Active Learning Activities in a Collaborative Teacher Setting in Colours, Design and Visualisation

Abstract

We present our experience with developing active learning activities in a collaborative teacher setting, along with guidelines for teachers to create them. We focus on developing learner skills in colours, design, and visualisation. Typically, teachers create content before considering learning tasks. In contrast, we develop them concurrently. In addition, teaching in a collaborative setting (where many teachers deliver or produce content) brings its own set of challenges. We developed and used a set of processes to help guide teachers to deliver appropriate learning activities within a theme that appear similarly structured and can be categorised and searched in a consistent way. Our presentation and experience of using these guidelines can act as a blueprint for others to follow and apply. We describe many of the learning activities we created and discuss how we delivered them in a bilingual (English, Welsh) setting. Delivering the learning activities within a theme (in our case, colours) means that it is possible to integrate a range of learning outcomes. Lessons can focus on, for instance, skill development in mathematics, physics, computer graphics, art, design, computer programming, and critical thought. Furthermore, colour is a topic that can motivate: it sparks curiosity and creativity, and people can learn to create their own colourful pictures, while learning and developing computing skills.