Play Brings Openness or Using a Creative Approach to Evaluate an Undergraduate Unit and Move Forward Together

Abstract

Within this reflective practice paper, a LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP) intervention will be shared that has been used at a UK higher education institution to evaluate an undergraduate unit during the academic year 2013/14 using a specific tutorial group. Authentic voices and perspectives linked to the LSP experience of the LSP facilitator, the unit tutor and a student linked to the workshop have been included. These have been gathered to provide an insight into the workshop experience and illustrate the value of this approach from three different perspectives for unit evaluation as well as personal and professional development. Within the context of this reflective analysis, LSP enabled opening up, sharing and reflection of the individual and collective student experience and provided a rich insight into the lived student experience. It also had positive side effects for students and the tutor as it helped them get to know each other and strengthen their learning relationship as well as foster community and belonging.Could play and ‘learning by making’ or constructionism (Papert & Harel, 1991) help students reflect on their learning experience and articulate this using their own metaphors that would be of value for the tutor to gain insight for evaluation and renewal of practice? The authors of this paper have put this to the test and share their reflective analysis, which might be of interest to the wider academic community.