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MakerStudioPeda Open Seminar 2023

Join the MakerStudioPeda team for a seminar on creativity-oriented pedagogy in art and design universities, featuring keynote speeches by two leading experts in the fields of creativity research and artistic practice.

Join the MakerStudioPedateam for a seminar on creativity-oriented pedagogy in art and design universities, featuring keynote speeches by two leading experts in the fields of creativity research and artistic practice.

The Seminar will explore the studio model as a site of pedagogical research and the question of what makers know in the context of teaching and practice-based academic inquiry.

Seminar poster: Materiality, Maker Practices and Design Studio Pedagogy in the Digital Age. Keynote speakers: Dr. Keith Sawyer, Dr. Nithikul Nimkulrat.

MakerStudioPeda is an ongoing research project funded by the Academy of Finland and conducted by Aalto University and the University of Helsinki in four nordic countries. The project investigates pedagogical practices for fostering creativity at university-level design education and craft teacher education in the digital age.

Speakers

A person wearing a grey blazer and a white shirt with small dark patterns. The background is blurred greenery.

Dr. Keith Sawyer 
Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations, University of North Carolina

Keith Sawyer is one of the world’s leading scientific experts on creativity. He has dedicated his career to the study of creativity and learning. Sawyer’s research focuses on improvisation group performance, including studies of jazz ensembles and Chicago improv theater groups. Sawyer has applied his research findings to enhance classroom teaching. He shows that the most effective teachers use guided improvisation to support each student’s individual learning needs. For example, he has extended his findings from improvisational theater to provide practical classroom advice for teachers, in his latest book The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for 21st Century Learners.
 

Person with long hair wearing a patterned shirt with abstract shapes.

Dr. Nithikul Nimkulrat
Associate Professor of the Faculty of Design, 
OCAD University

Nithikul Nimkulratis a practitioner-researcher who intertwines research with textile practice, focusing on experiential knowledge in craft processes in the context of design research. This interweaving has proven to be fruitfully applicable to art and design education. Prior to her current appointment as an Associate Professor and the Acting Chair of the Material Art & Design program at OCAD University, Nithikul has worked at Estonian Academy of Arts, Loughborough University, and Aalto University, where she earned her doctorate in 2009. Her creative work has been awarded and exhibited internationally, while her research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed publications and presented at international conferences.

Programme

09.00—09.15

Doors open
Reception

09.15—09.45

MakerStudioPeda project presentation
Dr. Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen (University of Helsinki) 
Dr. Maarit Mäkelä (Aalto University)
MakerStudioPeda Principal Investigators

15-minute Q&A Session

10.00—10.30

The Studio Model: How Instructors Teach in U.S. Art and Design Universities, Keynote speech
Dr. Keith Sawyer(University of North Carolina)
MakerStudioPeda Advisory Board Member

15-minute Q&A Session

10.45—11.00

Coffee break

11.00—11.30

What Makers Know, Keynote speech
Dr. Nithikul Nimkulrat (OCAD University)
MakerStudioPeda Advisory Board Member

15-minute Q&A Session

11.45—12.00

Closing discussion
 

Venue

M1 Lecture Hall

Room M232 
M Wing, 2nd Floor
Undergraduate Centre

Aalto University
Otakaari 1, 02150 Espoo

The MakerStudioPeda Seminar is a public event, no registration is required. Note that capacity is limited to 80 seats.

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