching Starts 09.02.15 16.02.15 23.02.15 02.03.15 09.03.15 16.03.15 23.03.15 30.03.15 Easter Break 06.04.15 Bank Holidays 13.04.15 20.04.15 27.04.15 04.05.15 Bank Holiday 04.05.15 11.05.15 Formal examinations period 18.05.15 Formal examinations period 25.05.15 Bank Holiday 25.05.15 8

Full details of this and future standard student academic calendars are at: www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/calendars.htm. Once you have enrolled, you will have a student login. You can then find confirmation of your personal timetable by selecting the appropriate link after logging on the Student Hub from www.leedsmet.ac.uk. 1.4 Key Contacts You will be allocated a personal tutor who is the first point of contact for academic matters. For all other matters relating to your course you should contact your student administrator. Your University e-mail address will be used by academic and administrative staff for contacting you so you are advised to check your University e-mail account regularly. We also use the Message function of the CAGD website for less formal, course-related matters so it is of vital importance you are able to log onto CAGD. We will respond to course-related queries within 3 working days and general queries within 10 working days. For each module, the module leader will set out the preferred method of communicating general information about that module to you, which may be through the weekly plenary meetings, by e-mail or via the CAGD website. The faculty will inform you of cancelled classes as soon as possible via the CAGD website. Academic staff can be contacted initially through either coming to the School Office (A111) or using the messaging facility on the CAGD website to arrange appointments. Your Student Administrator Jean Horne is in the school office 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (A111) and can advise on the availability of staff, issues with absence, extensions, mitigating circumstances, feedback and any general advice. Appointment system You can arrange a meeting with your personal tutor or another member of academic staff, by contacting our reception desks at the following sites - Broadcasting Place Reception, City Campus or Caedmon Hall Reception, Headingley Campus where reception staff will be able to arrange a meeting for you. Alternatively, you can email the AET Reception Team at: aet-receptionteam@leedsmet.ac.uk In this case, please allow up to 24 hours for your appointment to be confirmed. If the matter is urgent you may be able to see academic staff in their office. Please remember to include your name, student ID number, course of study and nature of the meeting in all correspondence. Course leader Aidan Winterburn, a.winterburn@leedsmet.ac.uk 9

Personal tutor Allocated at first teaching session of semester Student liaison officer Ellis Jolly & Noushin Aslam, SLOAET@leedsmet.ac.uk, 0113 812 4754, 0113 812 1861 Course rep Contact details for your course rep are at: http://www.leedsmetsu.co.uk/whoismyrep Student administrator Jean Horne, j.horne@leedsmet.ac.uk 0113 812 3216 Course administration team A111, Broadcasting Place, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9EN Academic librarian Karen Fisher, k.j.fisher@leedsmet.ac.uk, 0113 812 1106 Alison Park, a.park@leedsmet.ac.uk, 0113 812 3382 1.5 Keeping in Touch Academic and administrative staff at our University will use both your student email address and the CAGD website to contact you. It is an important responsibility for you to check both your university e-mail account and the CAGD website regularly. You can forward emails from your student email address to a preferred personal email address. However quarantine and spam filters needed by our University mean that emails sent from external email addresses may be delayed, blocked or deleted. It is therefore important that your student email address is the only email address that you use to contact University staff. You can find how to forward your student email address to a preferred personal email address or mobile device from: https://support.google.com/mail. We will inform you of cancelled classes / activities / course notices as soon as possible via the CAGD website. For each module, the module brief will include the preferred method of communicating general information about that module to you. Please make sure that you inform your course admin team whenever you change your address and contact details. It is important that you also update your records yourself. To do this, select the appropriate link from the My Account tab after logging in from the Student Hub at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk. This will ensure we can always contact you in an emergency, and that you receive any important University communications that we may need to send you. 10

2 Studying on this Course 2.1 Programme Specification In accordance with the aims of the course, the curriculum strategy provides, through an integrated approach to theory and practice, opportunities for multidisciplinary and specialist activity. Through the study and practice of graphic arts and design, students develop a comprehensive understanding of the wider social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts of their work. The curriculum strategy emphasises the opportunity for students to identify, negotiate and undertake their own particular approach to study within the range of activities, practices and associated techniques and processes which define graphic arts and design. Central to the curriculum strategy is the Critical Study (formerly the Learning Agreement). This provides a mechanism for students to negotiate and implement their own particular approach to study, and enables them to demonstrate the process and outcomes of critical reflection and theoretical contextualisation, as appropriate to their own work. The overarching course aims are: To provide the opportunity for study to students who wish to acquire and develop the necessary technical and practical skills; knowledge and understanding; attributes, attitudes and approaches; and intellectual and creative abilities to perform successfully as creative professionals in the field of graphic arts and design. To provide a pertinent and current curriculum that is appropriate and responsive to the needs and aspirations of all students. To enable students to work with visual imagery which is integrated with critical theoretical study and to locate their study and practice within the wider social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts of graphic arts and design. To encourage and develop a creative, reflective and self-critical approach which enables the student to make and use critical and contextual judgements of their work and that of others. To provide a curricular approach and learning strategy which is appropriate and relevant to the needs of a diverse and multidisciplinary constituency. All programme specifications will be made available online via the Course Finder at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk 11

Course Structure!! L4 GAD 4.1 Induction to Graphic Arts and Design (20) GAD 4.2 Introductory Studio Briefs (20) GAD 4.3 Critical and Contextual Studies (20) GAD 4.4 Collaborative Studio Project (20) GAD 4.5 Further Studio Projects (20) GAD4.6 Studio Practice & Critical Study (20) L5 GAD 5.1 Integrated Contextual Studio Project (20) GAD 5.2 Process-led Studio Practice (20) GAD 5.3 GAD 5.3 Design Brief (20) GAD 5.4 Studio Practice (Initiation and Development) (20) GAD 5.5 Studio Practice (Production & Implementation) (20) GAD 5.6 Studio Practice (Presentation and Evaluation) (20) L6 GAD 6.1 Studio Practice (Initiation & Development) (20) GAD 6.2 Studio Practice (Production & Implementation) (20) GAD 6.3 Studio Practice (Presentation and Evaluation) (20) GAD 6.4 Final Major Project (60)! SEMESTER ONE SEMESTER TWO Course Learning Outcomes All courses benchmarked against the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ). The FHEQ can be viewed on the Quality Assurance Agency website: www.qaa.ac.uk. For more details on the Course Learning Outcomes specific to this course please view the programme specification in Appendix A. 12

2.2 Course Resources Photography studio with dark room, digital print, printmaking workshop including screen print and letterpress, Macintosh suite and dedicated graphic design studios. A detailed induction programme will show you what facilities you have access to and how to use them. 2.3 Graduate Attributes All graduates from our University will be enterprising, digitally literate and have a global outlook. These three graduate attributes are developed with specific, appropriate emphasis in each course and you will be assessed about each of them at every academic level. They will provide you with capabilities which are essential for your employability and wider life as you move on from your studies here. A summary of how the development and assessment of graduate attributes for this course are provided in the programme specification. 2.4 Work-Related Activities The course aims to provide students with skills and knowledge that will enable an engagement with the professional world of graphic arts and design in as flexible a way as possible. This adaptability is vital to the nature of graphic design today with its rapidly changing forms of production, distribution and exhibition, audiences and clientele. You will, through each year of the degree, engage with a number of external live briefs that come into the University that require a range of different creative and technical skills. You will also be asked to show your own sense of initiative and enterprise by sourcing your own real world communication problems you believe need to be solved. You will work both collaboratively and independently on internally-set briefs as well as engage with external agents important to graphic art and design practice, including printers, art directors, clients and fellow designers. You will also negotiate your own work experience and placements within local, national and international graphic design companies through both your Personal Tutor and your Level Coordinator/ Course Leader. The University provides an Employability and Enterprise period in January between the two semesters in which the course will deliver curriculum-specific activities and workshops. Through the Visiting Lecturer programme you will also work alongside established practitioners on external live briefs, attend talks, workshops and symposia with renowned practitioners from graphic art and design. 2.5 Opportunities for Graduates Typical career paths for graduates of the course include the roles of graphic designer/ illustrator/ film-maker/ photographer, art director or copywriter, account handler, studio 13

manager within design studios. Our students work in a wide range of creative industries and across a wide range of roles, within publishing, film and TV, architecture, the performing arts, advertising, PR and marketing and web design. They are working locally in small to medium-sized design studios, both in-house and independent, both as staff or freelancers as well as nationally and internationally for companies such as Spin in London and Interbrand. They are also forming their own independent design and illustration studios locally (the Consult) and nationally (the Bunker, Graphic Thought Facility etc). Students have consistently pursued postgraduate qualifications after graduating from the course. Indeed, we have a consistent record of students progressing to institutions such as the Royal College of Art, Central St. Martin s and Goldsmiths in London, amongst others. 2.6 External Examiner The External Examiner assures that you are assessed fairly in relation to other students on the same course and also the standard of your own award in relation to students in other higher education institutions nationally on similar courses. The details of the External Examiner for this course are as follows: 1. Geoff Grandfield Course Director Illustration and Animation Kingston University 2. Stuart Hilton Senior Lecturer Animation University of Creative Arts Your Student Administrator can provide details of the External Examiner s report on request. Further details on all External Examiners report can be located here: www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/external-examiners-reports.htm. 3 Assessment and Feedback 3.1 Assessment Assessment Strategy You will be assessed throughout the course formatively through individual and group tutorials and feedback given both verbally and through the Feedback Journal on the CAGD website. You will also be assessed summatively through a mixture of physical submissions 14

(portfolio of body of work, developmental and preparatory and/ or single project work), through eportfolio presentations on the CAGD website and physical presentations to staff and peers, essays and reports as well as through written, filmic and audio submissions for the Critical Study. Information on the various methods of assessment can be found in the programme specification (appendix A). University Assessment Regulations Our University s assessment regulations are contained within the Academic Principles and Regulations (sections C3 and C4 in particular). The regulations are available at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/student-regulations.htm. Course-Specific Assessment Regulations and Professional Body Requirements Students on BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design are exempt from carrying marks from Level 5 into their final degree grade. Assessment Schedule Please note the exam/assessment periods in the academic calendar (see Section 1) and make sure that you are available during that period. Examination N/A Coursework Further information will be posted on the CAGD website. Submitting Assignments Further information will be posted on the CAGD website as the method of submission depends on the brief and the format of your work. It is important that you keep copies of all work submitted until after you have graduated. You should also keep any receipts confirming the submission of assignments. In the event of your submitted work being lost you may be required to produce a copy of the work and submission receipt. If you are unable to do so, your work will not be marked. 3.2 Giving your Feedback about this Course We are keen to work with you to enhance your course. Opportunities for you to feedback to us formally include: course meetings, end of module evaluation, mid module review, internal student experience surveys, course rep forums, the NSS and other student surveys. 15

Informal feedback is also welcome at any time either via your personal or module tutor or via your course rep. 3.3 What Happens with your Feedback about this Course? Your feedback helps us to continually enhance this course. You can find out what actions have been taken in response to your feedback through your Course Rep, the Students Union, your tutors or through the Library. Your Faculty also provides updates on action taken through the Like it and You Said, We Did posters prominently displayed around our University. 3.4 Getting Feedback on your Assessed Work Our University has committed to a four week turnaround for feedback. Each module brief will provide you with specific guidelines on the turnaround for feedback. The programme specification explains how feedback will be provided on both formative and summative assessments (see appendix A). 3.5 How do I Get my Results? Results from module assessments and decisions on progression to the next level or awards (if you are in the final level) are available on the Results Online system from: www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/results-online.htm. Results will only appear within Results Online five working days after the date of the Board of Examiners meeting (the meeting where your end of year outcome will be decided) or the Examination Committee meeting (the meeting where modular outcomes are decided). If you are unsure about when you might receive your results or have queries relating to your results, you should contact your Student Administrator. 3.6 Issues with Assessment Extenuating Circumstances and Mitigation If you are experiencing problems which are adversely affecting your ability to study (called 'extenuating circumstances'), then you can apply for mitigation. The University operates a fit to sit / fit to submit approach to extenuating circumstances which means students who take their assessment are declaring themselves fit to do so. Examples of extenuating circumstances include personal or family illness, bereavement, family problems or being a victim of crime. Further guidance on extenuating circumstances and mitigation can be found at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/mitigation.htm. Please contact Jean Horne, the Course Administrator, for further information about applying for Mitigation, including forms for applying for Mitigation and Extensions. 16

Late Submission Without any form of extenuating circumstances, standard penalties apply for late submission of assessed work. These range from 5% to 100% of the possible total mark, depending on the number of days late. Full details (section C1.5) of the penalties for late submission of course work are available at: www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/academicregulations.htm. Re-assessment If you have not passed a module at the first attempt you will be eligible for re-assessment. You will need to make sure you are aware of the relevant re-assessment process (e.g. whether it is coursework, an examination, a presentation or other form of assessment / when it will take place / what the deadline is). You will be advised via Results Online and through CAGD of your options for re-assessment. You are advised to contact your Course Leader, Student Administrator or personal tutor for any necessary clarification. Student Appeals If you feel that you have in some way been disadvantaged during your studies and this is reflected in your results, then you may have grounds for an academic appeal. After your results are available on Results Online you have 15 working days to submit a request for an appeal hearing. You will find the information you need, including grounds for appeal, when and how to appeal and frequently asked questions at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/appeals.htm. You are strongly advised to seek guidance from the Students Union Advice Service on whether you have grounds for an appeal and the completion of the paperwork see Section 4 for Students Union Advice Service contact details. Cheating, Plagiarism and other forms of Unfair Practice Our University wants to give you credit for your learning and for work which you have done yourself. Academic misconduct occurs when you have not done the work yourself. Academic misconduct can take many forms and may be intentional or unintentional. The different forms may include: cheating, plagiarism and other forms of unfair practice. Plagiarism includes self-plagiarism where a student submits work for credit that they have already received credit for either in this University or anywhere else. Plagiarism also includes a lack of in-text referencing. Unfair practice includes collusion, ghost writing and falsification of data. 17

To help you understand very clearly what is and is not permitted and how to use other people s ideas in your assessed work, it is strongly recommended that you familiarise yourself with The Little Book of Cheating, Plagiarism and Unfair Practice, available from the Student Hub at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/plagiarism.htm. The serious consequences of plagiarism and other types of unfair practice are detailed in section C9 of the Academic Regulations at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/academicregulations.htm. If you are unsure on how to reference your work correctly please seek advice from your tutors or from Skills for Learning (see Section 4). 4 Where to Get Help 4.1 Personal Tutors Your personal tutor (see Key contacts in Section 1) will usually be an academic member of staff who teaches you on your course. Your Course Leader will make sure that you are given the name and contact details of your personal tutor at the beginning of each semester. Your personal tutor has an important role to play in supporting you in academic and personal matters while you are studying on this course. The meetings will include discussion about career aspirations, your course, your progress, and your academic results. Personal tutors are not trained counsellors and will signpost you to other University services if they can t help you. These services may, for example, be the Students Union, the counselling service or the student hub. In the first year your tutor will probably initiate communication to set up the meetings at a mutually convenient time, but later in your course it should be your responsibility to set up the meeting. If you ask information to be kept confidential it will be and a note will be kept securely in your University notes with an indication of who can access the information. You are entitled to have one meeting per semester with your personal tutor in each year of your course. But your personal tutor may ask you to come to see them more frequently and you should feel free to contact them if you need to see them urgently. Please see Section 6 for details of our personal tutor policy. 4.2 Student Hub If you have any questions about or problems with life at our University, the first place to call, email or pop into is the Student Hub. The team can help with a broad range of enquiries including: funding and money advice, being an international student, disability, counselling and wellbeing support, student cards, accommodation, fee payments, support from the 18

Students Union, how to access on-line services, getting help with your CV, preparing for an interview, careers guidance and getting a part-time job. Details of these and other services are available at http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub. There is a Student Hub on the ground floor of the Rose Bowl at City Campus and one also in Campus Central at Headingley. Our telephone number is 0113 812 3000 and our e-mail address is studenthub@leedsmet.ac.uk. We work closely with Faculties, the Students Union, all University Services and external organisations to make sure that if we don t know the answer to your question we will know who will. You can also use 'my Hub' https://myhub.leedsmet.ac.uk/students/login?returnurl=%2f which is an online resource available 24/7 where you can access information and guidance about a range of services, register and make appointments with Services, register for workshops and employability tutorials, search for job vacancies and use a range of careers resources. 4.3 Disability and Dyslexia Support Disability Support is available from the Disability and Dyslexia Centre. The Disability Advisers will work with students to ensure support is provided to meet their individual needs: https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/disability-services.htm. Disabled students can also access the Disability Resource Areas in each library and the support provided by the Library Learning Support Officers. 4.4 Library Help Academic Librarian Your academic librarian (see Contacts in Section 1) liaises with your lecturers to ensure physical and electronic information resources for your subject are available. They are available to support you personally and will work with you throughout your time here to help you develop information and digital literacy skills. Skills for Learning Skills for Learning provides a wide range of web resources on topics including plagiarism, graduate attributes, group skills, research, maths, critical awareness and reflective skills, Harvard referencing, essay writing and time management. For full information and contact details of the workshop and individual support programme see: http://skillsforlearning.leedsmet.ac.uk/workshops/index.shtml. Help and Information Points If you have any questions about using the library or concerns about IT, such as logging-in, printing or using our various software packages you can get help: 19

from the Help and Information Point on the ground floor of each library online: http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk/pages/help/email_us by phone - 0113 812 1000 (including 24/7 IT support). Library Website The Library s website (http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk) provides access to thousands of resources and information about Library services. You can also access key services via your smart phone or tablet. Distance Learners If you are registered on a distance-learning course, you may be eligible for the Library s Offsite help and advice. The service offers help with accessing electronic resources, access to other libraries, postal book loans and journal article supply. For details of eligibility and the full range of services provided you can access Offsite at: http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk/pages/information_for/offsite_students. 4.5 Students Union Advice Service The Students Union advice service offers free, independent and confidential advice and representation to students. Professional advisers are employed directly by the Students Union to represent your interests even if you are in dispute with our University. Advice is available on a large number of issues including: academic problems, housing, money health and wellbeing. Tel: (0113) 812 8408 or e-mail: suadvice@leedsmet.ac.uk. There are full details of all services available at: http://www.leedsmetsu.co.uk/advice. 5 What to do if you 5.1 are absent for more than one day You must notify your Student Administrator if you are absent for more than one day (for example for an interview, emergency unforeseen circumstances, or for compassionate leave). If you are going to apply for mitigation you will need to provide written evidence of the reason for your absence (see section 3). International Students Please be aware that our University fully complies with United Kingdom Border Agency policy at all times. There are legal reporting requirements relating to UKBA immigration 20

procedures in the UK for all non-eu students studying in the UK with a Tier 4 student visa. Full attendance is mandatory for all Tier 4 students. For up to date information about visas, immigration issues and other related information, contact the International Student Advice Centre at internationalstudentadvice@leedsmet.ac.uk for advice and guidance. Failure to meet Border Agency attendance requirements as required by the terms and conditions of your immigration status could lead to your academic sponsorship being withdrawn and your visa being revoked. 5.2 are ill If you are absent because of illness for more than seven consecutive days (including weekends), you must provide us with a Fit Note. If you are absent through illness on the day of an examination or assignment deadline and you intend to apply for mitigation, you must also provide us with details and any available evidence as soon as possible. Contact your Student Administrator to get a copy of the appropriate extenuating circumstances form. You can hand in or send a Fit Note to your Student Administrator. Further information is available in the General Regulations (section 6) at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/student-regulations.htm. 5.3 have a comment, compliment or complaint We are committed to providing a high quality experience for all our students. We welcome comments and compliments from students, and find them valuable for on-going improvements to our provision. Comments and compliments about your course can be raised with your course representative or directly with your personal tutor. If you have a specific complaint about an act or omission of our University, you may be able to make a complaint under the Student Complaints Procedure. In the first instance, you should raise the matter as soon as possible with the member of staff most directly concerned, or with the person who can best resolve it. If this does not resolve the matter, or if the complaint is too serious to be addressed in this way, then you should make a formal complaint in writing. Information about how to make a complaint, including the student complaints procedure and a complaints form, is available online at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/complaints.htm. 5.4 are considering withdrawing from the course If you are considering withdrawal from your course you should speak to your personal tutor, a member of staff at our Student Hub or the Students Union to discuss your reasons. If there is a problem, University or Students Union staff may be able to help. 21

It may be possible to arrange temporary withdrawal from your course and if you decide to withdraw permanently or temporarily, you must complete a withdrawal form. This form must be submitted as soon as possible to your faculty office as withdrawals cannot normally be backdated. For further details see General Student Regulations at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/student-regulations.htm. 6 Relevant Policies 6.1 Student Charter Our University and Students Union recently agreed upon the Student Charter which outlines what is expected of students of Leeds Beckett University and what students can expect from our University. The most recent version of our Student Charter is at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/student-charter.htm. 6.2 Student Entitlements Our student entitlements, listed at the front of this handbook, will help to ensure the student charter is embedded as part of our approach to providing a good quality, consistent learning experience for all our full-time and part-time undergraduate students. You can find the full student entitlements from: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub. 6.3 Personal Tutors You are entitled to have one meeting per semester with your personal tutor in each year of your course. See Key Contacts in Section 1 for details of how to contact your personal tutor. See Section 4 for an overview of the support you can expect from your personal tutor. You can find full details of our personal tutor policy from the Student Hub webpages: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/. 6.4 Safety, Health and Wellbeing Policy Statement Our University is committed to providing a vibrant, ethical and sustainable working environment that values wellbeing and diversity. This commitment exists alongside our wider legal and moral obligations to provide a safe and healthy working environment for our staff, students and members of the public who may be affected by our activities. There are further details at https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/safety-health-and-wellbeing-az.htm (see H - Health and Safety Policy Policy Statement). 22

Smoking No smoking is permitted in any of our University buildings, this includes the use of vapour cigarettes (or other similar devices); if you do smoke outside our buildings please make sure that you stand at least five metres way from building entrances and boundaries. Use of Laptops within our University If you need to charge your laptop battery, please make sure that the battery charger/lead are undamaged, and only plug it into a designated power socket if you are unsure of where these are, please ask a member of staff. Please make sure your battery charger cables do not create a trip hazard. Fire Safety Procedures Fire information is present on Fire Action Notices displayed in all our University buildings. These are normally present in corridors. Please read and follow the instructions. All fire exit routes are clearly identified. You should familiarise yourself with the location of fire exit routes and fire assembly points for the buildings that you may use in the course of your studies. If you discover a fire, you should sound the alarm by operating the Fire Alarm Call Point. You should report the circumstances and site of fire using the emergency number 4444 - indicated on the Fire Action Notice. Do not tackle the fire unless you have been trained to do so. Evacuate the building to the fire assembly point indicated on the Fire Action Notice. Do not re-enter the building until officially authorised to do so. On hearing the Fire Alarm, everyone should proceed calmly to the nearest available safe fire exit, as indicated by the green and white fire exit signage. Take appropriate action to assist visitors and mobility-impaired persons or wheelchair users to a safe refuge. Upon exiting the building, continue on to the fire assembly point so as not to impede the remaining evacuees exiting the building. Evacuation is practised through fire drills. However, you should regard any continuous sounding of the alarm as a fire incident and act accordingly. Disabled Students You are expected to declare any disability that would affect your safety in the event of a fire, e.g. hearing impairment or the use of a wheelchair. If you are referred to the Disability Adviser, a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) will be developed for you as appropriate. 23

Disabled students must declare their disability, to the University, for it to be taken into consideration. You can find further information about the support available to disabled students studying at our University and contact details on our website: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/disability-services.htm. First Aid First Aid Notices (green and white) are displayed in all University buildings alongside the Fire Action Notices (predominantly blue and white) and alongside, or adjacent to, each First Aid box. First Aid Notices provide all the information you may require to seek and summon assistance. First Aider contact details can also be obtained from the Student Hub or from Security: City Campus, internal ext. 23154 or Headingley Campus, internal ext. 23165. Accident and Incident and Reporting All accidents and incidents and dangerous occurrences, must be reported to, and recorded by University staff. Accident report forms (HS1) are available at faculty reception offices, Security and Student Hubs. Infectious Disease Campus-based students who have been diagnosed with a serious infectious disease such as TB, measles, meningitis or chicken pox should notify their course leader or administrator as soon as possible giving information regarding which groups of students (and/or colleagues and clients on placements) you have been in contact with and when. For diseases such as TB or meningitis, the West Yorkshire Health Protection Team may also wish to speak to you (or your family) to determine if others require screening or medication. You should follow advice given by the hospital or your GP about when it is safe to return to University. 6.5 University Regulations There are two sets of regulations you need to be aware of, The University Academic Principles and Regulations and The General Regulations: Leeds Beckett University Students. The Academic Principles and Regulations relate specifically to your studies and your course. They cover issues such as assessment, progression and award requirements amongst a range of other issues. The General Student Regulations deal with a range of issues which apply to all students of our University. 24

6.6 Academic Principles and Regulations Our University Academic Principles and Regulations can be found at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/academic-regulations.htm. You should familiarise yourself with the Academic Principles and Regulations. The following sections are of particular relevance to your course: Assessment general provisions (C1) Achievement of credit (C2) Student progression (C3) Conferment of awards (C4) Management of assessment (C5) Conduct of assessment: coursework and other assessed work (C6) Administration and conduct of examinations (C7) Written examinations: regulations for candidates (C8) Cheating, plagiarism and other forms of unfair practice (C9) Disabled students and students with specific learning difficulties (C10) Boards of examiners and examination committees (C12) Disclosure of assessment results (C14) Extenuating circumstances and mitigation (C15) Appeal against a decision of a board of examiners or examination committee (C16) The Students Union Advice service (www.leedsmetsu.co.uk) is able to offer advice and guidance on how to understand and use the Academic Principles and Regulations. Where students are undertaking any form of research project, reference should be made to the Research Ethics Policy and Research Ethics Procedures which can be found at: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/studenthub/research-ethics.htm. 6.7 General Regulations The General Student Regulations are available at the following web link: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/student-regulations.htm. You should familiarise yourself with the student regulations relevant to you. 25

Appendix A Programme Specification Overview & Aims BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design at Leeds Beckett University is a broad-ranging multidisciplinary course that emphasises an individually creative approach to the study of the subject, aiming to train the student's mind, eyes and hands to respond to the potential of a wide range of creative situations, whether these are in the form of externally/ internally-set briefs or self-initiated work. The course believes that graphic arts and design is primarily a purposeful and constantly evolving language of text and image, of symbolic visual cues and prompts that service a vast range of industries, from publishing, broadcast media, to advertising and the world wide web and beyond. Students are encouraged to find their own graphic 'voice' working across a wide range of media and processes, from typography, print and screen design, to film and animation, printmaking, photography, writing and illustration to advertising and environmental graphics. The course is delivered by a team of nationally recognised and experienced practitioners in newly built and fully equipped studios in the award-winning Broadcasting Place. Students are involved in practical workshops, external live briefs, presentations, critiques, lectures, seminars and tutorials on a regular basis. The course has worked recently with a range of external bodies, recent clients including Harvey Nichols, the BBC, Arup Associates and the Leeds Primary Healthcare Trust. In accordance with the aims of the course, the curriculum strategy provides, through an integrated approach to theory and practice, opportunities for multi- and interdisciplinary as well as specialist activity. Through the study and practice of graphic arts and design, students develop a comprehensive understanding of the wider social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts of their work. The curriculum strategy emphasises the opportunity for students to identify, negotiate and undertake their own particular approach to study within the range of activities, practices and associated techniques and processes which define graphic arts and design. The course is distinctive in its emphasis on this wide range of disciplines and media, student exploration of an individually appropriate approach to the study of graphic arts and design throughout each level of the course and the integration of theory and practice as evidenced in the Critical Study across all three Levels of the course. Central to the curriculum strategy is the Critical Study. The Critical Study provides a mechanism for students to negotiate and implement their own particular approach to study and enables them to demonstrate the process and outcomes of critical reflection and theoretical/ historical contextualisation, as appropriate to their own work. 26

The overarching course aims are: To provide the opportunity for study to students who wish to acquire and develop the necessary technical and practical skills; knowledge and understanding; attributes, attitudes and approaches; and intellectual and creative abilities to perform successfully as creative professionals in the field of graphic arts and design. To provide a pertinent and current curriculum that is appropriate and responsive to the needs and aspirations of all students. To enable students to work with visual imagery which is integrated with critical theoretical study and to locate their study and practice within the wider social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts of graphic arts and design. To encourage and develop a creative, reflective and self-critical approach which enables the student to make and use critical and contextual judgements of their work and that of others. To provide a curricular approach and learning strategy which is appropriate and relevant to the needs of a diverse and multidisciplinary constituency. Employability and Professional Context As the QAA s benchmark statements for Art and Design recognises; The creative industries sector is expanding at a faster rate than that of the rest of the industrial and commercial economy in the UK The Department for Culture, Media and Sport reports on the Creative Industries (1998 and 2001) acknowledge the contribution that these disciplines make to the national culture and economy. Graduates in art and design disciplines have demonstrated that they are equipped with the appropriate skills and abilities to operate effectively in the marketplace. In particular, they display resourcefulness, entrepreneurial skills, and the capacity to establish new and innovative enterprises. As such the benchmarking statements onto which the course document maps identify the broad employability of art and design graduates. At the heart of this approach is an explicit emphasis on the development of a broad range of transferable skills, diversity in understanding and knowledge and an expanding grasp of appropriate technologies. In addition to these sought-after generalist attributes, the course also promotes the development of a range graphic arts and design specialisms, which often lead directly to employment. 27

The profession of graphic design has become increasingly contested over the past three decades with the advent of digital technologies. These have empowered designers themselves to control their own means of production, to form design studios, to produce work quickly and professionally without mediation, to work in new multi- and interdisciplinary ways but have also have had the effect of disempowering them, democratising these means of production and exhibition, and potentially de-professionalising the job. The recent economic downturn has also threatened the notion of the professional graphic designer. As a result, designers have moved towards the notion of authorship, self-initiating work that explores graphic languages/ community-based work/ self-publishing as well as the move towards systems thinking and interactive work that de-emphasises the nature of the artefact in favour of designing for the user and wider social networks. This has meant that boundaries between disciplines have blurred and become unstable. There are fewer large graphic design studios who can offer students a standardised career trajectory. Small to medium sized companies predominate where graduates will be asked to be multi-disciplinary, often working freelance on specific projects. As such, our graduates are encouraged to use both their course specific skills creative, aesthetic, technical and critical as well as the more generic skills interpersonal, communicative, independent, entrepreneurial to become robust, adaptable practitioners responsive to the needs of employers and to the wider opportunities that may present themselves. Course Learning Outcomes 1 An ability to skilfully and creatively utilise processes, techniques and media both analogue and digital and materials in the production of coherent, individually appropriate and critically informed work that is capable of operating within the context of graphic arts and design practice 2 An ability to articulate ideas, intentions and outcomes within appropriate academic and professional contexts using a range of media to a culturally diverse audience 3 An ability to integrate practical, creative and critical skills in the production and presentation of studio work, that is representative of an established and individually appropriate creative practice. 4 An ability to locate and situate practice within appropriate social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts, including a wider global perspective of graphic arts and design. 5 An ability to use entrepreneurial and creative skills in answering design briefs through a process of research, analysis, production and 28

presentation of a solution to the brief. 6 A capacity for self-critical reflection both within individual and collaborative work. Level Learning Outcomes Level 4 1 An initial ability in the use of techniques, processes both analogue and digital and materials. 2 An initial capability for personal and collaborative organisation within the studio context. 3 An initial ability to begin to locate aspects of their own work within social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts. 4 An initial ability to initiate, negotiate and develop a body of work according to their particular needs and interests within the field of graphic arts and design 5 An initial understanding of the technical support facilities and learning technologies available and an initial competence in their use. 6 An initial capacity for self-critical reflection both within individual and collaborative work. Level Learning Outcomes Level 5 1 A developing ability in the use of techniques, processes & materials. 2 A developing capability for personal and collaborative organisation within the studio context. 3 A developing ability to begin to locate aspects of their own work within social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts. 4 A developing ability to initiate, negotiate and develop a body of work according to their particular needs and interests within the field of graphic arts and design 5 A developing understanding of the technical support facilities and learning technologies available and a developing competence in their 29

use. 6 A developing capacity for self-critical reflection both within individual and collaborative work. Level Learning Outcomes Level 6 1 A comprehensive ability in the use of techniques, processes and materials. 2 A comprehensive capability for personal and collaborative organisation within the studio context. 3 A comprehensive ability to begin to locate aspects of their own work within social, cultural, historical, professional, critical and technical contexts. 4 A comprehensive ability to initiate, negotiate and develop a body of work according to their particular needs and interests within the field of graphic arts and design 5 A comprehensive understanding of the technical support facilities and learning technologies available and a comprehensive competence in their use. 6 A comprehensive capacity for self-critical reflection both within individual and collaborative work. Graduate Attributes Students on the BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design course are predominantly enterprising. Through their individual creative practices, they will, as a matter of course, articulate their ideas, make artefacts, promote and sell these products through self-organised group exhibitions, self-promotional websites and through self-published magazines and printed matter. They liaise constantly with external clients and agencies through their own individual practice. This is formalised on the course specifically in Level 5 and 6, where students must identify live projects to pursue on an individually negotiated basis. Students will demonstrate their enterprising skills through all the modules from GAD 5.3 onwards and these are embedded in the Learning Outcomes for each of the modules. Digital literacy is central to the course it is evidenced in all modules across all 30

Levels to some degree. Students in Level 4 are introduced to the central e- Learning tool, the CAGD website and its varied uses, most notably to communicate with fellow students and staff, to upload work, to give selfreflective feedback through the Feedback Journal and to organise and curate their work for presentation through the use of the eportfolio aspects of the site. Students also access course materials from the website and as a repository for their research into the subject. In Level 4 students also become conversant with a range of digital imaging software and hardware through practical demonstrations, workshops and seminars. Students must also present their work for formative and summative assessment online, again predominantly through the CAGD website but also through the use of presentation software (Portable Document Formats, Powerpoint, Keynote, Quicktime, Prezis). Students are asked throughout Level 5 and 6 to challenge and critique their web-based research and to understand some of the implications of digital technologies for the dissemination of knowledge (of which graphic designers are a key part). Digital literacy in the research, production and presentation of design work as well as its presentation is assessed synoptically as embedded within the portfolio/ body of work. Students on the BA (Hons) Graphic Arts and Design course increasingly use these digital technologies as social networks to build relationships with other artists and designers in other countries. Our students are also offered opportunities to travel through course organised educational visits recently we have visited Krakow, Berlin, New York, Beijing, Cuba and Barcelona through Study Abroad and Erasmus schemes (again, students have recently studied in the US, Netherlands and Japan) and we have also received students onto the course from partner universities in Mexico and Estonia in the last few years. We have also made studio visits to design studios in Berlin and Amsterdam. We are also in the process of establishing a relationship with the Graphic Arts course at the Academy of Arts in Warsaw. These are intended to give the students an understanding of global visual cultures and allow them to think critically and reflectively about the relationship between culture and the vernacular art and design forms they might encounter there. Graphic design has often been seen as a form of universal international language of signs and icons with international movements disseminated quickly through the reproductive technologies (both analogue and digital) inherent in graphic communication. At the same time, students become aware too that graphic design can also be the most culturally specific medium, relying on aesthetic and communicative conventions. This allows students to learn to contextualise their practice within wider global currents. Students have the opportunity to apply for the annual Edna Lumb Travel Prize which allows them a bursary to propose and develop a project in other countries. Recent winners of the bursary have made animated films in Mexico and produced books based on a journey to a number of traditional markets on 31

the Continent. In addition, students have the opportunity of applying to the European Exchange Academy that takes place every summer in Beelitz, outside Berlin, where they collaborate with students from countries as diverse as the US, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Northern Europe. In a more generic sense, our students are constantly researching and being exposed to the art and design of different (often non-western) cultures through their research and the lectures, seminars and tutorials that take place on the course. In particular, students explore the art of primitive cultures, from Inca to Aboriginal to Egyptian hieroglyphs to sub-continental signwriting in attempting to trace the roots of graphic art/ design language, as well as a range of diverse modern movements as Czech Art Nouveau, Russian Constructivism and International Modernism. Students are engaged in interviewing a range of contemporary international practitioners by e-mail and through social networking websites. Students are encouraged to consider the global context of their creative practice as part of their studies and cross cultural perspective on art and design and many alumni are working in graphic design studios across the world, including USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in mainland Europe. Course Structure Level 4 At the start of Level 4, students are introduced to the resources and facilities available to them both at School and University level as well as to the course ethos and philosophy. They then embark on four 3 week long projects in which they must respond to a number of set briefs using the workshops and resources. This is assessed synoptically with GAD 4.1. Students are required to produce three pieces of critical writing for GAD 4.3. In Semester 2, students again go through four two-week projects, including a collaborative project. Finally, students are given the opportunity to pursue a self-initiated piece of work supported by an initial integrated Critical Study. In this way, students sample a range of approaches to the study of graphic arts and design, are introduced to the course s ethos through practical demonstration and become acquainted with the course-specific and University-wide resources and facilities available to them. Semester 1 Core (Y) Semester 2 Core (Y) Induction to Graphic Arts and Y Collaborative Studio Projects Y 32

Design Introductory Studio Briefs Y Studio Projects 2 Y Critical and Contextual Studies Y Studio Practice & Critical Study Y Level 5 In the first semester, students are introduced to the integration of theoretical and practical concerns through the Integrated Contextual Studio Project, an intensive introduction into researching, responding to and reflecting on a wide range of visual culture. This is upturned by the following module which explicitly emphasises more formalist, process-led approaches to design without pre-determined outcomes. Again, this is counteracted by the third module which occupies the opposite end of the spectrum, asking the student to solve a specific design brief through previsualisation and more conceptual forms of ideation. The second semester allows the student to produce a body of individually appropriate and negotiated work, supported by an integrated Critical Study which frames and contextualises the portfolio of work. Students must show they have also pursued an external live brief, which encourages the notion of enterprise, in conjunction with their self-initiated work. The three modules in Semester Two build up consecutively from initial proposals and negotiations through to implementation and then presentation and evaluation. These are assessed both formatively through tutorial support, presentations and critiques and summatively at the end of the modules synoptically. In this way, students experience a gradual trajectory towards the course s ethos of sustaining an individual creative approach to the subject, supported by a Critical Study, whilst also sampling a range of ways of working, processes and disciplines. Semester 1 Core (Y) Semester 2 Core (Y) Integrated Contextual Studio Project Y Studio Practice/ Critical Study Initiation & Development Y Process Brief Y Studio Practice/ Critical Study Production & Implementation Design Brief Y Studio Practice/ Critical Study Reflection & Evaluation Y Y 33

Level 6 Students experiences of producing an individually negotiated and relevant body of work, supported by a Critical Study, in Semester 2 of Level 5 is built on and developed by a similar structure in Semester 1 of Level 6. Students have the freedom to pursue their own creative approach to the subject by producing a consolidated body of work. The student is required to pursue a specified External Live Project in conjunction with their self-initiated work which may take the form of an exhibition, publication, a collaborative venture or a response to the live briefs which come through the University. This body of work is assessed formatively through presentations, tutorials and group critiques and both summatively and synoptically at the end of the Semester when an Indicative grade is given to the student. In Semester 2, the student is asked to propose, develop and produce their Final Major Project with tutorial support. The Critical Study supports and contextualises all the work produced for these modules and is assessed synoptically in the final submission at the end of Semester 2. Students are encouraged in this way put forward for assessment a wide range of self-initiated, work experience and live project work. Semester 1 Core (Y) Semester 2 Core (Y) Studio Practice/ Critical Study Initiation & Development Y Final Major Project Critical Study (60 credits) Y Studio Practice/ Critical Study Production & Implementation Y Studio Practice/ Critical Study Reflection & Evaluation Y 34

Learning & Teaching Approaches Inspiring All staff on the course are active practitioners and researchers and are, as such, completely engaged with the teaching of the subject, transmitting their enthusiasm and knowledge. The course is taught through combinations of workshop delivery, practical demonstrations, through group briefings and critiques, external live projects as well as lectures, seminars and group/ individual tutorials. There is a well-resourced Visiting Lecturer programme and the School-wide Design Inside and Out lectures which provide the students with inspiring case studies and role models. The workshops and studios in Broadcasting Place also provide an inspiring and stimulating environment for students ambitions. Creative The emphasis on the course on the student s own individual creative needs through the negotiated Critical Study (latterly the Learning Agreement) means the course is highly creative and encourages all forms of enterprising, lateral thinking and problem-solving. The flexible studio and workshop based approach enables a wide variety of exciting and stimulating learning activities to take place. Creativity and individuality are core features of the course, and the whole of our approach centre around this. For the course, creativity is based around the notion of constraint, the notion of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity and an ability to think round corners, to problem-solve and think laterally by making connections between seemingly disparate elements. We are also interested in the notion of creativity within collaborative enterprises, the ability to ideate, to express one s ideas to a diverse and heterogeneous group. Students demonstrate their creativity both in terms of the work they produce but also the opportunities they create outside the curriculum. Enterprising The holistic and flexible approach to learning enables students to develop relevant and appropriate skills throughout the course. Enterprise resonates with many of the professional aspects of Graphic Arts & Design practice, and entrepreneurial approaches are encouraged and supported. In particular, students exhibit their work outside University in group exhibitions, routinely take on self-sourced briefs from outside University and use both their subject specific and more generic skills to stage, document and publicise events. As such they contribute to the visual culture of the city. Purposeful The course has a clear approach to the education of the graphic designer, faced with the challenges of new technologies and the expanding of the field of 35

graphic communications. Students learn creative, critical and technical skills across a range of disciplines and a way of thinking about design which, it is hoped, will stand them in good stead for their life outside university. Many of these skills are transferable to all many of employment opportunities within or outside the creative industries. Respectful The learning outcomes for the majority of modules require engagement by students and staff with the wider cultural context of graphic arts & design practice, and specific workshops focussing on ethics have been delivered in level 5 and level 6. Engagement with community-based projects in all levels has promoted good citizenship. The course, by its very nature, values diversity. The new accommodation at Broadcasting Place provides disabled students with accessible facilities, and the flexible nature of delivery enables programmes of learning to be tailored to individual needs. Minority groups are valued within a tolerant and progressive learning environment. Students are encouraged to consider the global context of their creative practice as part of their studies, and cross cultural perspective on art and design. Numerous opportunities for engaging with international scholarship are offered, including the Estonian exchange programme, the Edna Lumb Travel Prize, and the annual international study visits. Professional All staff teaching on the course are active practitioners and aim to promote professional practice through tutorial advice, workshops, briefings and lectures/ talks. This is supported by a central Visiting Lecturer programme which seeks to allow students the opportunity to talk to widely regarded contemporary practitioners about their individual routes into the industry. As a central part of the course, students pursue external live projects/ briefs which bring them into contact with a wider constituency of clients and stake-holders. Students also take part in briefings and portfolio surgeries by local design companies as well as taking part in a number of awards such as D&AD, YCN, the V&A Illustration Prize, Penguin Book Cover Award and the British Animation Awards amongst many others. In addition, as part of the students Critical Study, students are required to put together presentations on aspects of the industry, to interview practitioners and to publish their own portfolio websites. Workshops also address aspects of professional practice, from ethical and moral dimensions to copyright to freelancing and setting up a design studio. Placements and internships are negotiated by students with their personal tutors in Levels 5 and 6 and we are currently engaged in a dialogue with a cartel of local design companies about the possibility of establishing more consolidated relationships with them. 36

Learning and Teaching Activities Students experience a full range of Learning and Teaching Activities, from 3 week rolling practical workshops in which students pursue briefs through an introduction to the main technical workshops, to formalised lectures and seminars dealing with the Critical and Historical aspects of their studies and which support the writing of their initial Critical Studies, through to external live project briefings and group critiques, project workshops. There are also practical and technical demonstrations, inductions into the use of resources and equipment. The central teaching strategy in the second half of the course is based firmly on individual and small group tutorials that support the student s individually negotiated project work. This is supported by trips to museums and galleries both locally and nationally as well as the annual Foreign Study Trip, as well as opportunities like the Edna Lumb Travel award and the European Exchange Academy as well as regular field trips within the area such as Armley Mills. The course is unique in Britain in conflating the graphic arts, nominally illustration, printmaking, animation and photography with graphic design, for print and screen. This results in a wide constituency of practices, disciplines, media and techniques and students are encouraged, after a period of initial orientation and skills acquisition, to pursue their own negotiated pathway through the course. This approach requires a broad and diagnostic period where practical/ technical, creative and critical skills are developed both as individuals and within collaborative endeavours followed by an increasing concentration on the student s own individual practice (this may still take place as a part of a team or within specific collaborative projects). This means that the second part of the course prioritises close tutor/ student relationships through regular individual and small group tutorials, presentations and critiques. Formative feedback that comes from these sessions is recorded by both tutor and student through the Feedback Journal section of the CAGD website, allowing students to collect this feedback as well as to reflect on and critique the discussions that have taken place with their tutor. Students use the CAGD to document the process of their work, uploading their work, collecting references and research as well as to present their work in critiques and Presentations to their peers. This is supported throughout by lecture and seminar programmes that enable the student to start to contextualise their practice in the form of reports, essays, as well as the Critical Study which is a central part of the second half of the course where students are required to integrate their practical concerns with theoretical and critical approaches. Seminars take place to aid the writing of this document in all Levels. The Critical Study has been designed to fulfil the separate roles of academic dissertation, a professional development document as well as to document the work the student produces. As such, the Critical Study is a primarily personal document that has been extremely beneficial to a range of students who have been diagnosed with dyslexia as well as students from widening participation backgrounds. There is also an extensive Visiting Lecturer programme that seeks 37

to introduce students to a range of professional practice. In addition, students are required to pursue a number of external live briefs/ projects sourced by tutors, normally a mixture of commercial and community/ charity, public body-based briefs. These briefs are most often brought into the University but tutors also ask students to engage in practice outside the walls of the University in projects such as East Street Arts INexlusion performance art project in which students documented a 24 hour performance festival or the work students have produced at Armley Mills for example. Students also respond to briefings led by part-time members of staff whose role it is primarily to supervise these on-going projects and briefs. Use of VLE The award winning CAGD eportfolio and social networking tool (the CAGD website) is deeply embedded into the course, with all students and staff making use of this tool to enhance learning on a daily basis. The Contemporary Art and Graphic Design Subject Group fund the ongoing development of this tool, ensuring that it is up-todate and fit for purpose. The course does not use the institutional VLE, as this technology is not appropriate to our mode of delivery. The TEL team, ALT and IMTS acknowledge and support our decision not to use the institutional VLE. The Subject Group operates within the broader definition of VLE, but has opted out of the institutional VLE and has developed its own inhouse eportfolio/social-networking tool, tailored to support the needs of students within the Subject Group. Commonly know as the CAGD website, or often just The Site this tool has become central to the delivery and organisation of the courses within the Subject Group, and has been instrumental in supporting the development of new improved strategies for feedback and formative assessment on the Graphic Arts & Design course. The CAGD website is recognised both internally through the ALT and TEL groups, and externally through the Subject Group s involvement with JISC as an innovative and effective implementation of learning technology. Since its initial deployment in 2004 on the Contemporary Art Practices course, the CAGD website has been developed and resourced entirely by the Subject Group. In 2006/7, the Graphics Art & Design course started using the 38

CAGD site, which quickly became established as the primary elearning tool. Many innovative methods for utilising the potential of the CAGD site were developed by Graphics tutors, and the Graphic Arts & Design course is now the driving force behind the continuing development of the CAGD website. Recent developments driven by the Graphic Arts & Design group include mobile implementations of the website, including prototype iphone and ipad Apps. Good practice from our approach has been disseminated at various Leeds Met staff development events over the last three years, including the Higher Education Academy s TEL Enhancement Academy. In 2008, the CAGD site won a Leeds Met TEL us about it award in recognition of its success. Use of Blended Learning Presentation of work and certain aspects of the Critical Study, in Levels 4 and 5 take place through the CAGD website. Students produce an eportfolio and upload written pdf documents to the site for assessment. This supports the physical submission. Students also capture their ongoing formative feedback through the Feedback Journal on the CAGD website this again, going hand-inhand with their formal face-to-face tutorials. 39

Assessment Strategy Students are formatively assessed throughout the course through individual and group tutorials and feedback given through the Feedback Journal on the CAGD website. Their summative assessments take place through a mixture of physical submissions (portfolio of body of work, developmental and preparatory work or single project work), through eportfolio presentations on the CAGD website and physical presentations to staff and peers, through written, filmic and audio submissions for the Critical Study. In Level 4 Semester One, students work through modules that introduce them to the resources, ethos, philosophy and teaching/ learning strategies on the course. In particular, they are inducted into the safe use of equipment/ resources in the various workshops and studios. This is assessed synoptically with GAD 4.2 Studio Briefs in which students are required to go through a series of workshop-based studio briefs, each lasting three weeks. Students present the work they have produced at the conclusion of each of these three week workshops in a Critique with the supervising project and personal tutor. They must also keep an updated Feedback Journal on the CAGD website that documents their working process. Students receive formative feedback through the Feedback Journal on the CAGD website as well as through constant interaction with the supervising tutor. The work produced through these workshops is then assessed synoptically at the end of the module. Throughout this period, students are also asked to write three separate reports that reflect their on-going engagement with the critical, historical and theoretical aspects of the course, underpinned by a six week lecture and seminar series. These reports, some of which are presented digitally through the CAGD website, are assessed formatively through the tutorial feedback and synoptically at the end of Semester One. In Level 4 Semester Two, students pursue consecutively a collaborative studio brief which lasts four weeks, a set of two workshop briefs which last two weeks each and finally an individually negotiated piece of work that constitutes the beginnings of the students Studio Practice accompanied by a short Critical Study that also lasts four weeks. The collaborative project is assessed by the supervising tutor and personal tutor by means of a digital presentation. Again, students are required to keep a group blog that documents the process of the collaborative work. The workshop briefs are assessed through a Presentation/ Crit at the end of the two week period by both personal Tutor and workshop tutor as well as self-assessment. The final Studio Practice module is supervised by the Personal Tutor of the student and is assessed synoptically at the end of the 4 week period. Digital literacy is embedded within each of the modules in 40

Level 4. Enterprise is embedded more specifically in the final self-initiated Studio Practice GAD 4.6 as well as in the Collaborative Studio Brief GAD 4.4. Global outlook is assessed specifically in GAD 4.3 Critical and Contextual Studies and embedded in GAD 4.2 and GAD 4.5. In Level 5, students are asked to start to integrate their critical and historical concerns with their studio practice through the Integrated Contextual Studio project in which they respond to a range of images posted on the CAGD website over a period of two weeks. Students are assessed on this through the self-created images they post onto CAGD everyday and their Feedback Journal on the CAGD website. Students are asked to respond to images that derive from non-western cultures, allowing them some sense of a cross-cultural and global sense of art and design practice. This is followed by GAD 5.2 Process Brief in which students are asked to explore techniques, media and methods without preconceived ideas or solutions to communication briefs. They are assessed again synoptically through a combination of Feedback Journal on CAGD and short digital Presentations of the work they have produced through the CAGD website. In response to this more formalist way of working, the following module GAD 5.3 Design Brief seeks to allow students to produce more conceptual work starting from a series of real world briefs. This is particularly where those Graduate Attributes of Enterprise are explicitly assessed in Level 5. The work produced for this module is assessed synoptically in the form of a digital presentation and accompanying documentation in the Feedback journal on CAGD. It is at this stage that the course becomes more demarcated into the two strands of Graphic Arts and Graphic Design and students are asked to make decisions about the trajectory of their own individual practice for the rest of the course. In the linked modules of GAD 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6, students must propose and negotiate with their tutors their own individual emerging practice. They move from a period of proposal and experimentation (itself based on reflection) through implementing these ideas to finally a period of reflection and evaluation on the work produced. The student must produce a portfolio of work for assessment at the end of the module which is then marked synoptically across the three linked modules. This allows the students to pursue their own interests and gives a greater depth of understanding and learning. This is supported by regular individual and group tutorials as well as presentations and critiques. Students are required within this body of work to produce at least ONE external live project which must be evidenced as part of their requirement for work related learning. Students are given the opportunity 41

to respond to a number of live projects sourced by the tutors on the course. This is supported and underpinned by a Critical Study which seeks to describe the ideas and intentions as well as contextualise the student s emerging practice. Digital literacy is assessed as embedded within all modules in Level 5. This emphasis is repeated in the Semester One of Level Six, where students are asked to build on and develop the work they produced in Semester Two Level Five by producing an individually appropriate and coherent portfolio of work supported by a draft Critical Study. The student is assessed formatively through tutorial input, presentations and critiques as well as summatively at the end of Semester One where the student is given an indicative grade. Again, students are required to engage in at least one external live project that should have relevance to their work. In Semester Two, students are asked to propose a Final Major Project which should cohere with the work they have produced for Modules GAD 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 and act as a summation of their own individual practice. The student must present their proposals formally to the staff team and this may include external live briefs or a piece of self-initiated work. The student is asked to submit this as part of the folio of work produced in Level Six and this is assessed synoptically at the end of Semester Two. The Critical Study should underpin both Semester One s Studio Practice as well as the Final Major Project, describing ideas, intentions, reflecting and evaluating as well as contextualising the student s practice. This holistic approach to assessment allows students to see their work as part of an ongoing process, to encourage risk-taking and experimentation and allows the student to become more engaged and involved in their work, taking ownership of it, allowing greater independence and depth of learning. Again, digital literacy is embedded within each of the modules in Level Six. Students demonstration of enterprise can be evidenced in their external live project work as well as embedded more implicitly within their self-initiated individual practice. Global outlook is assessed through the Critical Study s function of contextualising the student s work within a global framework, specifically through investigations into specific contemporary practitioners work, but also into aspects of the global communications industry. Feedback on Assessment Formative feedback is given both orally during group/ individual tutorials and group critiques and as written feedback on the Feedback Journal section of the CAGD website. 42

Summative assessment is given predominantly through written forms on the CAGD website and through resulting formal individual tutorials. Formative assessment The primary assessment tool used to support student learning is formative assessment. Biweekly scheduled formative assessment tutorials occur across the course, and provide students with formative feedback on their progress at the point of learning. In addition to the bi-weekly tutorials, individual tutorials and informal studio and workshop conversations between students and tutors provide additional formative assessment opportunities. Students are required to reflect upon and record every formative assessment conversation on their feedback/journal section on the CAGD website. This record of progress and developing understanding provides the student with a space to reflect on their learning in general, but specifically to focus on the formative assessment conversations with tutors. The feedback/journal section provides personal tutors with a mechanism for gauging their student s comprehension of learning conversations, and provides the opportunity for tutors to add written feedback in response to the student s reflections, and to invite further faceto-face conversations if necessary. The feedback/journal section also provides a comprehensive record of learning, which informs summative assessment where appropriate. Individual grades are not attached to formative assessment, as grades are considered too blunt an instrument in a creative context. The subtlety and complexity of creative development can be more precisely and meaningfully assessed though a conversational framework for learning. This prioritisation of formative assessment enables tutors to help students to identify their current levels of understanding, to identify individually appropriate goals, and to agree suitable routes to achieve these goals. Synoptic summative assessment. The embracing of uncertainty, and the celebration of mistakes, are central to the development of an effective creative practitioner. Overly frequent, grade-centric summative assessment points discourage students from free experimentation. The fear of failing individual credit bearing components discourages students from adopting an exploratory approach, but the course has a well-established and successful approach to summative assessment points through the use of synoptic assessment. Assessment points occur mostly at the end of each semester, with students submitting a body of work produced over a prolonged period of time. Although individual projects are set within modules, these projects are not components in the traditional sense, in that they are not individually graded. Instead, set projects and activities provide students with the opportunities to generate a range of outcomes, which are submitted at the end of the module, and are assessed synoptically. This enables successful outcomes to take prominence in the 43

Core (Y) (D) Project (I) Synoptic assessment (C) Scheme/ Course Assignment (F) Final Project (H) Learning Contract summative assessment, and for failures to be considered within the overall context of ongoing creative development. The continual process of formative assessment provides personal tutors with a good understanding of the capabilities of their students, as recorded in the feedback journal section of the CAGD website, and this knowledge informs the summative synoptic assessment. Tutors make a holistic judgement of the attainment of the student at summative assessment points, guided by the stated learning outcomes for the module and level, and taking all relevant factors into account. The summative assessment grades provide indicators to students regarding their ability to achieve the learning outcomes, and enables students to develop an understanding of the requirements for fulfilling the programme learning outcomes and achieving credit throughout the course. Assessment Method Mapping Module Titles Induction to Graphic Arts and Y 100% Design, GAD 4.1 Introductory Studio Briefs, Y 100% GAD 4.2 Critical and Contextual Y 100% Studies, GAD 4.3 Collaborative Studio Projects, Y 100% GAD 4.4 Studio Projects 2 Y 100% GAD 4.5 Studio Practice & Critical Y 100% Study, GAD 4.6 Integrated Contextual Studio Y 100% Project, GAD 5.1 Process-led Studio Practice, Y 100% GAD 5.2 Design Brief GAD 5.3 Y 100% Studio Practice (Initiation and Development), GAD 5.4 Studio Practice (Production & Implementation) GAD 5.5 Y 100% Y 100% 44

Studio Practice (Presentation Y 100% and Evaluation) GAD 5.6 Studio Practice (Initiation & Y 100% Development), GAD 6.1 Studio Practice (Production & Y 100% Implementation), GAD 6.2 Studio Practice (Presentation Y 100% and Evaluation), GAD 6.3 Final Major Project GAD 6.4, Y 100% How is feedback from students gathered and used in course design/ enhancement? Student forums, STARs meetings, from National Student Survey and Module Evaluations as well as through individual tutorials and through dialogue on the CAGD website and in the weekly cohort meetings. Also through In Year Quality and Enhancement Meetings and Annual Reviews. Through tutorials with students and through regular staff meetings. The course is extremely adaptable and responsive to student needs as well as to the constantly changing landscape of graphic communication. How is feedback about the course given to students? Feedback is given through STARs meetings, student forums and through the weekly cohort meetings. The CAGD website is also used both to discuss and resolve issues that occur both at a course and individual student level. Announcements on CAGD are used to disseminate feedback on course developments as well as the Resources section of CAGD where course documents are located and are accessible to all students. Indicators of Quality and Standards Rationale for Change We are reviewing all our Undergraduate courses, drawing on past and current successes, to ensure that all courses are: Focused on student and employer needs and demands Supported by consistently good teaching 45

Designed to offer all students work related learning and participation in volunteering and/or international exchange. Integrated with technology Underpinned by effective resources, both physical and virtual We are listening to students, employers and professional bodies. We are simplifying the course structures, clarifying course content, ensuring summative assessment is balanced and timely and reviewing all course titles. Refocusing of the Undergraduate curriculum will ensure that our graduates are distinguished by three overarching features: Enterprising Digitally Literate Global Outlooks As a result of Refocusing the Undergraduate Curriculum we will: Improve student progression, achievement and employability Enhance the market attractiveness of our Undergraduate portfolio The course welcomes the Curriculum Refocus as there has been a perceived need on the part of the course to firm up issues of employability (and work placements/ internships) and particularly Skills Acquistion with the changing demands of the graphic design industry. It has also concentrated our minds on consolidating and making more explicit, the subject specific and more generic transferable skills that the course has consistently integrated into its delivery, including digital literacy and enterprise, integration with technology and its innovative, personalised ALT strategies, as well as its handling of a blended learning experience through the impressive studios and CAGD website. National Student Survey: The results of the National Student Survey in the last two years have been outstanding with 46

scores across the board in the 80-90% bracket. These were within the top 5% of art and design institutions in the UK and reflect the esteem in which the course is held by students on Level 6 of the course. This marks a notable shift from the average scores from 2008-9 where it was perceived that students were reacting to a poor First Year in which a number of members of staff left and there was a perceived imbalance in staffing levels. The improvements in marks also reflect to some extent the emphasis given over the past three years to the NSS. Staff are good at explaining things Staff have made the subject interesting Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my course I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies Feedback on my work has This has been consistently valued highly over the last two years of NSS results. In 2008-9 71% In 2009-10 97% In 2010-11 86% Again, this has been rated very highly over the last two National Student Surveys. In 2008-9 61% In 2009-10 92% In 2010-11 85% Students have consistently shown that they are happy with the quality of the course with the exception of 2008-9 where students were reflecting specifically on their first year experience which was perceived as being somewhat disorganised. This was remedied with a new Level co-ordinator and staff team in Level Four. In 2008-9 65% In 2009-10 89% In 2010-11 83% In the last two years, students have appreciated the personalised and in-depth support and advice through regular tutorial advice and formative feedback. In 2008-9 62% In 2009-10 93% In 2010-11 81% This has scored perhaps a little lower than 47

been prompt Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand The library resources are good enough for my needs I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to some of the other categories in the last year. Students perhaps need to be pointed toward the notion of formative feedback through regular tutorials and critiques and the Feedback Journal on CAGD. In 2008-9 61% In 2009-10 90% In 2010-11 73% Again, this has been valued very highly by students through the regular personalised tutorials and critiques. The use of the Feedback Journal on CAGD has proved beneficial in allowing students reflect on these conversations. In 2008-9 64% In 2009-10 88% In 2010-11 81% This has uniformly been rated very highly by the students. In 2008-9 89% In 2009-10 86% In 2010-11 88% Again, with the Macintosh suite in Broadcasting Place and the resources In the Library, students have consistently praised their access to general IT resources. In 2008-9 97% In 2009-10 90% In 2010-11 92% Teaching Quality Information Approximately 600 applications for 125 places. 0.05% Non-continuation 10-11 50% good honours 10-11 0.85 DLHE Employment Indicator 09-10 There is still a healthy application rate (5.55:1) to the course and low attrition rate (with the exception of 2007-8) where some 25% of First Year students did not continue. This was perceived to be a result of a number of staff changes in First Year and a lack of balance in staffing between course levels. This was 48

remedied the following year with a new Level Coordinator and staff team, as well as weekly cohort meetings and formalised bi-weekly scheduled tutorials. Retention has improved markedly in the following two years with non-continuation from Year One at 9% in 2008-9 and 5% in 2009-10. 50% graduated with good honours 2010-11 which was a slight decline from 2009-10 (52%) and 2008-9 (54%). We are also seeing an increase in Thirds from 15% in 2008-9 and 2009-10 to 20% in 2010-11. These could be seen to reflect the hard work of staff in supporting students who may have potentially failed to achieve their degrees, but the polarity on the course between high-achievers and those who fail to engage with the course successfully gives concern to the staff team and it is hoped that the refocused curriculum, through a renewed clarity and currency, will be able to contribute to a decrease in this marked polarity. Higher and Lower Seconds have been remarkably consistent over the previous three years at 37% (2.1s) and 28% (2.2s). These suggest a level of consistency and continuity in Level Six provision. Employment figures and DLHE statistics are somewhat vague for the last year and this needs to be revisited. Module Evaluation The students fill in a written survey at the end of the specific module. There have been consistently high marks for all areas other than Clarity of Assessment which will be hopefully remedied by the rewriting and rationalisation of Level Learning Outcomes as well as the rewriting of Module aims and learning outcomes. Also learning resources have often scored less well until staff reinforced the nature of the CAGD website as the central learning resource on the course. The close 49

relationships between staff and students through the tutorial system have acted as a something of a safety valve for issues arising specifically from modules at a personal level. Module evaluations have taken place consistently over the last three years and there have noticeable trends in the scores across this period. The course has scored consistently highly in areas of tutorial support. Modules evaluated scored above average in Guidance from my tutor helped me to understand the subject & Overall, I am enjoying my experience but less in the areas of organisational structure and in terms of clarity of assessment methods. This has been addressed through the weekly meetings where matters of process have been discussed and openly articulated. Timetables and assessment criteria for each module is posted onto the CAGD website. What methods are used to monitor and assess quality? Annual Reviews and in Year Course Enhancement and Development meetings, student forums, external examiners reports, portfolio surgeries by D&AD and dialogue with local design companies, Visiting Lecturers, Periodic Review, regular staff meetings and internal moderation of assessment. After recommendations by External Examiners, the course sought to address issues concerned with First Year student experience through the appointment of a new Level Coordinator and staff team. The course has also attempted to address a perceived dislocation between the Levels by encouraging more cross-level teaching by tutors and initiating a series of collaborative projects by students across Levels. In addition, we have responded to questions about the Critical Study (latterly the Learning Agreement) by being more prescriptive about the demands of this document in Levels 4, 5 and 6. This also sought to address issues of Clarity of Assessment that regularly arose from Module Evaluations. Issues about perceptions of structure from both Module Evaluations and NSS have been 50

remedied through the CAGD website and its timetabling and Announcements resources. The course has also consolidated its approach to issues of employability and professional practice through appointing a member of staff to cat as Employability Representative, in charge of dealing with all student internships and placements. The course has also been in consultations with a range of graphic design studios and agencies in Leeds and West Yorkshire that have led to live student briefings, awards, placements and portfolio surgeries, as well as special industry days at the End of Year Shows. This has gone hand-in-hand with a greater coordination of external live projects both commercial and communitybased that stemmed from feedback from student forums and External Examiner comments. Students have also applauded the new emphasis on presentations and critiques through the synoptically assessed studio-based modules in Level 5 and 6, as well as the weekly cohort meetings again a response to students feeling somewhat atomised in their practice. The course has also attempted to develop the CAGD website through a series of iterative feedback loops there has been a lively and constructive dialogue concerning its use, particularly its Formative Feedback and eportfolio functions that has shown a responsiveness by the course to issues of Quality. External Examiner Reports External Examiners have consistently praised the course and have without fail, deemed that standards have been maintained. Issues arising from recent External Examiners reports include the level of preparatory/ developmental work in summatively and synoptically assessed modules, as well as the dearth of interactive/ digital design and particularly the currency of the Learning Agreement, which had been seen as becoming too descriptive and anecdotal. External Examiners have throughout the last five years been good critical friends to the course. All Externals have commended the 51

course as being an extremely high-achieving course and have consistently congratulated us on the high standard of student work. Moreover the course is recognised for its distinctive outlook and its innovative approach to teaching and learning. Similarly, there is recognition of the integration of theory/history and practice on the course through the Critical Study (latterly the Learning Agreement). Again, we have been applauded for the diversity and uniqueness of the course provision. Additionally all Externals have commended the course on the rigour of its assessment practices and academic support for student work. There have been some minor qualifications in all this approbation - indeed a consistent quibble has concerned the display of students' preparatory and developmental work in their final submissions. We encourage our students to edit down the evidence they provide for assessment to what they consider relevant to their practice. It has been debated about whether we should formalise this across the board and demand sketchbooks in final assessment but it's difficult to impose this across the diverse range of practices we accommodate on the course. Concerns have also been raised about the staffing of the Learning Agreement in Level 6 - specifically that it seemed to revolve around one member of staff but this has been subsequently addressed with recognising the Personal Tutor as having primary responsibility for the Learning Agreement, supported in all Levels by the more dedicated and cognate Critical/ Contextual studio tutors. It was recommended that students should perhaps also produce a very concise summary of the concerns of their work that might be more accessible to external interests. Research and Scholarly Activity All staff on the course are current practitioners across a wide range of specialisms and expertise. All staff contribute to research activities in the School. This is fed back into 52

delivery of the course for instance, in staff projects with students. For example, Casey Orr and Corinne Silva s PhD photographic work has fed directly into specific student projects around social landscapes. Staff on a more prosaic level present their research work to both fellow staff and students alike through regular talks and lectures. A high proportion of the staff team (five out of fifteen) already possess doctoral qualifications while four more are currently engaged in studying for doctoral qualifications. Staff Development Staff on the course are all current practitioners and as a result, keep up-to-date with current technological advances and regularly hold staff development sessions to share knowledge and skills with other members of staff. PDR s establish current staff development needs. Staff regularly engage in peer observation as team teaching is a regular part of curriculum delivery. Student feedback particularly around the need to learn interactive technologies, web and app design and new rapid prototyping, 3-D printing and such has led to a clearly articulated need for staff development in these areas, perhaps the only areas that staff expertise, at the present time, fail to cover. 53