Object-based learning

Object-based learning engages students in evaluating books as objects, rather than just by their textual content. As a pedagogical practice, object-based learning was developed by museum educators who sought to shift learning beyond looking at artifacts and reading labels to employing object handling that would prompt critical inquiry and motivate curiosity. The print book, specifically the codex, punctuates realness through its ability to be a tangible object that a reader inevitably encounters with all their senses. Books as objects emphasize how design contextualizes content, examining how physical characteristics suggest meaning.

Western educational practice favors the mind, as knowledge, over the body, as experience. Sight is the empowered sense ‘associated with reason, detachment, objectivity.’^{Reference Cox1} Students often have little or no opportunity to critically examine and learn from tangible objects. Especially now, text-based information becoming digital has bolstered ‘blindness to the body.’² Library science enforces this rationalistic approach through sight-based information use and encouraging engagement with the written word through silent, solitary reading. David Nguyen and Jay Larson refer to this as ‘learning from the neck up.’^{Reference Nguyen and Larson3}

When learning through use of all the senses, student bodies are as engaged as their minds. Embodied or somatic learning involves physical action and the use of senses to create knowledge. Somatic is of or about the body, separate from the mind; embodied is of or about the body, with an emphasis on emotions. Through bodily engagement, learners take an active role in creating knowledge.

Though object-based learning is a teaching practice of museum educators, Scott Paris acknowledges that ‘learning about, with, and through objects’ embraces philosophies of experiential and embodied pedagogy as well as overlaps with anthropology and psychology.^{Reference Paris4} Museums encourage visitors to engage with artifacts and exhibitions by bringing ‘their prior knowledge and experience’ in order to ‘challenge accepted narratives’ and invite critical self-reflection.^{Reference Barton and Willcocks5} Handling objects has been shown to assist the learner in better developing three-dimensional knowledge than using sight alone.^{Reference Gail Jones6} Furthermore, when using touch, retention and recall of information can be nearly 90%, a benefit that cannot yet be replicated by digital reproduction.^{Reference Barlow and Mcdonnell7}

A physical object is easily defined because it has real and visible boundaries that help one focus on what is pertinent to learning. Exploring object-based learning with university students, Cheung-On Tam comments that they ‘could decide where to touch, when to stop and how to handle the object. This is very different from being told what to do.’^{Reference Tam, Chatterjee and Hannan8} The student becomes an active participant in their own learning. This sense of control over the process can heighten curiosity and motivation to learn.^{Reference Helen and Hannan9}

Books as objects

The print book initiates embodied learning. Thomas McLaughlin writes,

We can literally grasp and control information, using tactility and somatic experience to understand abstract concepts.^{Reference Sonneveld and Lomme11} In this manner, the book is more than a mere container for textual information, but also an object situated within social, cultural, and aesthetic contexts. Philip Smith points out,

Now, with rapid developments in electronic media, we can make a choice ‘to treat the printed book as an active cultural agent rather than a passive container.’^{Reference Schaefer, Starre, Schaefer and Starre13} Studying the book as an object considers not only the text as subject, but the font and typography along with other tactile materials such as paper and cover design. This approach affirms a book’s ‘auratic materiality’ that can only be experienced sensorially.^{Reference Clark14} Physical books also carry an emotional weight. Many religious practices regard their texts as sacred, and this cultural attribution of spiritual significance seems to permeate all book objects.^{Reference Roll15} Both its tangible presence and divine energy is what gives the book cultural permanence.¹⁶ Heike Schaefer and Alexander Starre conclude, ‘to read printed books, and not just to read in printed books, is therefore a significant shift in perspective’ (emphasis mine).¹⁷

To interact with a print book is to interact with two bodies, the reader’s and the object’s. The language of the book object reminds of this, applying terminology like spine, body (of text), header, and footnote or appendix.^{Reference Littau18} The ratio of a typical page is similar to the human hand, described by Alberto Manguel as ‘a skeleton supporting the skin of the text.’^{Reference Manguel, Stoicheff and Taylor19} Through time, the page has been made of and bound in skin. Allison Muri notes that eras of humanity have also used the book as metaphor for the body and that ‘the human mind has traditionally been presented as a writing surface.’^{Reference Muri, Stoicheff and Taylor20} The embodiment of the book, both its tangible and spiritual bodies, may allude to the cultural panic over the rise of the electronic text which is ‘charged by the potential redundancy of the human body and loss of our humanity.’²¹

Thomas McLaughlin reminds us that,

Book designers receive a dummy mockup from the binder company that mimics the size and material choices. This gives the designer the opportunity to consider the book as an object, prior to engaging with the book’s textual content.^{Reference Hochuli and Kinross23} These design choices are important because, as we read text in different formats, such as a miniature holy book or an oversized coffee table book, we practice postures in response to size and weight. For example, Briony Anne Carlin suggests that oversized books may be ‘less pleasurable’ for some; one of Carlin’s female respondents described ‘“unnecessarily large” books as a statement of phallic aggression,’ voicing sex and gender identities in material choice.²⁴

Today’s codex amplifies three elements of the page: its materiality, its architecture as exemplified by the arrangement of text and image, and its symbolism inherent in the former two elements, or how materiality and architecture mirror cultural practices.²⁵ Charles Spence notes ‘salient sensory characteristics’ of the page through use of different paper textures, either consistent throughout the text block or varied to indicate shifts in textual subject.^{Reference Spence26} Paper and print quality are also material factors of the page that affect reader engagement with text and images as well as contribute to social notions of value.^{Reference Hildebrand-Schat, Bazarnik and Schulz27} Because the page is never viewed in isolation, but paired, ‘we are always aware, peripherally, of what is to come and what has come before, of the past and future of reading.’^{Reference Dagenais, Stoicheff and Taylor28} Time passing is visual, marked by both the speed of the reader, influenced by the book’s design of text and image, and the accumulation of pages on the left, in rhythm with a lessening of them on the right.

These physical characteristics carry social significance, particularly related to an object’s perceived quality and monetary value.²⁹ Material worth is also denoted by a cover’s imagery and typography which ‘serve to communicate symbolically, on an almost emotional level, about the tone of the contents.’³⁰ Besides engaging touch and sight, the scent of a book may also be just as important in value judgement.^{Reference Sjöberg, Keskinen and Karhumaa31} These physical elements, and our bodily engagement with those elements, also serve as ‘contextual cues’ that aid ‘people in remembering, or in making the information salient.’^{Reference Lueg and Twidale32}

Learning with books as objects

Object-based learning methods are already used in instruction for archives and special collections. Given the benefits of critically analyzing content with consideration to physical form, why not extend object-based learning practices to other print collections? Handling books without the use of scroll bars or search-and-find shortcuts forces a slowness in the reader and a closeness with the object. Robin Phillips suggests a slow pedagogical practice may advocate ‘pushing back against the values of a society increasingly designed on cost-benefit models.’^{Reference Phillips33}

Browse

A key practice for learning about books as objects is browsing. ‘Browsing is primarily interactive and collaborative with the information source or system’ and can therefore be a good introductory activity to library collections.^{Reference Rice, McCreadie and Chang34} Amanda Clark describes the performative behavior of moving through a library, inviting students to think of themselves as enacting the role of the scholar to help them become more comfortable with the library as a place for research and contemplation.^{Reference Clark35} Comparing browsing the stacks to browsing the Internet will aid students in realizing they already engage in browsing behavior.^{Reference Fawley, Gluibizzi and Glassman36} It may also be compared to in-store browsing, such as a grocery store, where similar items are shelved together.

Woodall suggests using the term ‘rummaging’ instead — ‘more an imaginative instinct, rummaging is inspired purely by curiosity.’^{Reference Woodall, Helen and Hanna37} This invites students to be open to new ideas and pursue interests without a known objective. For instance, students may notice that books about agriculture and landscape are often green. Or they may begin to recognize a specific publisher in their field by the design of the book cover and spine. ‘Books meant for architects often look different from books for scholars of seventeenth-century European history.’^{Reference Hendel38} Learning about libraries by walking throughout the space with attention to book qualities such as color, texture, and smell encourages learners to take agency within the space and build their confidence as researchers. In addition, these physical objects act as ‘spatial cues [that] aid later memory recall of the information.’^{Reference Rice39}

Question

Object-based learning ‘must challenge students to move beyond their mental models of objects and the role they play’ in constructing meaning of the world around us.^{Reference Dimmock, Totleben and Birrell40} A basic visual literacy exercise gives learners the foundational skills necessary to shoulder this challenge and understand the book as an object. Jules David Prown describes three methods of inquiry useful for any material culture artifact.^{Reference Prown41} In description or observation we ask ‘what can we see?’ and engage with the physical book. This observation can sometimes include subjective knowledge about the learner’s emotional reaction to or immediate judgements of the book. A novice may find it helpful to observe in comparison, such as how two different book objects treat the same subject. Starting simply with conversation about what is easily noticeable allows students to become engaged and confident. It is often an opportunity to voice concern about research, libraries, and scholarly reading. By viewing the book as an object, learners can also objectify their information anxiety.

Next, deduction introduces the object in relation to the world, including the learner, who asks ‘what do we know?’ Specifically, deduction includes sensory engagement and ‘consideration should be given to the physical adjustments a user would have to make to its size, weight, configuration, and texture.’⁴² This requires the learner to be mindful of their own embodied participation in the practice. By taking time to examine the book as a manufactured object, students concentrate on elements that indicate ‘issues relating to consumer preferences, changing tastes and ethics.’^{Reference Hardie, Helen and Hanna43} Finally, learners speculate based on what has been described and deduced by determining what questions about the world might be answered by the book.⁴⁴ Learners consider not just the subject of the text, but the production of the book in a particular cultural timeframe and through their personal identities. The questions posed are then more likely to be situated within a broader discipline, society, and time period. Tabitha Tuckett and Elizabeth Lawes refer to this practice as ‘“object literacy” for books.’^{Reference Tuckett and Lawes45} In this socially constructed activity, students reflect on their own personal experience and lead the activity. Hardie observes that ‘the objects are required to talk to the students rather than the lecturer’s transmission of facts.’⁴⁶

Create

Deeper engagement with print books might also come from studying each item’s social history. This could look like visualizing a book’s circulation over time or examining the book for traces of patron use such as marginalia or conditional wear from being held. Emphasizing situational awareness of library books helps students place themselves in a larger, and ongoing, community of scholars, noticing disciplinary and curricular trends through time. Conversations grounded in visual literacy aid learners in becoming aware of their physical relationship to the book and how this informs inquiry and curiosity in research.

This may be further extended by borrowing a lesson from Ilene Raynes and Naomi Heiser’s work with print maps. They asked students to design the best and worst versions of a map by using features found within their collection such as typographic features and decorative design elements. Such an activity brings critical awareness of full engagement with the object. They conclude by articulating the social nature of learning, stating,

Students are able to learn about themselves and others through making. Cynthia N. Malone suggests moving beyond discussing print books to creating them. While Malone’s students are learning about artist’s books instead of the traditional published codex, the outcome remains the same: ‘Making a book demands that students face multiple formal possibilities at every step and make a choice that bears consequences for later decisions.’^{Reference Malone48} It may be especially beneficial for students to make a book that includes text they have written. In this process, the learner becomes attuned to how material choices will impact the reader’s senses and therefore their engagement with the text. One of Malone’s student comments, ‘books, as I see them now, are no longer static, but instead are continually changing entities.’⁴⁹