Hear from Lecturer Dr Chloe Xingyu Tao about the degree show
How has your teaching experience been so far this year?
This year teaching has been really great for me because it is a really small group this year. So we can provide a lot more attention to every single student to get them through the whole process. Compared to last year, we have half of the number of students and we have the same amount of staff. So they can have a lot more feedback and we can just keep going back and forth with their idea making and developing. So yeah, I feel like this year I could give a lot more of my attention to the students.
What is your perspective on students making mistakes?
They are allowed to make mistakes and they can learn from their mistakes. So as long as they reflect on their mistakes and they can develop from that, I see this process as a really great journey.
How do you feel about students submitting their final work in the Degree show?
I don't have a kid, but to see their work be presented in the Degree Show feels like to see your kids finally grow up and present themselves to the world. So that's my feeling about seeing their final work.
Why do you think you feel this way?
Because we are very close to the students' work. We work with them for the whole year and see them go from the idea, to development, then the final model. As we are so close to the project, it's actually really exciting to see the public also see that from a fresh perspective. That's why its really exciting.
How do you prepare the students for the degree show?
To present to us is sometimes a lot easier for them because they are familiar with us. So they just chat with us while presenting. We also prepare them throughout the year and have multiple different presentations which can be either formal or informal. So they can actually get their minds on their presentation skills to get interviews, to present their ideas to public and to different companies. As the Degree Show will be the first step for them to actually connect with the public, we really want them to be prepared to actually not be able to only design, but also convey their design ideas and their creative minds to everyone else.