Teaching colour online - Three perspectives from the Arts & Sciences
With: David Briggs (Colour Society of Australia), Saara Pyykkö (Aalto University) & Robin Kingsburgh (York University)
Friday September 30 2022, 3:00-4:20pm Eastern
TALK 1: Dr. David Briggs
Introducing the Elements of Colour
Understanding and Applying Colour was one of the first four Public Programs courses offered online by the National Art School, Sydney, beginning in June 2020. The course covers aspects of colour both specifically relevant to painters using digital or traditional media, and of more general interest to us as human beings. These aspects include the physical, biological, and psychological basis of colour perception, the attributes of perceived colour and the scales used to describe them, basic concepts of colorimetry (which come up again and again elsewhere in the course), artists’ pigments and media,concepts of “colour mixture”, colour and light, and the history of colour science and artistic “colour theory”. David had previously given the course on campus as a five-day workshop and an evening class, both with about equal lecture and practical content. The lecture content translated readily to the online environment, but he soon realized that the best way to conduct the practical component was as optional exercises done outside of class and photographed by the student for feedback at the next session. In his presentation David will give an overview of the course and then illustrate in detail one of the practical exercises.
Bio:
Dr David J. C. Briggs is President of the Colour Society of Australia, Co-chair of the AIC Study Group on Art and Design, and a member of the committee of the AIC/ISCC Colour Literacy Project. His published work includes a major website on modern colour theory for painters, The Dimensions of Colour (launched in 2007), a curated collection of links on all aspects of colour, Colour Online (launched in 2020), a chapter on Colour Spaces in the Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Colour (2020) and various recent AIC, CSA and ISCC conference presentations and webinars. David has taught classes on colour for more than twenty years, including several courses for art and design undergraduates and very numerous courses for the general public, the latest of which is Understanding and Applying Colour, an eight-week online lecture course available through the National Art School, Sydney
TALK 2: Saara Pyykkö
How to convert an experience–based university course about colour, light and space for the web?
The talk considers as a case study an MA-level course at Aalto University (Finland) during the spring term 2021 when the Covid-19 forced all teaching online. All assignments, lectures and virtual excursions were organized only on the web. With over twenty years of experience as a teacher, I wanted to document, evaluate and study, how to do this for the experience-based course named ‘Colour-Light-Space’. The research methods consisted of the documentation of the course and students’ work, a practice-based case study, a questionnaire for the students, and personal notes. The results of the case study can be summed up in three pedagogical principles: 1) New practices and rules of the web-based educational environment, 2) Pedagogical methods for connecting people during the course and 3) Methods for building the experience of colour, light and space for the web. The talk is based on the presentation with the same title at the AIC 2021 conference.
Bio:
Saara Pyykkö is a color researcher, color designer and educator. She is the president of Suomen väriyhdistys (the Finnish Colour Association), and one of its founder members (2002). She studied at Aalto University, graduating with masters’ degrees in both art education and landscape architecture. Her ongoing doctoral research addresses the question of the architectural color-design process of new neighbourhoods, focusing on the detailed planning and design guidelines of new residential areas. The colour design project of the Koivusaari case is documented in Journal of the International Colour Association in 2019. Saara is a member of the Study Group on Environmental Colour Design (ECD) and the Study Group on Colour Education (SGCE) of the International Colour Association (AIC). She has over twenty years teaching experience of colour and/or visual art in different schools and universities. She continues to teach the Colour-Light-Space course at Aalto University.
TALK 3: Dr. Robin Kingsburgh
Developing interactive activities to explore the science of colour
Adapting curricula to an online format is challenging, particularly as there is a loss of the immediate connection with students. On the other hand, there are advantages like being able to reach a larger audience, and for an asynchronous format, allowing students to engage with course material on their own time, best suited to their personal schedule, and at their own pace. The challenge then becomes how to create meaningful learning activities which students find engaging and can do independently. This talk focusses on developing interactive activities to explore the science of colour, which students can explore in their own surroundings and at their own pace.
Bio:
Dr. Robin Kingsburgh is a trained astronomer and painter. Her background in science comes from the University of Toronto (B.Sc.1988) and University College London (Ph.D. in Astronomy, 1992). She worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Baja California at the University of Mexico from 1993-1996. Her painting experience comes from studies in Canada, France and the U.K, and has paralleled her scientific development. She has longstanding interests in the intersections of art, science and education. Robin currently teaches various natural science courses at York University, including Understanding Colour, The History of Astronomy, and The Nature of Time. She has curated numerous shows and events in the Toronto area, featuring artwork inspired by the ideas and methodologies of science. She is Co-President of the Colour Research Society of Canada, a member of the AIC/ISCC Colour Literacy Project, and an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists. Robin’s website is at robinkingsburgh.com.
