In the monthly meetings of this group, participants work with the Design Lector and in close cooperation with the KABK Workshops to develop a pedagogical tool or toolset for use in the workshop, studio or classroom. In the first phase, participants are invited to define parameters and refine their research question in relation to the existing needs within their department and/or the academy at large. Based on this initial inquiry, participating tutors will develop a prototype to be tested out with students, the results of which will be documented and analysed. The insights gained and the (prototype) tools developed in this process will be made available to the wider KABK teaching community.

The Teaching Tools Research Group 2018 was chaired by Alice Twemlow, head of Design Lectorate.

Participants Teaching Tools Research Group 2018

Overview of the participants and their research projects:

Thomas Buxo seeks to develop a pedagogical paradigm through which to resist the limitations of proprietary software suites and to reclaim an intimate relationship with the tools of making, with a particular focus on encouraging deeper acquaintance with the Unix shell, a.k.a. the ‘headless’ command line.

Thomas Buxo KABK Teaching Tools Research Group 2017-2018
Thomas Buxo presenting during Teaching Tools Research Group session

Keywords: digital humanities, code literacy, Unix philosophy, command line, free and open-source software.

Thomas Vailly is building a biopolymer lab for use at KABK, where students can access and share material recipes, consult a materials library and conduct their own biopolymer experiments.

Thomas Vailly - KABK Teaching Tools Research Group 2017-2018
Thomas Vailly presenting during Teaching Tools Research Group session.
Biopolymer samples
Biopolymer samples resulting from experiments by students in Thomas Vailly's’ class.

Keywords: biopolymers, material science, agricultural waste, animal by-products, kitchen-as-lab.

Dienand Christe is developing a team-based structural building game for use in design and architecture education, in which social dynamics play a key role.

Keywords: gamification, simulation, collaboration, social design, modelling, spaghetti.

Daan Brinkman is interested in the underexploited potential of the principles of parametric design (as opposed to its aesthetics) for deployment in automated parameter-based drawing as part of the conceptual stage of the design process.

Keywords: parametric design, algorithms, prototyping, automation, 3D modelling, generative design.