Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Perception Over the Use of Traditional and Digital Mediums Within the Design Process:
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to explore design student\u27s perceptions over traditional and digital mediums within the design process. In this research, a convenient sample of design students was selected from two universities between Latin America and North America to respond a questionnaire which inquired for the design steps and the type of tools they used. The importance of traditional medium in the design process has been widely researched (e.g. Goldschmidt, 1991; Suwa, Purcell, & Gero, 1998; Tang & Gero, 2002). In a similar manner, digital medium has evolved in the design practice and researchers have looked at how the use of digital tools affect the design process (Salman, Laing, & Conniff, 2014). Multiple studies have argued that some stages of this process cannot be supported by digital medium tools (e.g. Bilda & Demirkan, 2003; Kwon, Choi, Lee, & Chai, 2005; Meniru, Rivard, & Bédard, 2003; Stones & Cassidy, 2007). In contrast, digital medium stimulates the occurrence of design patterns and epistemic actions (Yu, et al. 2015: Chandrasekera, 2014). Digital medium will require the development of new knowledge which may affect the designer\u27s role and the education practices of new designers. The outcomes of this study will help design educators to understand design students\u27 preferences in using digital tools and develop curriculums accordingly. In addition, it will aid software developers to better understand, cater to design students\u27 needs and take advantage in the growing shift from traditional to digital medium
Design Empathy in Students’ Participatory Design Processes
Full text linkIn this exploratory case study, we focus on empathy, an important aspect of contemporary design practices. We aim to explore how design empathy manifested in students’ design processes. A three-month participatory design project was created and assigned to students (aged 14–15), with the following brief: ‘co-design and make an e-textile product for kindergarteners according to their wishes and needs’. We examined 72 end-user-related design episodes from two student teams (six students in total), analysing students’ end-user-related considerations, as well as different signs and dimensions of empathy. Our findings indicate that the students considered, discussed and referred to topics concerning end users during the process. Signs and dimensions of empathy were found in the various end-user-related discussions and empathetic considerations, through which end-user-friendly design products materialised. We conclude that students could practise empathic design by acknowledging end users in multiple concrete and abstract ways and designing and manufacturing meaningful products for end users. This offers new opportunities for engaging students in reflective (digital) design and making, targeting design-literate citizens in the 21st century. However, this novel field requires further studies in educational contexts other than higher education, which currently has the best research coverage
Teachers’ attitudes towards the amendments in the Design curriculum: a critical overview of the approach and findings of the study
Full text linkThis article[1] refers to the South African Design teachers’ attitudes towards the implementation of the 2020 Section 4 amendments of the Design Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The purpose of the article is twofold: first to establish the necessity for awareness of the teachers’ attitudes towards curriculum changes, especially when they are unexpected and abrupt. Secondly, to demonstrate the importance of awareness among educational authorities about the role of transparent discussions on the nature, purpose, and consequences of their relevant decisions before their final implementation. To this end, the article discusses the amendments and their differences to the former curriculum. The role of the Design teachers’ positive attitude towards curriculum changes, especially in dealing with challenging pedagogical issues and communicating creative motivation to learners, is critically assessed. Theoretically, the study was guided by Ubuntu philosophy and the South African democratic principles while methodologically, based on a qualitative data collection process, the attitudes of Design teachers from seven selected schools have been individually examined. In conclusion, the teachers’ heterogeneous responses have indicated that their opinions do not reflect the à priori governmental acceptance of the amendments.
[1] The article is based on the PhD thesis by Anriët Van Deventer, under the title: ‘Teacher engagement with the process in Design: policies, problems, and visions’, submitted at the University of Pretoria in November 2021
Design Thinking, An Examination of Epistemological Frameworks in an Area of Academic Study
Full text linkThe ambiguous identity of the digital media field, the ubiquity of media, and rapid and persistent technological change and innovation pose inimitable challenges for academic programs of study in digital media. Digitization of media is an underlying impetus for today’s rapid innovation that compels related academic programs in higher education to re-examine themselves to keep pace and to better understand their epistemological foundations. At the same time, digital innovation helped spur renewed awareness of design as a human-centered methodology to solve ill-structured, highly complex problems. Design and Design Thinking provide a potential framework to aid in academic program assessment. This paper examines the Design Thinking framework, an iterative process involving students, faculty, and academic and industry partners, to aid in better understanding the philosophical underpinnings of a digital media program and from which to evaluate and design the curriculum
Editorial: Turning tables and challenging perceptions
Full text linkoai:openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk:article/109
Exploratory study on the role of institutional frameworks on engineering curricula evolution
Full text linkHumanity’s entrance into the Anthropocene forces us to question the role of technology because of its impacts on the environment. The stake is the viability of the Earth system for humans. Engineers producing a large part of these impacting techniques are not trained in sustainable issues (environmental, social and economic ones - in a systemic way). An exploratory workshop was held at a French University of Technology to study the development of new engineering training courses on issues of strong sustainability. During this workshop, the participants were placed into the current French institutional framework and were asked to develop a new training within this specific framework. The hypothesis formulated at the end of this experiment is that current institutional frameworks can be an obstacle to the production of new training, especially training adapted to the transition phenomenon to respond to the increasing risk of socio-ecological catastrophes. This experiment was conducted as part of a heuristic approach and opens up new perspectives for the evolution of training as well as institutional frameworks in higher education and research
Are my technology lessons for girls? The Gender Sensitive Education Checklist (GSEC) for teaching Science and Technology.
Full text linkIn times of shortages in STEM professions, the untapped potential of girls with a STEM talent is a waste on a personal, social and economic level. Childhood is believed to be a very important formative stage in which children develop an early interest in specific occupations and teachers can have an important influence by developing lessons in such a way that girls are getting motivated for technology and/or science. This paper describes an educational design research study, in which we developed a checklist for teachers to screen the gender sensitivity of their STEM lessons and materials. The checklist contains 20 different questions categorised in four main pillars, namely: the fundamental critical attitude, the image of technology, guidance & interactions and didactical methods. Overall, the Gender-Sensitive Education Checklist (GSEC) can be used to tick what is already going well, ensure these roots can anchor strongly and focus on what teachers can do next to act in a more gender sensitive way. Preliminary evaluative findings suggest that the GSEC could potentially be an inspiring tool for teachers to continuously rethink their STEM lessons and materials. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness of the GSEC
An exploration of the cognitive processes of design teams to inform design education and practice
Full text linkWhile design is associated with novelty and creativity, few studies have explored the cognitive processes employed during team interactions. Design practice is collaborative where designers work in multidisciplinary teams. Along with the cognitive skills involved in designing, designers also need skills to work in teams, share information, and negotiate decisions. The aim of this study is to understand the cognitive processes used by design teams during the early phases of product design. This study uses case studies and applies content analysis to examine the conversations of design teams during the problem definition, ideation, and concept development phases of the design process. Creativity has been described in terms of sudden bursts of ideas described as creative leaps and is associated with creative thinking. The findings in this study shows that while creative thinking is essential to creative teams, other cognitive modes such as knowledge processing, critical thinking, and metacognition are engaged in more frequently. The emphasis of each cognitive process also varies depending on the phase of the design process. These findings have implications for how design students are educated, the skills required and how we promote creativity in design teams
From 3D to 2D: Drawing as documentation and reflection processes by young children
Full text linkIn this study, we examine drawings created by kindergarten children as a means of documenting artefacts constructed by their own. We seek to shed light on the characteristics of this particular drawing process, which involves a cognitive transition from a 3D object (physical construction) to a 2D drawing.
Most theoretical and research work conducted focused on children’s free, intuitive and/or spontaneous drawing. And most data collection focused on children drawings of given objects, even their copy of drawings of objects, or on free representation of ideas or feelings. In this study, we addressed two aspects that differ from the foci of previous work: (a) children drew what they have constructed; and (b) the drawing has a functional purpose (i.e., documentation) as part of a design task.
The study participants included 30 kindergarten children, aged 5-6. During freeform play, the children produced constructions using a building kit and documented these in drawings. A total of 39 constructions and corresponding drawings were analyzed. Data analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics of children’s drawings, as well as the relationship between the features of the constructions and the corresponding drawings.
The insights emerging from the study indicate that drawing can serve as a tool for documentation and reflection in kindergarten and may aid in the development of technological thinking processes
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Design and Technology Education (LJMU)BLResearchDay (LJMU)Journal of Living Labs (LJMU)Journal of Natural Products Discovery (L...Journal of Social Media for Learning (LJ...Student Law Journal (LJMU)PRISM (LJMU)Public Health Institute Journal (LJMU)SPARK (LJMU)Student Experience Proceedings (LJMU)Transformation in Education (LJMU)Innovations in Practice (LJMU)Links to Health and Social Care (LJMU)Access Repository Dashboard
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