Fostering independent animation learners through an inclusive, scaffolded pedagogy

Authors

  • Oliver Gingrich University of Greenwich
  • Ryan Flynn University of Greenwich
  • Julie Watkins University of Greenwich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v18i1.1548

Abstract

In United Kingdom (UK) higher education (HE), there are systematic challenges to integrating theory with practice and thus supporting learners to become confident and self-motivated professionals in the creative industries. The pedagogical issues that we are addressing aim at creating independent learners in animation practices throughout our student body. This case study profiles our inclusive approach to education across three levels: on a micro-level, we present a personalised approach to tutorials and feedback; on a meso-level, we developed targeted instruments for dissertation support; on a macro-level, we refined our curriculum to become more integrated, scaffolded and inclusive.

Our multi-layered support strategy embraces individual student voices, tacit knowledge and the sense of ‘mattering’. Specific focus is given to students with additional learning needs. Our paper illustrates the success of our student-centred approach. Our method yielded significant results including the 100% success rate of our graduates. By imparting this scaffolded personal support approach, we intend to make our teaching and support practices more accessible to other educators.

Author Biographies

Ryan Flynn, University of Greenwich

Ryan Flynn is a Principal Lecturer in Games and Multimedia Technologies with a strong research interest in all aspects of games and education. He is especially interested in the use of games in education to replace or augment existing teaching and learning and believes that technology will become a much more integrated part of education in the near future.

Julie Watkins, University of Greenwich

Julie started her career as a motion graphic designer and animator at Spitfire Television, which was owned by the founder of Molinare. Over the next 20 years she went on to work as lead creative in motion graphics and visual effects for a number of prestigious post-production facilities in Soho and later in Manhattan. She designed concepts and storyboards and was in charge of technical direction and shoot supervision, leading animation teams, creating motion graphics and visual effects for commercials, broadcast graphics, music videos and films.

She began teaching Advanced Flint/Flame part-time at New York University whilst continuing to work in post-production. In 2006 she joined the University of Greenwich and set up and ran a film and television degree in partnership with the BBC. She has designed and delivered moving image courses for practice-led students of film, television, animation and digital-media. Her focus is on the ever-evolving relationship between new forms of moving image, new approaches and technologies and the creative industries.

Julie's qualifications include: PhD Composing Visual Music from an Animator’s Perspective, FHEA Higher Education, MA in Graphic Design (Distinction), and BA(Hons) 3D Design.

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Published

09/24/2025

How to Cite

Gingrich, O., Flynn, R., & Watkins, J. (2025). Fostering independent animation learners through an inclusive, scaffolded pedagogy. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v18i1.1548

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Case Studies

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Oliver Gingrich, Ryan Flynn, Julie Watkins

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