Playful Acculturation to University Using LEGO Serious Play

CHEF talk by Chad Habel.

Oplysninger om arrangementet

Tidspunkt

Torsdag 5. april 2018,  kl. 14:30 - 15:30

Sted

CUDIM Aarhus: Building 1483, room 656. DPU Emdrup: Room B101a.

If University represents a separate academic environment, culture, or 'habitus', this provides significant challenges for individuals entering the space. This is especially true if they have limited or negative experiences of formal education, which means that they may lack the skills, self-efficacy, or sense of belonging required to succeed in their studies.

Australian universities deliver Foundation Programs designed to assist in this transition, but these programs often focus on discipline-specific knowledge or technical skills, which while necessary may not be sufficient.

Drawing on academic literacies, complex system theory and playful learning approaches, this action research project provides 'acculturation' workshops to both experienced and new students using the LEGO Serious Play method and materials in order to help students articulate their own sense of apprehension and fears around being at University.

It also aims to connect them with others, help them to articulate their future or projected selves later in their studies and professional lives, and as promote nuanced conversations about academic culture and what is needed to adjust to it. As well as gathering data on this process of acculturation, the project offers unique methodological insights around the analysis of visual and potentially haptic data.

About Chad Habel

Chad Habel has a PhD in Literary Studies and has worked in student and academic development in higher education for over 10 years. He currently leads the course design of fully-online courses for the University of South Australia's UniSA Online project, runs Game Truck Australia, a mobile video game arcade for children's birthday parties, and also TeamForge, which provides facilitated workshops using the LEGO Serious Play method. He is deeply interested in the future of the university in a post-industrial era, and what this means for individuals operating within the complex systems of academic culture.

The talk is arranged by the Centre for Higher Education Futures.