HMSG ProgramApproach v5 NC

7/29/2019 HMSG ProgramApproach v5 NC

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MLI at the Hirshhorn Museum

Program Approach

(Draft for Review)

MLI at the Hirshhorn programs are designed to create spaces for young people to engage in new media

practices that redefine what it means to learn and to create. This document is intended to provide an

overview of the pedagogical and practical approaches that are fundamental to MLI at the Hirshhorn

programming. Specifically, it focuses on exploring the three main elements that help to define anylearning culture: the physical space, the design principles that guide what takes place in that space, and

the actual practices, or rituals, that occur there.

Framing Question

Learner-centered. Collaborative. Interest-based. Learning by doing. Authentic engagement. These words

and phrases often come to mind when we attempt to define the elements of an ideal learning space.

Frequently, we imagine a magical, theoretical environment

where all young people are instinctively engaged, easily navigatetheir interests and prior knowledge, and work collaboratively

with their peers by intuition. In practice, however, we

understand that these learning spaces are not inherent; they are

designed through a strategic process that involves a clear

understanding of the essential elements that help to define a

learning culture.

How do we create a learning culture that puts the young person at the center of the experience, that

inspires creativity and innovation, and that actualizes learning by doing- not in theory only but in

practice?

Rationale

In order for youth participants to become thoughtful producers of media and remixers of content,

programs share a common set of principles and practices that characterize the MLI at the Hirshhorn

learning space. Inspired by what takes place at the intersection of pedagogy and practice, this program

approach strives to create a culture where participants authentically engage in tasks, drive their own

learning, and work with each other to develop their skill development and content understanding.


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The Role of Studio-Based Pedagogy

Giving youth the opportunity to play the role of designer, whether as a creator of mobile video tours,

museum-based games, or youth-organized exhibits, is at the heart of MLI at the Hirshhorn programming.

Studio-based pedagogy plays a fundamental role in how program designers and facilitators shape the

learning environment for youth participants.

As emphasized by Jim Matthews, program consultant for MLI at the Hirshhorn programming andresearcher for the Games, Learning, and Society group at the University of Wisconsin, studio-based

pedagogy is one

method that has been

successful in

developing rich and

engaging learning

experiences for the

21st century learner.

Drawing on the work

of S Kuhn, Matthews

reveals that, although

there are several

different models,

effective design

studios share a

common set of

characteristics. As the

graphic illustration on

the right

demonstrates, the

combined elements ofan effective design

studio cultivate a

learning space where

youth are active

participants and

problem-solvers,

where adults play the

role of facilitators and

experts, and where learning is experiential.1

This core set of design studio characteristics play key roles in the creation of the MLI at the Hirshhornlearning culture. Whether it is at the program design level or during the curriculum development phase,

the design studio model is integral to shaping the experience of the youth participant in workshops,

afterschool programs, or summer intensives at the museum.

1 James Matthews, Using a studio-based pedagogy to engage students in the design of mobile-based media, English Teaching:Practice and Critique May 2010: 88.

Graphic Illustration 1. The common characteristics of a design studio environment.


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Learning Culture

The term learning culturerefers to the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and social practices that

characterizes MLI at the Hirshhorn program. This learning culture, while flexible to varying time, space,

and logistical constraints, is consistent throughout all workshops, afterschool programs, and summer

intensives. Integrating the fundamental tenets of studio-based pedagogy, the MLI at the Hirshhornlearning culture can be categorized into three main elements: (1) the physical space, (2) the design

principles that shape what takes place in the space, and (3) the consistent practices, or rituals, that occur

there.

Dwelling heavily on the work of Jim Matthewsin Using a studio-based pedagogy to engage students in

the design of mobile-based media and James Gee in Learning by design: Games as Learning Machines,

the following diagram illustrates the components that are integral to the MLI at the Hirshhorn learning

culture.

Graphic Illustration 2. The learning culture of MLI at the Hirshhorn programs.


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Physical Space

For 2010-11, MLI at the Hirshhorn programs will take place in the ArtLab. Youth activities and media may

be displayed in a variety of spaces in the museum, including the Lerner Room and the lobby. Given this

temporary scenario, the ArtLab will be the main setting for formal workshops, afterschool programs, and

summer intensives.

The physical space at the Hirshhorn Museum is designed in order to provide an environment thatwelcomes and encourages participants to embrace their role as youth designers. The following table

provides an overview of the various characteristics that help to define the physical space in MLI at the

Hirshhorn programs.

Defining

characteristicSummary Example

Youth Relevance

Hirshhorn and MLI staff are dedicated to

constructing a learning space that clearly

conveys that the ArtLab is a place for

young people to be creative learners and

new media designers. Youth may play a

part in desiging parts of the ArtLab and

lobby spaces.

Specific youth relevant attributes may include

strategic use of color and wall designs or

artwork inspired by and for youth.

Additionally, youth participants in the weDesign

programs will work with facilitators and experts

to redesign the ArtLab and lobby. Youth

designers will offer their ideas on how to make

the space more youth-friendly.

Flexible Modular

Design

This refers to ensuring how furniture, such

as a tables and chairs, are used. In a

design studio model, youth participants areengaging in a diverse set of tasks. The

layout of the learning space should be

conducive and reflective of this workflow.

The tables and chairs in the ArtLab are

arranged in a way that reflects a studio instead

of a classroom. Depending on the number of

students in the workshop, tables may be

arranged as one large rectangular work station

on the first day so that participants can work on

brainstorming ideas for their project. As

mentioned below, these table/chair modules

can shift to accommodate specific tasks.

Conducive to

small and large

group

collaboration2

Related to the previous element, the

design of the room is flexible to allow

participants to work individually, in small

groups, and in the large collective,

depending on the task at hand.

The physical space easily allows youth

designers to transition from a community circle

to their teams, or vice versa. Participants are

able to move chairs and/or tables in order to

switch from one activity to another with ease

and efficiency.

Or, the room is set up so that there is a

designated area for community circles and for

team activities.

Table 1. The learning culture: physical space.

2 Matthews 94.


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Design Principles

Design principles refer to the specific set of values that shape what takes place in the physical space

described above. MLI and HMSG program designers and facilitators use these guiding principles to

develop curriculum and implement the program.

The following table provides an overview of the various characteristics that help to define the design

principles of MLI at the Hirshhorn programs. The Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins program is thefocus of the Example section.

Defining


Roles / Identities

Similar to the idea that adults assume

certain roles or positions in the workplace,

youth participants in MLI at the Hirshhorn

programs assume specific identities related

to the design task. These roles encourage

investment and commitment to the task

and the community as a whole.3

In the Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins

program, participants will be on an MLI at the

HMSG production team that is responsible to

creating the City of Ruins exhibit in the Lerner

Room. As members of this production team,

youth designers may play the role of

videographer, editor, or exhibit organizer.

Short Iterative

Cycles

Programmatically, program designers and

facilitators can structure workshops so that

participants create one culminating new

media project or several small new media

projects that lead to a larger final collective

project. Short iterative cycles refers to the

latter in which youth designers scaffold up

to the final activity or media artifact.

In a program where a mobile video series is the

part of the final collective project, participants

can begin with exploring photography, since the

core skills such as framing, lighting, etc. are

closely related to videography. Participants can

start out in a short task that involves going out

to take a photo using the rule of thirds. The

next design cycle may involve the students

applying this skill to a 5-second video capture of

the same object with panning and zooming.

Frequent Critique

Sessions

Related to short iterative cycles,

participants engage in frequent critique

with facilitators, experts, and peers in order

to offer and share feedback on the new

media produced during each cycle. These

critique sessions provide a safe space for

participants to understand what worked

and could work better and offer concrete

feedback as they approach their next

design cycle.

One guiding objective of MLI at the

Hirshhorn critique sessions is to avoid

situations where only the same two youth

designers participate or where the session

becomes a conversation between the

facilitators and those two students.

Using the mobile video series example

mentioned above, participants engage in

critique sessions after each design cycle: (1)

introduction to photography and (2)

introduction to video. Ideally, experts, in

addition to facilitators, who have experience

with photography and videography are available

to participate in these critique sessions.

3 James Gee, Learning by design: Games as learning machines, Interactive Educational Media April 2004: 18.


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Dispersed

Community

Dispersed community refers to the idea

that youth participants would have access

to resources and would have the

opportunity to make connections with

people outside of the classroom.4 This is an

integral aspect of MLI at the Hirshhorn

programming. Youth designers will have

consistent access to the museum, experts,

and artists. Furthermore, participants will

be encouraged to transfer and connect

their program experience to their

communities and daily lives.


program, participants will explore specific

exhibits at the Hirshhorn Museum, reflect on

these pieces, travel off-site to view local ruins

in person, and speak with the visiting artist

collective, Semiconductor.

This aspect of the program extends both

learning and the design community beyond the

walls of the ArtLab into both the museum and

to local neighborhoods.

Skills as

strategies

James Gee mentions the paradox related to

skill development: People dont like

practicing skills out of context over and

over again, since they find such skill

practice meaningless, but, without lots of

skill practice, they cannot really get any

good at what they are trying to learn.People learn and practice skills best when

they see a set of related skills as a strategy

to accomplish goals they want to

accomplish.5

MLI at the Hirshhorn programs situate skill

development within the specific design

task.


program, participants will play a role in

designing an exhibit in the Lerner Room. This

exhbit will include youth-produced photos,

videos, and text panels that interpret various

ruins in their community.

In order to succesfully and creatively complete

this collective task, it is necessary for

participants to develop photography,

videography, and writing skills. As Hirshhorn

and MLI staff design the curriculum for this

program, these skills are situated within the

context of the final collective task.

Distributed

knowledge

This refers to the notion that it is not

necessary for all participants to be experts

in every skill or to master understanding of

each content area. If designed

appropriately, MLI at the Hirshhorn

programs may cultvate centers of

expertise, in which participants develop

specific skills based on their interest and

prior knowledge.6 This creates a culture of

interdependence and collective

consciousness around the design task.

As mentioned in a prior section, one of the core

elements of studio-based pedagogy is the use

of diverse media and presentation. This is alsoan integral of MLI at the Hirshhorn

programming. Youth designers in the Mobile

Video Series: City of Ruins program have the

opportunity to explore both photography,

videography, editing, and exhibit

design/organization. While participants will be

able to explore each of these new media and

museum-related skills, youth will also be able to

follow various pathways so that they become an

expert in one or more of these.

As each youth participant becomes an expert,

the collective group will need to draw on these

skills in order to complete the final task

succesfully.

4 Matthews 95.5 Gee 21.6 Matthews 97.


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Pleasantly

Frustrating

A term coined by James Gee, pleasantly

frustratingrefers to a scenario in which the

learner operates at the outer and growing

edge of his/her skill development and

content understanding. This creates a

situation where learners are motivated by

their engagement with the challenge, as

opposed to some extrinsic form: Learning

works best when new challenges are

pleasantly frustrating in the sense of being

felt by learners to be at the outer edge of,

but within, their regime of competence.

That is, these challenges feel hard, but

doable. Furthermore, learners feeland

get evidencethat their effort is paying off

in the sense that they can see, even when

they fail, how and if they are making

progress.7

An integral component to creating a culture that

facilitates pleasant frustrationis creating a safe

space for feedback so that participants

understand how they can improve.

During the Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins

program, participants develop video captureand editing skills. Program designers and

facilitators construct activities and design task

cards that target these skills. This creates two

scenarios: (1) youth designers will engage in

iterative cycles and critique to understand how

they can improve their City of Ruin videos and

(2) participants who come to the workshop with

prior video capture or editing skills will need to

remain challenged so that they still feel that

sense of intrinsic motivation.

Facilitators as co-

designers

The Hirshhorn and MLI facilitators play animportant role during both the planning

and implementation of programming. The

notion of the facilitator as co-designer

refers specifically to their role during the

workshop, afterschool program, or summer

intensive. In order to further support the

design culture of MLI at the Hirshhorn

programs, faciltators will also engage in

creating their own designs alongside the

participants.

In addition, facilitators will also play key

roles in defining social practices and rituals

in order to shape the culture of the

learning space.

During the Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins

program, facilitators will engage in exploring

specific exhibits at the Hirshhorn Museum,

reflecting on these pieces, and developing an

interpretive about a particular ruin.

Furthermore, facilitators will also integrate their

media into the critique sesssions in order to

elicit feedback from the group.

Table 2. The learning culture: design principles.

7 Gee 19.


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Rituals

Rituals refer to a specific set of social practices that are integral to all MLI at the Hirshhorn engagements.

These consistent procedures play a large role in shaping the learning culture and reinforce the

participants role as designer. These rituals are introduced during the first day of the workshop,

afterschool program, or summer intensive and are seamlessly integrated throughout the duration of the

engagement.

The following table provides an overview of the various characteristics that help to define the rituals that

are an essential part of MLI at the Hirshhorn programs. The Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins

program is the focus of the Example section.

Defining


Community

Circles

Similar to staff meetings that take place in

the professional world, these large group

meetings provide a space for facilitators

and participants to discuss objectives or

design progress, debrief, address

questions, and share ideas or challenges.

For the first few sessions of an 8-week long

afterschool program, participants and

facilitators begin with a community circle. Youthdesigners and facilitators perform an informal

check-in; facilitators address the design

objectives of the day and address any open

questions.

Community circles are integrated throughout

the program in order to provide a dynamic,

diverse vehicle of communication and workflow.

Design Task

Cards

Design Task Cards in MLI at the Hirshhorn

programs fall into two distinct categories:

Skill Building Cards and Content

Understanding Cards. Skilll Building Cards

are a series of cards dedicated to

developing expertise around specific new

media skills. The Content Understanding

Cards develop understanding of a certain

content goal.

Design Task Cards are introduced formally

to offer participants an opportunity to

explore the new media skills and content

understanding foci of the particular

engagement. Once youth designers havean opportunity explore the skills and

content and are ready to follow a particular

pathway in more depth, they will naturally

become invested in this particular skill or

content area.

At this point, the Design Task Cards

assume a more informal role in the

workshop, afterschool program, or summer

Based on the final design task of the Mobile

Video Series: City of Ruins program, the

categories for Skill Building the cards will focus

on Mobile Photo/Video Capture and

Photo/Video Editing. Within each of these

categories, there are three to five cards that

focus on specific student-centered activities,

such as focusing on how to frame a piece of

artwork in the Sculpture Garden in three

different ways or practicing trimming the ends

of a specific video clip in Adobe Premiere

Elements. Participants would post the results of

these activities on the social network; youth

designers and facilitators would engage in a

critique session that focuses on the particular

new media artifact produced.

The Content Understanding cards for this

program may focus on Art Interpretation or

Text Panel Creation. Within the Art

Interpretation category, two to three cards

focus on specific student-centered activities,

such as exploring and discussing Sugimotos


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intensive. Youth designers may select a

Design Task Card to take a break from

what is emerging as their expertise, or they

may select a Design Task Card because

they have completed another activity

before the rest of their team.

Seascapes with a partner or discussing how

color is used similarly in two artworks of their

choice. Participants would post the results of

these activities on the social network; youth

designers and facilitators would engage in a

critique session that focuses on the particular

new media artifact produced.

Community

Design Board

The Community Design Board is a physical

space where youth participants can

visualize the collective progress that they

are making towards achieving the final

design task. Participants use the board to

post ideas, actual designs, and resources.

As the workshop, afterschool program, or

summer intensive begins, youth participants

would post their emergent ideas for the specific

design task on the Community Design Board.

For example, designers in the Mobile Video

Series: City of Ruins program post their ideas

for how they visualize the final exhibit in the

Lerner Room. Participants and facilitators

engage in a Community Circle to discuss the

ideas posted and work towards refining those

ideas into a project plan.

Once the project plan is concrete, the

Community Design Board evolves into a

collective workspace that serves to track

progress and share ideas related to the final

exhibit.

Design Journals

Design Journals are an informal space for

youth participants to take notes on

emergent ideas or questions and to create

sketches or visualizations about their

design tasks. Whereas the Design Journals

are intended to be a more a informal

reflection, idea-generation space, the social

network, in contrast, would serve as a

more formal online environment for youth

designers to post learning reflections and

collaborative feedback.

Participants in the Mobile Video Series: City of

Ruins program use their Design Journals as

theyre developing ideas for the final exhibit as

well as their interpretive video. For example,

youth designers would record their ideas and

sketches for their video in their Design Journal

when they visit the ruinsin the community.

Table 3. The learning culture: rituals.


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From Theory to Practice

The process of effectively actualizing the approach and shaping the learning culture in a program context

is integral to the success of MLI at the Hirshhorn. The program development sequence consists of three

main phases, beginning with the inception of the idea to the culmination of the youth engagement.

The Planning & Preparation phase, which generally occurs four five weeks before implementation, is a

crucial time for developing a framework for how the theoretical elements, outlined previously in this

document, will be realized in the learning space of a workshop, afterschool program, or summer

intensive. During this initial phase, Hirshhorn and MLI staff work together to design curriculum and

materials for the specific learning engagement. With the core characteristics of a design studio model,

the elements of the MLI at the Hirshhorn learning culture, and program-specific details in mind, Hirshhorn

and MLI staff collaborate to develop individual toolkits for each program.

Graphic Illustration 3. MLI Program Development Sequence.

Graphic Illustration 4. The role of the curriculum toolkit.


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The Curriculum Toolkit

The curriculum toolkit reflects how the Hirshhorn and MLI team plan to implement a specific program.

Working together and considering the program-specific elements and constraints such as time, space,

and logistics, the team develops a written set of materials that embodies the MLI at the Hirshhorn

program approach.

For 2010-2011, curriculum toolkits will be designed for the proposed programs to date:

Mobile Video Series: City of Ruins weArt Wiki, Phases I & II Game Design Studio Podcast Tour Series: Collection in Focus iDesign Mobile Video Series: Liquid Alphabet

The following diagram provides an overview of the various components of a curriculum toolkit. Various

elements may be added to the toolkit to accommodate program-specific details.

Conclusion

MLI at the Hirshhorn programming strives to develop spaces for young people to engage in authentic,

transformative learning experiences. Using new media as tools to support this process, MLI at the

Hirshhorn programs use a studio-based approached to engage youth designers in exploring the rich

content at the museum and in developing activities and media for youth visitors. In order to translate this

vision into practice, Hirshhorn and MLI staff work together to develop a series of curriculum toolkits to

codify these ideas into practical experiences for 21st century learners.

Graphic Illustration 5. The components of the curriculum toolkit.

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