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University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: Textile Analysis and WebCT
5/30/2003
By Mary M. Botkin, Dr. Karen LaBat & Dr. Brad Hokanson
There is a new spin to accessing visual information and innovative study tools in the textile analysis course taken by Clothing and Interior Design and Retail Merchandising students in the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel at the University of Minnesota. Course materials and interactive tools were developed and put onto a WebCT site to make it easier for students to develop the conceptual and visual skills that are required for success in the course. The course prepares students for careers in design and retail with detailed knowledge of the processes and materials used in producing textiles that are the major components of many clothing and interior products. The course includes traditional lectures and labs with hands-on experience including examination of natural and synthetic fibers and typical textile structures along with experiments such as fiber chemical solubility and burn tests. The course is organized around the concept of the textile equation, which includes the variables of fibers, yarns, structures, and finishes, each unit building upon the former.
Visual Dictionary
The project was initially developed to provide students with online resources
that were normally only available during lab hours. Mary Botkin, the graduate
student who taught lab sessions for two years, began the project with the idea
that she would reproduce the materials needed to study for the final exam. According
to Botkin, "During the exam, students are required to identify magnified images
of textile structures using stereoscopic microscopes and real fabric swatches.
For study outside of class students have a limited number of textile samples
in their lab book and they don't have access to the scopes." To aid in student
opportunities to learn course materials outside of class, a digital textile
swatch set was developed. Using a magnifying lens, 120 textiles were photographed
and then arranged by structural category to provide a visual dictionary for
students. The textile images mimic the final exam set-up by using a magnification
similar to that used by students taking the exam.
A Picture Tells a Thousand Words
The second phase of development was made possible when Botkin, Dr. Karen LaBat,
professor for the course, and Dr. Brad Hokanson, assistant professor in Graphic
Design, received a "Technology Enhanced Learning Grant" from the Digital Media
Center at the University of Minnesota. The grant program initiated in 1998 encourages
innovation in developing and implementing new teaching and learning methods
by using technology. To expand the site, WebCT, which is currently used in 749
(15.7 percent) courses at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campuses,
was chosen as the platform. WebCT provides the site with password protection
and a format for automatically graded practice quizzes. Three new study tools
were added to the practice swatch set to improve students' visual skills and
conceptual understanding of course materials. The tools include practice quizzes,
"textile product zooms," and weaving animations.
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