Using the PEST Framework to Facilitate Active Learning in Fashion History Class

Fashion history is a common course taught across fashion merchandising and design curriculum. It is difficult to cover mass quantities of information within the semester while keeping the students engaged in the content. At a Midwestern University, multiple active learning strategies were included in the fashion history course including artifact analysis, research projects, music, and virtual tours of related buildings to help students get more engaged with the content. The PEST framework was also used to organize the content and encourage students to critically analyze items of dress according to the historic context of each time period. The PEST analysis also allowed students to identify patterns in fashion history and link changes in dress to world events and changes in society. Student feedback about the active learning strategies, specifically the PEST framework, was positive and the course had increased enrollments from students outside of the fashion major and minor