Pedagogy 2025

Abstract

The evolving landscape of the creative arts demands an educational model that cultivates adaptable, collaborative, and ethically engaged practitioners. This presentation offers a case study of the “Creative Collaboration” course, a large-scale, self-organized class of 150-200 students drawn from every design discipline and the fine arts at Massey University. In this model, the teaching team acts as facilitators, empowering students to drive their own learning toward defined pedagogical outcomes. The course’s design is directly aligned with key learning objectives. Students work within multi-disciplinary teams to develop a broad understanding of the discourse of art and design and the relationship between creative work and its audience (Mātauranga and Whanaungatanga). By flipping the classroom, the course shifts the focus to a dynamic, in-studio environment where teams engage in rapid ideation and iterative development to apply exploratory thinking (Toi). This hands-on process culminates in three student-led living expos on campus, which serve as a safe space for live prototyping and data-gathering with the campus community. The assessment methodology is a direct reflection of the course’s core learning outcomes. Students are evaluated based on their ability to demonstrate a broad understanding of context, validate their creative offering through audience testing, and evidence an iterative practice (Mōhio). Most importantly, the assessment is weighted toward the documentation and reflection of in-team and across-section communication, validating the effective and ethical interaction with others (Tūhonohono). The “Creative Collaboration” course provides a scalable, contemporary pedagogical blueprint for fostering collaborative practice and producing graduates who are both conceptually and technically proficient.