Staff Profiles

Areas of Expertise

Late 19th Century and early 20th Century design and decorative arts in England and Australia, The history of design education in England and Australia in the 19th and early 20th Century, Pop art in Australia in the 1960s, Higher education curriculum development and teaching methodologies, online teaching and learning, elearning, learning style modalities, visual literacy, visual memory, semantic comprehension and Cognitive load theory.

Teaching Areas

History and theory of design from Industrial Revolution to 21st Century, History and theory of the applied and decorative arts from ancient cultures to the end of the 20th Century, Art Administration.

Research Supervision

Degree:	Project:	Status:
MArtAdminHons	Every other Year: ways to contribute, communicate and collaborate in the arts online	Current
PhDArtTHeory	Australia's Greek Textile Heritage: the desirability and ability of State museums to be inclusive of diverse cultures through the reconciliation of public policies with private and community concerns.	Completed

Current Research Activity

Focuses on teaching and learning in higher education, my research concentrates on the area of visual literacy, learning style modalities and the application of Cognitive load theory toward improving instructional design for the long term retention of knowledge.

Publications

Books

Rourke A.J & O'Connor Z, , 2010 , Effective use of visuals to promote Learning in Higher Education , NY , Nova Science Publications .

Book Chapters

Rourke, A. (1998). Australian landscape painting. Viewpoints: Visual arts case studies. (25 - 38). Port Melbourne, Rigby Heinemann.

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (in press). Examining ways of improving the use of visual material in teaching in higher education. Developments in Higher Education. ( - ). NY, Nova Science Publications.

Rourke, A. (2000). Entry: William Arthur Byram Mansell. Australian Dictionary of Bibliography, Vol.15, 1940-1980 (Kem- Pie) . (299 - 299). Melbourne, Melbourne University Press.

Rourke, A.J. (in press). ‘Lucie Emilie Shorter’. The Australian Dictionary of Biography. ( - ). Melbourne, Melbourne University Press.

Refereed Journal Articles

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (in review). ‘Look before you leap: testing assumptions on visual literacy and predominate learning style modalities of undergraduate design students in Australia and New Zealand. International Journal of Learning, (). ( - ).

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (2009). Investigating Visual Literacy Levels and Predominant Learning Modality Among Undergraduate Design Students in Australia. Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal , (3;2). (17 - 28).

Rourke, A.J. Sweller, J. (2009). The worked-example effect using ill-defined problems: Learning to recognise designers’ styles. Learning and Instruction, (19;2). (185 - 199).

Rourke, A.J. Coleman, K.S. (2009). Interactive and Collaborative Learning in an elearning environment. The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge & Society, (5;1 ). (169 - 182).

Rourke, A.J.. Coleman, K.S.. Mendelssohn, J. Allen, B. (2008). Did I tell you its anonymous? The triumphs and pitfalls of online peer review. ASCILITE, (2008). (NPN - ).

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (2008). I can see it but I don’t understand it!: Investigating visual literacy skills and learning styles in Higher Education design history students. International Journal of the Humanities, (6). (1 - 10).

Rourke, A.J. (2008). To be or not to be a visually literate design student. Design Principles and Practice: An International Journal, (2;1). (49 - 55).

Rourke, A.J. Mendelssohn, J. Coleman, K.S. (2008). Peer Review and the Coursework Postgraduate student: Two case Studies from the Master of Art Administration at COFA, UNSW. The International Journal of Learning, (14;12). (7 - 12).

Published Articles

Rourke, A. (2000). Afternoon Tea with Lulu: An historical perspective of late 19th century designer education. Current Issues in Craft, Design and Industry Designing Minds Symposium, (). (75 - 78).

Reinhard (nee Rourke), A. (1995). Australian Pop Art - A Phenomenon?. Art Voice, (1:1). (22 - 23).

Refereed Conference Papers

Rourke, A.J. (2007). Cognitive load theory, visual literacy and teaching design history. ConnectEd 2007 International Conference on Design Education, (UNSW, Sydney.

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (2009). Recommendations for intervention in the visual domain: a study of undergraduate design student's visual literacy and predominate learning modalities.. ACUADS, Queensland College of Art Griffith University in Brisbane.

Rourke, A.J.. Coleman, K.S. (2009). Interactive and collaborative learning in a e-learning environment: Using the peer review process to teach writing and research skills to Postgraduate students. Technology 09, 5th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge and Society, Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (2009). ‘Visual Literacy and Predominate Learning Modality among design students in Australia: The challenge for educators’. Design 09, 3rd International Conference on Design Principles and Practice, Technology University Berlin, Germany.

Rourke, A.J.. Coleman, K.S. Mendelssohn, J. Allen, B. (2008). Did I tell you its anonymous? The triumphs and pitfalls of online peer review. ASCILITE 2008, Deakin University, Melbourne.

Rourke, A.J. (2008). ‘To be or not to be a visually literate design student, does teaching design history mean teaching visually literacy skills?. Design Conference 08, 2nd International Conference on Design Principles and Practice, University of Miami Conference Centre, Florida, USA.

Rourke, A.J. (2008). ‘It’s more than just identify, its comprehending! Developing visual literacy skills within a design history curriculum in higher education. 15th International Conference on Learning, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA.

Rourke, A.J. O'Connor, Z. (2008). ‘I can see it but I don’t understand it! Integrating visual literacy skills with domain specific knowledge in a higher education design history curriculum. 6th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Faith University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Rourke, A.J. (2007). ‘Worked examples and how to recognize designer styles’. International Conference on Cognitive Load Theory, School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW, Accelerated Learning Laboratory, Faculty of Business, UNSW.

Rourke, A.J. (2007). The application of Cognitive Load Theory towards teaching design history in Higher Education. Interview, Catalyst, ABC, 26th July,

Rourke, A.J. Coleman, K.S. Mendelssohn, J. (2007). ‘Peer review and the Postgraduate coursework student’. E-Learning Symposium 2007, RMIT, Melbourne.

Rourke, A.J.. (2007). Teaching novices design history via worked examples. 10th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference, (QUT, Brisbane.

Rourke, A.J. (2005). ‘Cognitive load theory and the use of worked examples in design history to teach novice learners to recognize distinctive characteristics of a designer’s work’. NSWIER Postgraduate Research Conference, Macquarie University.

Rourke, A.J. (2001). ‘Transfer–printed china and it’s role towards National identity in Australia. National Gallery of Australia,

Rourke, A.J. (2000). Afternoon tea with Lulu: An historical perspective of a model of designer-maker practice and its relationship to retailing and manufacturing. Current Issues in Craft, Design and Industry, Designing Minds Symposium, University of South Australia: Adelaide.

Rourke, A.J. (1997). ‘Art & Corporate Identity’. Objects of Belonging International Conference at the State Library of NSW, organised by the Research Centre in Intercommunal Studies,

Professional Associations

Embroiders Guild of NSW
Lecturer

Porcelain Art Society of Australia
Lecturer