3 or 4 things I know about the audiovisual essay, or the pedagogical perils of constructive alignment

ABSTRACT

In general terms, this paper situates the audiovisual-essay within current debates about the institutional viability of practice based research and argues that the video-essay as a form can unsettle verities about the relationship between creative play and scholarly knowledge within the university. It also makes a case for adopting an expanded conception of writing informed by Jacques Derrida’s account of grammatology as an integral strategy for legitimating the audiovisual essay as an assessment tool. The paper also contests assumptions about what constitutes effective pedagogy in constructive alignment, a theory of educational measurement currently in-vogue in academic institutions.

KEYWORDS:

• Audiovisual essay
• applied grammatology
• constructive alignment
• screen pedagogy

Notes on contributor

Glenn D’Cruz teaches drama and cultural studies at Deakin University, Australia. He is the author of Sarah Kane’s 4:48 Psychosis (Routledge, 2018) and Teaching Postdramatic Theatre: Anxieties, Aproias and Dispositions (Palgrave, 2018). His work has appeared in journals such as New Theatre Quarterly, Australasian Drama Studies, Thesis 11, Southern Review, Meanjin, Celebrity Studies, Media International Australia, Film-Philosophy and Senses of Cinema. He has been a visiting scholar at the Australian National University (2005) and City University New York (2018). His creative work has been performed and/or exhibited at Federation Square, Melbourne, the RMIT Gallery, Walker Street Gallery, Federation Hall, VCA and the Gertrude Street Gallery in Melbourne.