Alke Gröppel-WegenerDr Alke Gröppel-Wegener's main role is to teach students in creative studio-based disciplines how to research and write - a challenge that she tackles through highly visual and engaged sessions. Depending on the objective of the session, students might find themselves discussing how the reader of their essays could be likened to a polar bear (and the essays to an iceberg), exploring secondary sources by visualising them as sea creatures or understanding the concept of a literature review by thinking about playing cards. Students might also find themselves handling objects from Staffordshire University's research collection, on a treasure hunt or doing a spot of documentary drawing. These, and many more, learning and teaching strategies are part of the innovative and creative approach Alke has developed under the umbrella term of 'tactile academia', which is based on the exploration of the links between academic and creative practice. And it is all for the purpose of making academic conventions accessible to students, effectively done by utilising visual analogies and metaphors, and incorporating object-based learning, thinking-through-making and exploratory writing tasks. Read More Read Less