The aim of this paper is to contribute to the concept of design literacy by exploring what itmeans to learn design literacy through making. To support my argumentation, I draw on acase study where I followed two student teachers of design and craft as they learneddesign literacy through woodworking. Due to Covid-19, the learning environment waslocated at the students’ homes rather than the design and craft studio at the university. Tworesearch questions guide the case study: What stories does the student recall from learningwoodworking and what do these stories provide that are relevant for learning designliteracy? Three ‘making’ stories are presented from the case study: (1) Making with theunknown, (2) Making alone educationally, and (3) The affective and embodied making. Thesestories provide numerous making skills that are relevant when teaching and learning fordesign literacy, which is further discussed in the paper.Keywords
She emphasises that Sellers video is 40-minutes long but Sellers had not edited the video, which gave her an understanding of how much time it takes to make one dovetail joint. She says,
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International Journal of Art & Design Education published by National Society for Education in Art and Design and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 7 H o f v e r b e r g 14768070, 0, Downloaded from by National Health And Medical Research Council, Wiley Online Library on [15/04/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions ( on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 8 It was so cool . . . or actually, I was completely drowned afterwards, as the video was 40 minutes long. But that was also the exact amount of time it takes /. . ./ If I had not seen him do it, only the shorter clips, then I might have thought that the time it takes decreases with experience. (Student 1, Interview 2) H o f v e r b e r g
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What is interesting here is her realisation about the time it takes, regardless of ones amount of experience. Even when you are very experienced, like Paul Sellers, making a dovetail takes 40 minutes. She continues to talk about how she learnt to be careful. She says, I have to do a tiny cut, turn it over, do a tiny cut, turn and so forth to be able to keep focus (Student 1, interview 2). She continues to explain how she has learnt where the critical moments are and what you need to do to make it perfect, as well as her limitations. One such insight is not to do it all in one take: If I should make one of these joints, then I must be very careful and take a little at time. If you hit too hard, it will break. So, I really have to concentrate (Student 1, interview 2) and make it in steps to be able to keep focus.
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Student two also expresses how he paid attention to how to make the joints and that these moments were the most critical moments in the craft process. Unlike the rst student, making a prototype in wallpaper worked for him and, based on his previous experience of woodworking, he understood what the critical moments could be. The 3D prototype thus became his educational input: I have never done an automation before, but I have made many mistakes while woodworking, and as I did the 3D prototype I could see that there were two critical moments. The rst thing is to make a hole here, in the end of the wood, which is critical as it easily breaks, and the second thing is how (Student 2, interview 2) to make the joints by using a chisel.
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