Professor Bernadette Blair
Emeritus Professor in Art and Design Pedagogy
Contact
- Email: b.blair@kingston.ac.uk
- Location: Kingston School of Art, Knights Park
- Faculty: Kingston School of Art
- School: School of Design
- Department: Department of Fashion, Department of Graphic Design, Department of Illustration Animation
About
I came to Kingston University in 2001 initially as Director of Undergraduate Programmes in Art, Design & Architecture. Subsequently I worked as Director of Academic Development for Studio-based Learning & Teaching, Acting Head of School of Design and as the course director for the MA Design with L&T in HE. I gained my Doctorate in Education in 2006 and was awarded my professorship in 2012.
I have been an external examiner on both undergraduate and postgraduate design courses in graphic design, illustration, multi-media, fashion design, A&D pedagogic practice here in the UK as well as in Singapore, China and Greece. I continue to supervise and examine PhDs, and course validations internationally. This practice continues to give me a global understanding and currency of design practice, theory and pedagogy. I am actively involved in research projects and PhD supervision at Kingston School of Art and in research at other institutions.
Areas of specialism
- Art and design pedagogy
- Graphic design
- Studio pedagogy
- Assessment and feedback
Qualifications
- Doctor of Education, Institute of Education, University of London
- MA in Art & Design Education, Institute of Education, University of London
- MA Printmaking, Wimbledon School of Art
- BA Graphic Printmaking, Regional College of Art, Bradford
Professional membership
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Research
My research interests focus around the student experience in studio learning and teaching, particularly with an understanding, interpretation and emotional implications of verbal and written feedback and formative and summative assessment on student learning. I am a consultant in design at numerous institutions and continue to widely disseminate and publish my research through publications and keynote presentations, both internationally and in the UK.
Publications
Number of items: 10.
Article
Blair, Bernadette (2011) Elastic minds? Is the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary curriculum equipping our students for the future: a case study. Art, design and communication in higher education, 10(1), pp. 33-50. ISSN (print) 1474-273X
Blair, Bernadette (2006) 'At the end of a huge crit in the summer, it was “crap” – I’d worked really hard but all she said was “fine” and I was gutted'. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 5(2), pp. 83-95. ISSN (print) 1474-273X
Book
Blair, Bernadette (2010) Perception, interpretation, impact: an examination of the learning value of formative feedback to students through the design studio critique. Saarbrucken, Germany : LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing AG & Co. KG. 89p. ISBN 9783838388342
Book Section
Blair, Bernadette, Cummings, Alan, Dunbar, Tim, Hayward, David and Woodman, John (2008) BAU-WOW! A model for creative practice, thinking, learning, research and innovation in the 21st Century. In: Drew, Linda, (ed.) The student experience in art and design higher education: drivers for change. Cambridge, U.K. : Jill Rogers Associates Limited. pp. 65-98. ISBN 0954711173
Conference or Workshop Item
Renton, Lucy, Stott, Laura and Blair, Bernadette (2016) Clarity and consisitency: improving assessment and feedback for students with Dyslexia, extended version. In: TeachMe training programme for Moldovan University Academics; , John Galsworthy Building, Kingston Univerisity, London.
Renton, Lucy, Blair, Bernadette [Author in quotations or text extracts], Stott, Laura [Author in quotations or text extracts] and Ungley, Portia [Author in quotations or text extracts] (2016) Clarity and consistency: improving assessment and feedback for students with Dyslexia. In: Inspire – sharing great practice in Arts and Humanities teaching and learning; 03-04 Mar 2016, Brighton, U.K..
Blair, Bernadette (2012) 'It's just very vague so I kind of didn't spend too long on it explaining things. So I just moved on because there's nowhere else to put what you actually think.' How do art and design students understand and interpret the questions in the National Student Survey? In: Educational Research Forum; 15 Jun 2012, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Renton, Lucy [Research team member], Postle, Paul [Research team member], Gale, Cathy [Research team member] and Blair, Bernadette [Research team head] (2012) Presentation on Open Educational Resources in FADA. In: Practising Open Education: developing the potential of open educational resources in art, design & media; 15 Sep 2012, Kingston upon Thames, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Blair, Bernadette (2011) An examination of student formative assessment and face to face feedback in studio-based design education & its relationship to students' learning expereinces. In: 2011 DEFSA Conference: 20/20 Design Vision; 7-9 Sep 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Blair, Bernadette (2007) Perception of self and its impact on verbal formative feedback in design education. In: FLUX: Design education in a changing world; 03 - 05 Oct 2007, Cape Town, South Africa. (Unpublished)
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