My project brief was to participate in the academic processes at NIFT as a faculty, to study the relevance and scope of existing curricula, and to incorporate design and innovation in the process of educational learning and teaching.
This project was conducted at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad from August 2007 to March 2008. My role in this project was that of a faculty member for the fashion and apparel design department. Subjects undertaken were pattern making (technical), fashion studies and history of design (theoretical). To meet this objective, an in-depth study of subjects was prescribed in the syllabus. Contextualization of the subjects and topics to understand the scope of learning, development and application of the same was done through informal interviews and feedback from former students, industry professionals and academicians.
Improvisation of the curriculum included re-aligning core objectives, choosing an appropriate pedagogy, course content, evaluation methods and stating the desired outcomes of the course. Strategic design involved formulating primary objectives after careful consideration of the limitations present and desired outcomes. The strategy needed to be flexible to incorporate constructive feedback and technological developments.
The execution stage involved providing briefs to students stating desired results and learning, processes involved and method for evaluation. The next stage was to supervise the activities, evaluate and provide constructive feedback. Feedback from students was imperative to realign micro issues with macro objectives. Redesigning of assignments was done according to the level of progress achieved, areas that needed more attention, core objectives of the course subjects and continuous feedback.
The project resulted in the development and partial execution of the curriculum designed. My experience included a deeper understanding of the process of learning, teaching vs. facilitating, knowledge vs. experience, outcomes vs. process and many related issues.
