Dr Anke Jakob

My teaching practice is committed to pedagogy of the highest level. In my position as a senior lecturer for design within the 3D Department, I have contributed across all levels in terms of teaching, assessments, and evaluations. I embrace interdisciplinary and collaborative working, and approach teaching with empathy and an open mind.

I currently teach on the Sustainable Design and Product & Furniture Design masters courses across all modules supporting the students in their learning through the delivery of workshop-based learning activities, lectures, tutorials, and formative and summative feedback, in particular for following modules:

Design for Social Innovation DE7502 (Module leader) - Design for Social Innovation is the emerging mode of design practice and theory in which Design Thinking is applied to social and societal challenges. Students are introduced to human-centred design research and research methods (including ethnographic design, participatory design), and develop design outcomes based on their research.

Creative Futures DE7301 (Module leader) – This module seeks to enable students to develop an informed approach and clear focus to their future careers as creative practitioners. The first half of the module is dedicated to the Practical Project with students working in interdisciplinary groups across both courses developing projects according to specific live briefs. Here, I co-deliver the Design for Health project, focusing on designing solutions that support and potentially improve people's physical and mental health. The second half of the module centres on developing a detailed proposal for the Major Project that students work on in TB3.

The Major Project DE7302 – During this module students develop their capstone project consolidating the knowledge gained in earlier modules. Informed and supported by prior learning, students produce a body of self-initiated work addressing a range of topics related to sustainability in the broadest sense, demonstrating originality and critical analysis. 

My experience at PhD level includes supervising, examining and interviewing candidates focusing on practice-based research in design. I welcome MRes and PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in areas of sensory design, design for health and wellbeing, therapeutic environments and innovative spaces, social innovation, sustainability, and textile and surface design. However, through my experience in developing research methodologies and delivering research outputs, I believe I can support students within a wide range of design research.

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Courses taught

• Product & Furniture Design MA
• Sustainable Design MA

Broadly interested in sensory design and design for therapeutic environments, my current practice-based research centres on designing for dementia care in particular, investigating the design of sensory enhanced environments and the facilitation of multi-sensory enrichment benefiting people living with dementia their carers (see image gallery below). Collaborating with experts from health science and care for older people, I led the AHRC-funded, interdisciplinary research project "Multi-sensory Environments in dementia care: the role of design" as Principal Investigator. 

• www.kingston.ac.uk/sensoryroom
• www.kingston.ac.uk/research/research-showcase/research-case-studies/sensory-enriched-environments/
• https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/1410/22-oct-2014-kingston-university-design-expert-unveils-new-guide-highlighting-ways-sensory-rooms-can-improve-dementia-care/

Recently, I have become increasingly interested in revisiting experimental digital textiles and advanced material technology to inform sensory design solutions and exploring their potential for design for dementia.

I welcome PhD/ MA by Research applications in the areas listed below. Apart from my expertise, I believe I can be of help to any research student in design through my experience in developing research methodologies and delivering research outputs. I embrace trans-and interdisciplinary and collaborative working, and approach research supervision with empathy and an open mind.

Qualifications

• PhD supervision - applications welcome
• PhD examination

Specialisms

• Design for Health and Wellbeing
• Sensory Design
• Therapeutic Environments and Innovative Spaces
• Social Innovation and Sustainability
• Textile and Surface Design

Scholarly affiliations

• Modern Interior Research Centre (MIRC), Kingston School of Art
• Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research (CAHSCR), Kingston University

My research into design for dementia care has created international impact upon care providers and developers of activity products, as well as on community projects in the UK, transforming the caring environment as well as the dialogue regarding how to best engage people living with dementia. 

The core pathway to impact has been our freely available online publication How to make Sensory Room for people living with dementia – a guidebook (Jakob and Collier, 2014, kingston.ac.uk/sensoryroom/). This unique resource is the first ever guidebook advising on design of MSE for dementia care. It supports carers, care-home staff, and healthcare practitioners by helping them to provide environments appropriate for residents with dementia and their families. As a result, care practitioners and carers are now in a stronger position to support suitable activities and social interaction, thereby helping people with dementia, particularly in later stages, to (re)connect with their environment, regain a sense of purpose, maintain dignity, and reduce isolation.

In 2021, we collaborated with Chinese care provider Tai Kang Healthcare who translated the guidebook into Chinese making it freely available and subsequently benefiting 15 million people living with dementia in China.

On the basis of our research and these achievements, an Impact Case Study was submitted to REF2021.

• https://www.kingston.ac.uk/research/research-showcase/research-case-studies/multi-sensory-environments/