Design and Technology Education (LJMU)
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Conversations Around Design Sketches: Use of communication channels for sharing mental models during concept generation
Get PDFIn this paper, we present an exploratory protocol study on the use of different communication channels during design sketching. We focus on how individual designers share their mental models with other designers in a group, and analyse their use of graphical, textual, and verbal communications during concept generation. Our findings suggest that verbal communication plays a role in the sharing of individual mental models during sketching, and complements graphical and textual communication channels. However, design teams can still function without verbal communication in that respect, and address design problems. They seem to compensate for the absence of the verbal communication channel by using the graphical and textual channels more, and by relying on a somewhat different communication structure. A natural and arguably more desirable interaction utilises all three channels in conjunction. Our findings also suggest that, when working in groups, designers develop and share individual mental models not only about the design task at hand but also about the design process in order to manage the group interaction
An Evaluation of the Assessment of Graphical Education at Junior Cycle in the Irish System
Get PDFJunior Certificate Technical Graphics was introduced in Ireland in 1991 and aimed to develop innovative problem solving aptitudes and knowledge of plane and descriptive geometry (NCCA 1991). Despite the philosophy of breadth and balance (NCCA 2004) associated with educational outcomes in the Junior Certificate curriculum, many subjects, Technical Graphics included, employ a summative assessment strategy (Griffin 1998). The summative measurement model portrays a limited view of student learning (Lin and Dwyer 2006, Williams 2011) and has been found to exert significant influence on teaching and learning throughout the course of study (Bloxham and Boyd 2007).
This research study aims to evaluate the types of approach to assessment of two different year groups at different stages of the Junior Cycle. The core hypothesis being investigated is whether there is a more sophisticated approach to the assessment evident among the older year groups. In order to achieve this aim a visual protocol similar to Middleton (2008) and Lane et al. (2010) was employed to capture the approach in solving a prescribed graphical task among first and second year students in the Technical Graphics classroom.
Findings indicate that the use of a traditional summative approach to assessment has significant limitations within the subject of Technical Graphics. There are also notable trends occurring in students’ approach to the assessment, which seem to rely on a low level of graphical knowledge and problem solving skills.
The findings confirm that the older year group adopted a more efficient approach to the assessment but displayed unsophisticated approaches to the application of graphical principles. Some limitations of the summative measurement model are supported by the results of this paper
Involving Assessment Buddies in the Assessment of Design Project Work
Get PDFThis paper discusses the impact of a specially developed assessment and feedback system implemented within a second year industrial design module at Coventry University, UK. The ‘Assessment Buddy’ system was developed in response to the need for a successful assessment and feedback method that could cope with the complexities of a creative subject, and also in response to the need to address student dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback as evidenced by the regular UK National Student Survey.
The findings from student focus groups and questionnaires show that the system offers the opportunity for a more flexible approach to the assessment of creative subjects and also speaks to best practice as outlined in the NSS Student Charter. At the time of writing the Assessment Buddy system is embedded in the second year assessment procedures for the automotive design course, and is being introduced into Year 3, with plans for Year 4 to follow
Using a Design-orientated Project to Attain Graduate Attributes
Get PDFNowadays universities are required not only to impart knowledge of specific disciplines but also generic graduate attributes such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, creative thinking, research and inquiry skills. For students to attain these generic skills, educators are encouraged to use learner-centred approaches in teaching. Project-based learning is one such an approach which promotes self-directed and lifelong learning capabilities, equips students with transferrable knowledge and skills that are essential to the work environment, intertwines theory and practice, gives students the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of concepts and potentially allows them to solve the society’s problems. A case study was conducted at the University of Botswana with Design students to assess the attainment of the graduate attributes after designing packages for a small entrepreneur producing frozen vegetables. The results indicate that the following graduate skills were either rated very good or excellent: self-directed, lifelong learning, critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, organisational and teamwork, communication, entrepreneurship, information and communication technology knowledge and skills. This shows that project-based learning can impart the skills and knowledge that the labour market needs. The results also provide an opportunity for educators to critically reflect on the type of projects given to students in relation to the attainment of graduate attributes
Collaborative Design Practices in Technology Mediated Learning
Get PDFThe present article examines how practices of computersupported collaborative designing may be implemented in an elementary classroom. We present a case study in which 12-year-old students engaged in architectural design under the guidance of their teacher and a professional designer. The students were engaged in all aspects of design processes, such as analysing the design of existing houses, analysing the building site, determining building volume, design facades, and floor plans; they formed seven teams, each of which had its own house to design. The data-analysis relied on the Knowledge Forum database, consisting of students’ notes, pictures, sketches, and photos. The participants’ quantitative contributions to the database were analyzed with Analytic ToolKit which underlies Knowledge Forum. A qualitative content analysis was performed to the KF notes produced by the student teams; a theory and data-driven approach for categorizing the content of the notes was employed. The results revealed that the student teams considered various design constraints and familiarized themselves with their own building site and regulations regarding their permitted building volume. They constructed environmental models and scale models, and made the calculations of gross floor volume; scale drawings were inserted to KF’s Environmental Model view as pictures and texts. The results indicated that parallel working with conceptual (design ideas) and material artefacts (architectural models, prototypes of apartments, figures) supported one another. The intent was that involving students in modeling practices would help them build domain expertise, epistemological understanding, and skills to create and evaluate knowledge. Further, implications for designing technology-mediated collaborative design processes are discussed
On Young People’s Experience of Systems in Technology
Get PDFImmersed in a technologically complex world, young people make sense of a multi-faceted set of events in everyday life. This article investigates the variation in how Swedish young people experience technological systems and is based on interviews focusing three systems concerning transport, energy and communication – contextualised in relation to bananas, electricity, and mobile phones. A phenomenographic analysis results in five qualitatively distinct categories, describing different ways of understanding technological systems: Using single components, Using the system output, Influencing the system, Interacting with the system, and Integrating thesystem. The results support that different ways of understanding technological systems implies different ways of understanding the complex nature of technology. The results also point to possible ways of developing teaching for technological citizenship
A Speculative Approach to Drawing as Visualising Thinking
Get PDFThis paper starts from the premise that drawing can be a means of visualising thinking, with an emphasis on the process involved. A gap often seems to exist in the minds of students of visual/material creative fields in ideasgenerative contexts, between thought and action. The thesis is that the gap between thinking and doing can be reduced to being near simultaneous, in this instance through drawing. The methodology is practice-based, with a range of contribution from mid-program and final year students of communication design. Drawing is both the means and the subject of the research. The paper introduces the research’s theoretical basis, considers its application and concludes with subsequent development. Some of the students\u27 practical work and linguistic responses illustrate points of the text. The research suggests that at prior or early stages of the design process the relative autonomy of the medium itself can offer visual/material suggestions and objects. Due to the ongoing nature of their practice, the students themselves have moved the research on from its original premise. The paper concludes by proposing to continue the research by observing how one can think about and rationalise one’s visual perception of movement at the moment of engagement in the drawing process
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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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