Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Outreach programmes using the Triple Helix model to encourage interest in Science and Technology among underrepresented youth
Science and Technology entrepreneurship is one of the requirements of the new millennium, an era called digital society and globalization. Entrepreneurship is considered an agent of growth, wealth creation and development of society. Although New Zealand has experienced a rapid growth of education and research in Science and Technology areas, the country continues to face challenges in engaging communities such as Māori and Pasifika school students. There is a lack of understanding about career pathway choices and opportunities by parents and high school students, especially in these communities (Ministry of Business, 2014). A significant part of enhancing this understanding is building a relationship between the communities, science and technology industry partners and school students. This paper presents an initiative taken by the university, government and community partners to create a better understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and entrepreneurship. The programme brought together business, government, researchers, school students, and the wider community within the Auckland region. It demonstrated the application of the triple helix model (Figure 2) to connect the three major players through STEM subjects and entrepreneurship. The programme encourages students to think about themselves as job makers rather than job takers in the future. A range of measures are used to evaluate its success, and initial results are presented. The format of this study can serve as a guideline for future initiatives aimed to improve students’ awareness of STEM and entrepreneurship careers
A study of children’s relationship with making and use of CAD in collaborative, informal environments and the implications for institutional learning environments
In this article, the researchers investigate different ways in which school age, \u27generation net\u27 children learn, through non-linear, mediated, collaborative ‘making’ environments, enabled by informal club settings and online ‘builder’ gaming and groups. In addition to this, the study will investigate these learning methods in relation to children’s future attitudes to formal education and their engagement with the ethos of open access digital fabrication facilities.The research will draw upon primary sources including the observation and analysis of children who attend 3D printing clubs created by one of the authors. These clubs are aimed at children who are just starting their formal school education, from the age of six.The clubs are informal and relaxed to allow a great deal of creative freedom. The children have access to 3D printers, CAD software and 3D printing pens to allow them to explore the technology and design process in different ways. They can choose to work together or alone, and can participate in the group discussion in an unforced way. This research will conclude by analysing the educational benefits of informal shared design practices and digital fabrication making processes and how they could be used in the learning spaces of the future
Older Adult Insights for Age Friendly Environments, Products and Service Systems
The environments we grow old in present a challenge to be adaptive to our changing needs and limitations. Environments, in the context of this paper, are the spaces, products and product service systems that we engage with, alone or with others, within and outside the home. A design coalition (Manzini, 2015) was generated between a number of academic Institutions and ISAX (Ireland Smart Ageing Exchange) an ‘ageing think tank’ organisation in Ireland. The intention of this coalition was to generate awareness of needs requirements for age friendly environments and to provide an example of how participatory design research can inform innovation in business and policy development at a local and state level.A five-week study was conducted using design and ethnographic methods with twenty-two older adult participants (age range 69 – 80). The themes of study were identified as: mobility, public spaces, safety, social engagement, services & facilities. Cultural probes, semi-structured interviews and user observation, by both researchers and older adult participants, were used as methods to identify the unmet needs of participants within the sample group.A Co-Design Symposium (http://info.isax.ie/national-co-design-symposium) was held during June 2016 as an opportunity to demonstrate to a wider stakeholder audience the needs identified from this study. This Symposium was attended by over 100 people of various backgrounds (town planners, architects, transport experts, retailers, builders, health and other service providers). The older adult participants and designers (staff and researchers from the School of Design at the University of Limerick, IT Carlow, Limerick Institute of Technology and Limerick School of Art & Design) were placed within teams of ten. The research was presented using audio/visual presentation as well as artefacts from the fieldwork, completed diaries, scrapbooks, storyboards etc. Solutions were worked on, and delivered at the end of the day. This Symposium has impacted positively whereby policy makers in local government have invited ISAX to further discuss research outcomes and the needs of older adults as a means to develop access areas in and around Limerick City. This paper outlines in further detail the design research methods used, and the benefits through design education Student/ Researcher /Stakeholder collaboration by application ‘in the ‘field’ and displays the effectiveness of design coalitions in influencing and affecting change and insight into policy. It highlights how co-design collaborations can impact and generate design solutions that improve day to day experiences
Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, values and ambiguity in the creative curriculum
Medical Device Design Education: Identifying Problems Through Observation and Hands-On Training
Experiential learning, which may include hands-on learning paired with observation and reflection, has been applied in several industries; however, the impact of experiential learning in design education is not well known. We investigated how the type of simulation-based learning could affect the acquisition of knowledge and the ability to synthesize that understanding into insights for medical design innovation. One workshop included observational learning and the other experiential learning with hands-on training. Each course included 14-16 multidisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students. During both workshops, we measured student comprehension of two procedures— infant resuscitation and management of maternal hemorrhage. We focused on the first two phases of design thinking: “Understanding” and “Defining the Problems”. Although the course focused on “medical device design”, we encouraged students to look beyond the tool to imagine how their design change could impact the entire system. We did not find a significant difference between the scores given to students in the two courses by industry experts. Although the quality of the ideas and execution were similar between both workshops, the instructors noticed that the integration of hands-on training into the second workshop created a higher level of excitement in the class. The methodology and the approach adopted may be relevant to many design problems. In order to better understand the impact of observational learning versus hands-on training, both workshops could be expanded into full quarter classes that allow students to expand their design thinking skills to prototype and test their ideas in the real world
The value of oral feedback in the context of capstone projects in design education
Research frequently reports student dissatisfaction with feedback in higher education. Large class sizes and modularization challenge teachers in providing useful feedback. Most of these studies have investigated student perceptions of written feedback in coursework, and few attempts have been made considering feedback in face-to-face contexts such as bachelor\u27s degree projects. This study aims to enrich our understanding of students\u27 perception of feedback in the context of supervision of bachelor\u27s degree projects using Karlsen\u27s (2015) PLUS model to systematise factors that help improve their utilisation of feedback in learning. Qualitative interviews were used to collect data from two bachelor student cohorts doing their projects as part of industrial design programmes and computer science at a mid-sized Norwegian university college (n=28). Results indicate that students generally find teachers\u27 feedback more useful than useless. In addition to the students own attitudes towards assessment, they report that how they perceive the supervisors\u27 trustworthiness matters when utilising feedback
Action Reflected and Project Based Combined Methodology for the Appropriate Comprehension of Mechanisms in Industrial Design Education
In industrial design (ID) education, mechanics-based courses are mainly based on a traditional lecture approach and they are highly abstract for ID students to comprehend. The existing studies highlight the requirement of a new approach for mechanics-based courses in ID departments. This study presents a combined teaching model for mechanisms mainly based on an applied teaching style and action learning to improve ID students\u27 learning experience and competencies through promoting the transference of theoretical knowledge into practical experience and learning. The combined teaching model, consisting of three phases, was integrated into a design studio project named mechanical game design. A total of forty-one sophomores taking the ‘Product Design II’ course offered in Gazi University Department of Industrial Design during the second semester of the 2016/2017 academic year, participated in the mechanical game design project. Project observations and a post-questionnaire were employed to objectively analyse the appropriateness of the teaching model. The results indicated that the combined teaching model improved ID students\u27 learning outcomes and competencies in terms of transferring the gained theoretical and practical knowledge into action learning
Digital Sketch Modelling: Integrating digital sketching as a transition between sketching and CAD in Industrial Design Education
Literature on the use of design tools in educational settings notes an uneasy relationship between student use of traditional hand sketching and digital modelling tools (CAD) during the industrial design process. This is often manifested in the transition from sketching to CAD and exacerbated by a preference of current students to use CAD. In this research we report the teaching of a new design practice “Digital Sketch Modelling” which combines the strengths of sketching in ideation and CAD in dimensional accuracy while versing students in digital sketching skills that are now expected of graduates going into industry. In doing so we move beyond treating digital sketching as an equivalent of traditional sketching to become a new transitional design tool. This paper sets out the key steps of the Digital Sketch Modelling technique and reports its integration in industrial design curriculum over the last two years. In doing so we contribute a new type of design practice with a research based foundation that answers the requirements of modern industrial design practice
Influence Of Cognitive Styles On Technical Drawing Students’ Achievements In Senior Secondary School In Federal Capital Territory, Abuja
There are different cognitive strategies for processing information which in turn influence students’ academic achievement. This paper reports an investigation of cognitive styles and achievement scores of secondary school students. In the study, the standardised Group Embedded Figures Test was used to determine the influence of student’s cognitive styles on Technical Drawing students’ achievement in Senior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. A research question and null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. The design of the study was a causal comparative or (expost-facto) design. The sample for the study consisted of 87Senior Secondary School Two (SSSII) Technical Drawing students drawn from the three sampled schools in three Area Councils of FCT. The students were categorized into three groups based on Group embedded figure test (GEFT). The instrument used for data collection was Technical Drawing Achievement test (TDAT). The instrument was face and content validated by three Technical Drawing Lecturers and two experts in Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability coefficient of Basic Electricity Achievement Test (BEAT) was established using Kuder- Richardson formula 20 (K-R20) and this yielded an index of 0.69. Data were analyzed with mean, standard deviation and analysis ofvariance (ANOVA). Results of the study revealed that cognitive style significantly influenced students’ achievements in Technical Drawing. Recommendations made among others were that students’ cognitive styles be adopted for effective teaching of Technical Drawing in Secondary Schools