Talking to Art and Design Students at Home: Evaluating the Differences in Student Engagement Online

In 2020, because of a pandemic and the subsequent necessary and immediate pivot to online and distance education, physical art and design studio learning dispersed and instantly became (and, it can be argued, irreversibly) remote via a range of university-approved digital platforms. This article examines a study conducted after distance education had been universally implemented in one college of art in Australia. The data analysis highlighted inconsistency across art and design student engagement. Generally, students who were situated in the later years of their degree programmes fared better than first year students new to the processes, practices and socialisation of studio learning. This article evaluates the differences in student engagement online and proposes strategies for reflective teaching when interacting with students remotely.

Automated summary

The study reveals inconsistencies in student engagement in art and design under distance education, with later-year students performing better than newcomers. The article proposes strategies to address the challenges of remote teaching to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.