Re-framing the arts dissertation: the visual research abstract as an alternative, innovative and creative approach to fashion research

The Visual Research Abstract (VRA) was initially conceived as a pedagogical strategy to assist undergraduate students to navigate and understand the structure of their dissertation and the theoretical activities relating to fashion research at its earliest stages. The paper is guided by action research and collects data using a structured online questionnaire across the third-year (L. 6) and second-year (L. 5) fashion students at a UK Arts University and is aimed to evaluate and refine the pedagogical method. The research explores the student experience regarding their application of the tool, and the proposed strategies for refinement. The findings reveal that the VRA is a useful pedagogical strategy in fashion education to navigate the theoretical structure of the written dissertation closely aligned to a student’s final major project. Consequently, this approach has been discussed in the paper and adopted by several subject disciplines within the Arts University environment.