Abstract

An acknowledgement of the transformative nature of education; one in which design educators are seen as active agents of change, is not new. However, acknowledging the importance of such a phenomenon is fundamental to exploring academic practice in design education. In relation to social contexts and transformations, meeting stakeholders’ needs is increasingly significant to how universities set out graduate options and outcomes for students. Higher education is expected to play a key role in developing the multiple skills and capacities of design and creative subject students for future work in the creative and cultural industries (Ashton, 2017; Naudin, 2013; Nesta, 2007). The paper reflects the need to critically align with the key concerns of design thinking led education, in fostering “student’s creative and reflexive capacities” (QAA, 2019); subsequently developing student’s critical understanding and active participation in learning, through an emphasis on the development of critical pedagogies. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) Introduce the method and approaches of design thinking in learning environments. 2) Explore the challenges academics face negotiating curricula, learning outcomes and assessment while focusing on design thinking approach to learning. 3) Reflect on teaching practice through design thinking approach in social settings.

Keywords

design thinking approach to learning, mindful of process, cognitive skills, culture of prototyping, and assessment on design process.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Research Paper

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Sep 24th, 9:00 AM

Transformative teaching practice through a design thinking approach in social settings: A reflection on the delivery of a design research methods module in a graphic design programme at undergraduate level

An acknowledgement of the transformative nature of education; one in which design educators are seen as active agents of change, is not new. However, acknowledging the importance of such a phenomenon is fundamental to exploring academic practice in design education. In relation to social contexts and transformations, meeting stakeholders’ needs is increasingly significant to how universities set out graduate options and outcomes for students. Higher education is expected to play a key role in developing the multiple skills and capacities of design and creative subject students for future work in the creative and cultural industries (Ashton, 2017; Naudin, 2013; Nesta, 2007). The paper reflects the need to critically align with the key concerns of design thinking led education, in fostering “student’s creative and reflexive capacities” (QAA, 2019); subsequently developing student’s critical understanding and active participation in learning, through an emphasis on the development of critical pedagogies. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) Introduce the method and approaches of design thinking in learning environments. 2) Explore the challenges academics face negotiating curricula, learning outcomes and assessment while focusing on design thinking approach to learning. 3) Reflect on teaching practice through design thinking approach in social settings.

 

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