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Personal, political, participatory: Zines as active learning and assessment

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conference contribution
posted on 2024-10-04, 08:38 authored by Katharine TerrellKatharine Terrell, Carole Pugh

This presentation was a contribution to the Active Learning Conference 2023, based on the personal reflections of the two authors about using zines in higher education teaching. Zines are informal, self-published booklets that have historically been created by marginalised groups to express their voices. These voices are both personal and political, covering topics as wide as race and racism; queer experiences; countercultural movements; music and feminism - but do they have a place in academia? We argue that - when used thoughtfully - zines can be valuable both as a pedagogical tool and as a form of assessment that can evaluate effectiveness of students' communication. This includes students thinking about their own personal and/or academic journeys in concise, non-linear and/or non-textual ways. However, there are also questions about the appropriateness of zines in (certain areas of) academia, as well as ensuring the process of creating zines is accessible and inclusive to all learners. Having covered some of these issues, this presentation invited the audience to create a page or outline of a zine either on paper or digitally, representing the "journey" of a module or teaching unit - no art skills needed! We then shared and discussed the issues that might arise in using zines in different subject areas.

History

Advance HE Fellowship status

  • Fellowship

Author's role

  • Educational developer

Accessibility status

  • Has passed accessibility checks

Affiliation

University of Glasgow

Date of resource creation

July 2023

Language

English

Learning Resource Type

  • Teaching/Learning Strategy

Target Group or Audience

educators