Abstract
There is an increasing awareness of the importance of considering more-than-human (MtH) perspectives in the design of technology, especially in academia. However, to cause real-world impact, it is essential that such awareness is translated into practical action. One way to do so is by educating new designers to apply MtH perspectives. Teaching MtH to design students requires teachers to develop educational materials on the role that MtH perspectives play in design. Currently, there are not many examples of educational materials that teachers can take inspiration from. This paper therefore presents a collection of practical teaching activities to introduce students to the MtH field structured along a framework of four dimensions: Introduction, Assemblage, Constituency, and Application. Hopefully, the teaching activities, structured according to this framework, can offer teachers inspiration for how to sensitise their students and make them better prepared to become responsible technology designers able to address MtH perspectives.
Keywords
more-than-human design; higher education; technology design; teaching
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.382
Citation
Nilsson, E.M., Jensen, R.H., Barendregt, W., Yoo, D., Hansen, A., and Eriksson, E. (2026) More-than-Human Perspectives in Teaching Technology Design: From Research to Classroom, to the Real World?, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.382
Creative Commons License
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Included in
More-than-Human Perspectives in Teaching Technology Design: From Research to Classroom, to the Real World?
There is an increasing awareness of the importance of considering more-than-human (MtH) perspectives in the design of technology, especially in academia. However, to cause real-world impact, it is essential that such awareness is translated into practical action. One way to do so is by educating new designers to apply MtH perspectives. Teaching MtH to design students requires teachers to develop educational materials on the role that MtH perspectives play in design. Currently, there are not many examples of educational materials that teachers can take inspiration from. This paper therefore presents a collection of practical teaching activities to introduce students to the MtH field structured along a framework of four dimensions: Introduction, Assemblage, Constituency, and Application. Hopefully, the teaching activities, structured according to this framework, can offer teachers inspiration for how to sensitise their students and make them better prepared to become responsible technology designers able to address MtH perspectives.