“How can colour be used in teaching materials, both digital and analogue, to improve student lived experience, attention and attainment?”
My name is Julia Redman, I am a lecturer on the BSc and MSc Fashion Management at LCF, Unit Leading on Product Management, Sustainable Design Management & Leadership & Organisation. I also teach on units including Supply Chain Management, Responsible Management and Strategic Brand Management.
I have over 20yrs of experience as a buyer, and latterly, 10yrs as Head of Buying, for a variety of British brands and retailers, bringing the real life, lived experience of a career in the fashion industry into the classroom. As a creative employed in fashion, colour forms a very important element in my daily life – I am a very visual/practical learner, and this project was developed out of my desire to understand better how colour can help bring a greater level of inclusivity to our students learning capability.
Over the past 5yrs as a lecturer at LCF, I have noticed an increase in the level of neurodiversity amongst the students that I am teaching, and this has led me to question many of the processes and common practices that we employ in our teaching, and how we could improve them to help all of our students achieve their goals.
The following charts identify that there are a growing number of students declaring specific learning difficulties, but the greatest increase is coming from students declaring “other or multiple impairments”. The data has limitations in it’s use due to a lack of specifics, however, the implications are that we are seeing greater numbers of students with complex needs and will therefore need to be more pro-active and adaptable in our teaching methods.
UAL Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Report 24/25
The consideration of colour in teaching content is just one way in which, with some small changes, we can create wide ranging impact to drive up attention, concentration and attainment, improving the overall lived experience of both neurodiverse and neurotypical students, including those with multiple, or indeed complex, intersectional requirements.
This Action Research Project will go some way to identifying some of the key issues faced by multiple stakeholders around the university, in relation to the use of colour in teaching materials. The research sought simple solutions, through both primary and secondary research, that can be implemented to resolve some of these issues.