Student A.I.

	I have made a glaze from raw chemicals using scales	I have done ceramics before coming to foundation	I learnt how to read a glaze test tile during my ceramics foundation course	I chose ceramics as my main subject	I am going on to a ceramic BA course	I have made a glaze test tileAnd /or glaze test and/or any other test or experiment
yes			√
no	√	√		√	√	√

	I learnt a technique from a fellow student	I taught a fellow student a technique	I shared my thoughts about another students work with them	I discussed my glaze test results with other students if they asked me to	I found help from other students essential on days with no staff in the studio	I found the chart for skill sharing really helpful
Yes	√					√
Nn		√	√	√	√

Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.
Did you find doing glaze tests and experiments helpful or not?

Why?

Student A.I.

They were extremely helpful because they helped with seeing how a colour would look and how a piece of work might look when it is ready after firing.

Student J.T.

	I have made a glaze from raw chemicals using scales	I have done ceramics before coming to foundation	I learnt how to read a glaze test tile during my ceramics foundation course	I chose ceramics as my main subject	I am going on to a ceramic BA course	I have made a glaze test tileAnd /or glaze test and/or any other test or experiment
yes	√		√	√		√
no		√			√

	I learnt a technique from a fellow student	I taught a fellow student a technique	I shared my thoughts about another students work with them	I discussed my glaze test results with other students if they asked me to	I found help from other students essential on days with no staff in the studio	I found the chart for skill sharing really helpful
Yes	√	√	√	√	√
NO						√Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.

Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.
Did you find doing glaze tests and experiments helpful or not?

Why?

Student J.T.

They were enormously helpful. They acted as an archive and showed me how wide a variety of glazes were available to me, which directly influenced my work. The different thicknesses gave me an awareness of how to not over-apply glazes, and the huge differences in doing so. And which glazes could be combined/ fired together.

If it weren’t for making test tiles, previous examples and the help and support from students and staff, my work would be bland and I wouldn’t have such a love of ceramics. I wouldn’t have stayed on in all likeliness.

Glaze added another dimension to everything I plan in ceramics, and forced me to plan ahead, better manage my time, and organise myself.

Student N.K.

	I have made a glaze from raw chemicals using scales	I have done ceramics before coming to foundation	I learnt how to read a glaze test tile during my ceramics foundation course	I chose ceramics as my main subject	I am going on to a ceramic BA course	I have made a glaze test tileAnd /or glaze test and/or any other test or experiment
yes				√	√
no	√	√	√			√

	I learnt a technique from a fellow student	I taught a fellow student a technique	I shared my thoughts about another students work with them	I discussed my glaze test results with other students if they asked me to	I found help from other students essential on days with no staff in the studio	I found the chart for skill sharing really helpful
Yes	√	√	√		√	√
NO				√

Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.

Did you find doing glaze tests and experiments helpful or not?

Why?

Student N.K.

I did not do glaze tests.

Student A.E.

	I have made a glaze from raw chemicals using scales	I have done ceramics before coming to foundation	I learnt how to read a glaze test tile during my ceramics foundation course	I chose ceramics as my main subject	I am going on to a ceramic BA course	I have made a glaze test tileAnd /or glaze test and/or any other test or experiment
yes	√	√(only once!)	√	√	√	√
no

	I learnt a technique from a fellow student	I taught a fellow student a technique	I shared my thoughts about another students work with them	I discussed my glaze test results with other students if they asked me to	I found help from other students essential on days with no staff in the studio	I found the chart for skill sharing really helpful
Yes	√	√	√	√	√	√
NO

Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.

Did you find doing glaze tests and experiments helpful or not?

Why?

Student A.E.

Without the glaze tests/experiments I don’t think I would ever had the grasp I have on it as I do now, and even now, I still have a lot to learn. Having visual and tactile access to experiments in glazing has been a welcome avenue for inspiration; and making them myself planted more familiarity with the relationship between glaze and clay.

In my final major project in particular, I’ve had to be very specific with the thickness of glaze on different parts of the clay body, almost drawing/painting with it rather than merely coating the whole piece. I couldn’t have done this without the tests of different thicknesses first and comparing them to each other. The indentations on a tile can also be personalised to suit the project, which I found useful and gave me a sense of ownership towards them. The idea of test tiles is also useful for a student because they can be kept and collected like a library. I know I will be bringing the ones I’ve made on foundation to my degree course.

With not much time on each project though, sometimes there was no time to wait for test tiles before glazing a piece/pieces. In this case it was a learning curve. In my final major project, glaze tests went in with already glazed pieces. But as a result of the test pieces, I made more work to glaze although it wasn’t part of the plan nor was it agreeable to the time. But you can’t help art can you? We made time and the glaze tiles definitely inspired it.

Student A.Y.

	I have made a glaze from raw chemicals using scales	I have done ceramics before coming to foundation	I learnt how to read a glaze test tile during my ceramics foundation course	I chose ceramics as my main subject	I am going on to a ceramic BA course	I have made a glaze test tileAnd /or glaze test and/or any other test or experiment
yes	√		√	√	√	√
no		√

	I learnt a technique from a fellow student	I taught a fellow student a technique	I shared my thoughts about another students work with them	I discussed my glaze test results with other students if they asked me to	I found help from other students essential on days with no staff in the studio	I found the chart for skill sharing really helpful
Yes	√	√	√	√	√	√
No

Thank you for helping me out with my action research project.

Did you find doing glaze tests and experiments helpful or not?

Why?

Student A.Y.

Yes I did test pieces since it helped me see how the glaze reacted and it shed light on how different layers of glaze had different look for my future references.

However, I did not have time to do my own test pieces during final major project, so I had to rely on Annie’s and Manda’s experience and knowledge of glazes and types of clay. As a result I have had to do some after the project for my recipe book.