Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Complexity in Design-Driven Innovation: A case study of knowledge transfer flow in subsea seismic sensor technology and design education
Get PDFTo the extent previously claimed, concept exploration is not the key to product innovation. However, companies that are design focused are twice as innovative as those that are not. To study design-driven innovation and its occurrence in design education, two case studies are conducted. The first is an example of design practice which includes observation and cooperation process maps in an offshore project. The second is an example of product design education which includes observations of teamwork, team member interviews and archival studies. While the first case study demonstrates how a company innovates through a design-driven process with complex knowledge transference and systematic planning and improvisation, the second case study shows students managing their design processes through concept generation in a less complex trial and error process.Knowledge exploration as a part of design activity was analyzed through the criteria of network paradoxes. A pedagogic concept has been synthesized and validated internally based on the case study, and externally based on other design practices and design research. The pedagogic concept synthesized was Knowledge Transfer Flow [KTF]. The KTF concept can help to orient design students within the information-saturated design processes integrated within complex innovation systems
Environment, Ethics and Cultures Design and Technology Education’s Contribution to Sustainable Global Futures
Get PDFWhat’s D&T For? Gathering and Comparing the Values of Design and Technology Academics and Trainee Teachers
Get PDFSome who read and research about Design & Technology (D&T) would say that the concept of value is key to understanding and defining D&T. Closer inspection reveals though that there are two ways in which values are defined in D&T: how values are taught and learnt about in D&T to use them to make judgments in D&T lessons, and also how values are developed in pupils as a result of studying D&T. Layton’s seminal keynote speech is the notable exception to these two classifications. In 1992 he shared a new perspective of values and D&T: how different stakeholders value the school subject D&T (1992a).
The work presented here builds on Layton’s ‘new’ perspective and compares how two D&T stakeholder groups value D&T. The opinions of trainee D&T teachers and D&T academics, both directly affected by these changes were analysed using a grounded theory coded method. This resulted in a series of twenty-two values that facilitated comparison of the two group’s values. Further analysis revealed there were many similarities between the two groups, and only a few differences. However these differences showed the trainees did not believe D&T can be about the process of designing or identifying the needs of others, both values central to the original purpose of D&T in England and recognised by the academics.
One implication for this, as schools take more ownership of teacher training, is that the value of D&T is likely to move further away from the D&T academics’ influence and be based upon the ‘spontaneous’ (Dow 2014, p.151) values developed through classroom practice with little reference to external opinion.
Future work could widen the scope of the research, incorporating the values of other stakeholder groups into the values series and hence become a new tool to support the development of design and technology education, which hopefully will benefit others as they reflect on why they teach, research or use D&T
Crafting Maths: Exploring Mathematics Learning through Crafts
Get PDFThis article introduces a project in a Finnish secondary school where mathematics education was combined with crafts instruction. The idea was to provide the students with an interdisciplinary real-world learning context in which they worked collaboratively on an open-ended design task. The approach was problem-based and student-centred in a way that Neumann (2013) describes to be in and with students. The teacher’s role was to allow the students to self-generate their learning and to work in partnership with them. The students were given a rather open-ended, ill-defined design task that required them to take risks, find information and collaborate. The student interviews (N=17) after the project revealed that their attitude to mathematics had become more positive. They began to understand the connections between these school subjects in an authentic learning environment. They learned to solve problems and combine theoretical and practical knowledge. Their understanding of the importance of mathematics in real-world situations increased. The project demonstrates how to arrange teaching and learning in a more holistic way instead of in a traditional subject-based approach. This kind of interdisciplinary approach demands good cooperation from both the students and the teachers. Forinterdisciplinary education to be further developed, support is needed for the teachers to collaborate and learn new teaching approaches
Researching Design Learning: Research methodology
Get PDFIntroduction for the 2015 DATA Special Edition This paper was originally published as a chapter that formed a methodological end-piece for ‘Researching Design Learning’ - the book that we published in 2007 with Springer publishers. In the chapter we draw together many of the priorities, approaches and ‘rules of thumb’ that we have developed over the years as our research experience gained momentum and that are exemplified through the research projects described in the book. Through this piece we explore the ‘fit’ between the values of researchers and their clients and how this has impacted in what we have researched and the ways we have gone about the activity. We explore the lessons learned, the critical role of research design and about the design of research instruments, interventions, data collection and data analysis approaches. We explore some of the approaches we have used for bringing research to life for ourselves and others, making it understandable, meaningful and immediate. We conclude by confirming our view that researching is a very design-like activity. Springer publishers have kindly agreed to the re-publication of this slightly modified chapter as part of this Special Edition
Bombs Away: Visual thinking and students’ engagement in design studios contexts
Get PDFIn design studio, sketching or visual thinking is part of processes that assist students to achieve final design solutions. At QUT’s First and Third Year industrial design studio classes we engage in a variety of teaching pedagogies from which we identify ‘Concept Bombs’ as instrumental in the development of students’ visual thinking and reflective design process, and also as a vehicle to foster positive student engagement. In First year studios our Concept Bombs’ consist of 20 minute individual design tasks focusing on rapid development of initial concept designs and free-hand sketching. In Third Year studios we adopt a variety of formats and different timing, combining individual and team based tasks. Our experience and surveys tell us that students value intensive studio activities especially when combined with timely assessment and feedback. While conventional longer-duration design projects are essential for allowing students to engage with the full depth and complexity of the design process, short and intensive design activities introduce variety to the learning experience and enhance student engagement. This paper presents a comparative analysis of First and Third Year students’ Concept Bomb sketches to describe the types of design knowledge embedded in them, a discussion of limitations and opportunities of this pedagogical technique, as well as considerations for future development of studio based tasks of this kind as design pedagogies in the midst of current university education trends
Framing Behaviours in Novice Interaction Designers
Get PDFFraming design problems and solutions has been recognised in design studies as a central designerly activity. Some recent findings with expert designers relate framing practices to problem–solution co-evolution and analogy use, two further widely recognised design strategies. We wanted to understand if interaction design novices also use co-evolution and analogies to frame their thinking. Furthermore we wanted to see if there are any differences across cultures. The paper reports an analysis of data gained from protocol studies with novice interaction designers in the UK and Botswana. Novice interaction designers in the UK and Botswana show some similarities in framing behaviours using co-evolution and opening analogies to develop metaphorical themes in framing. But within these observations we also found differences across the cohorts, such as different numbers of co-evolution episodes or opening analogies. The implications are discussed in the light of adopting appropriate design pedagogy for novices in different cultures. To increase reframing and generation of more ideas in UK design novices, educators would need to increase the number of leaps between problem and solution spaces. To encourage Botswana groups to frame ideas and work them through in depth, educators would need to discourage students from building too many bridges. Educators are also encouraged to experiment with prohibiting opening analogies to see what other framing behaviours occur
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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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