At the start of my Action Research Project, I conducted a short questionnaire in the early stages of it’s development, in order to better understand how students think about progression or comprehend my questions (Pew Research Centre, 2024). The responses were transcribed and arranged thematically to draw parallels between responses.
The short survey was designed to research the following questions:
- What might prevent students from coming into the studio?
- Is there anything that would make students feel more welcome or supported in the studio?
The reason for this line of enquiry was to understand if there was anything preventing students from accessing progression workshops and what could be done to create a more inclusive environment for students to attend. The studio environment is consistent throughout the 3 years of BA Illustration and may at times echo those found in professional working environments (Orr and Shreeve, 2017), so it is important for students to feel able to comfortably access the space. Furthermore, the Progression workshops I run aim to prepare the students for a professional world, so understanding how students access the studio is significant for understanding how they may respond to the workshop content.
Through the gathering of answers, it became clear there were many perspectives on the above questions, and these encompassed practical, sensory and psychological issues. They also ranged from being specific to the progression workshops to a wider view on the studio. Orr and Shreeve also noted that :
‘Individual sensory experiences of space affect everyone working in them and may potentially affect learning within the studio, depending on particular local conditions and their impact on individuals.’
(Orr and Shreeve, 2017)
Here is a link to the responses gathered from my Short Questionnaire