Abstract
This study systematically reviewed recent (2016-2021) Industrial Design (ID) master theses and final projects at U.S. land grant universities to understand the trend of ID graduate program outcomes from the selected universities. The process consisted of 1) framing questions for a review, 2) identifying relevant works, 3) assessing the quality of studies, 4) summarizing the evidence, and 5) interpreting the findings. This paper presents the findings of the study, including thesis/final project research types, the diversity of committees, fields of design influences that the thesis/final project contribute to, types of outcomes, and the utilized research methodologies. Furthermore, the author discusses how to improve the guidance for ID graduate students for their master's thesis course at a practical level by comparing the results of the study with existing literature. This paper will help inform future practices of masters of ID thesis courses and graduate education.
Keywords
industrial design master thesis, systematic literature review, land-grant university, industrial design education
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.627
Citation
Kim, B., and Gregorio, H. (2022) An analysis of master's in industrial design theses at US land-grant universities: A systematic literature review, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.627
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An analysis of master's in industrial design theses at US land-grant universities: A systematic literature review
This study systematically reviewed recent (2016-2021) Industrial Design (ID) master theses and final projects at U.S. land grant universities to understand the trend of ID graduate program outcomes from the selected universities. The process consisted of 1) framing questions for a review, 2) identifying relevant works, 3) assessing the quality of studies, 4) summarizing the evidence, and 5) interpreting the findings. This paper presents the findings of the study, including thesis/final project research types, the diversity of committees, fields of design influences that the thesis/final project contribute to, types of outcomes, and the utilized research methodologies. Furthermore, the author discusses how to improve the guidance for ID graduate students for their master's thesis course at a practical level by comparing the results of the study with existing literature. This paper will help inform future practices of masters of ID thesis courses and graduate education.