Transmedial Projects, Scholarly Habitus, and Critical Know-How in a British University in China

Abstract

'Transmedial' education programs are still in their infancy, and what conceptual shifts they require to function and whether they aid in learning and teaching continues to be up for debate. This article evaluates employing a 'transmedial project' assessment and incorporating 'transmedia pedagogies' to assist students to become creators of knowledge within the cultural milieu of a British University situated in Mainland China. The 'Transmedial Projects' are inspired by Transmedia Storytelling, which media scholar Henry Jenkins defines as "the unfolding of stories across multiple media platforms, with each medium making distinctive contributions to our understanding of the world" (2006, 293). This article primarily interrogates group discussions among teaching staff, which draw on participant observation notes (gathered between 2014 - 2016). Student Evaluation of Modules (SEM) and Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) commentary also inform the discussion, as do two focus groups with students. We will also discuss the culturally-specific 'scholarly habitus' and move towards 'critical know-how' which were the conceptual starting points that inform the transmedial approach which we employed. We subsequently explore a number of issues and benefits which we felt arose from our implementation of this transmedial approach. For example, while some students 'reverse-engineered' projects to fit taught theories and perpetuate a tradition of teacher-led training, there was also the emergence of more autonomous learning accomplished by 'thinking through making'.