Dear all...
I find this a very relevant thread today, as I am currently involved in launching my courses for the fall semester.
I very much fall into the "facilitated learning" category of design educators as Alun offers. One of my aims is to try to "mature" the students I teach to become more capable and professional designers after they graduate. This can only be achieved through project based learning I have found. Because of rapid culture and technology changes I find it necessary to evolve my syllabus goals every semester, and have the present build on the not to distant past.
I am more concerned with skill building and empirical approaches to design research rather than applying/learning historical perspectives.
The course goals for a concept design class I teach are taken directly from one of my syllabuses include:
---Build on methodology learned in spring semester Concept Design 1.
---Increase skills in design research, brainstorming, creativity and concept development
---Utilize internet technologies to augment your communication process
---Increase your understanding of the globalized market for industrial design
---Enhance your abilities to work in design teams
---Improve your independent thought and ability to defend abstract design proposals
---Improve your problem identification skills
---Improve English language presentation skills
It is a loose framework that allows each semester to grow organically in the classroom. Rather than focus on the types of qualities the students should have, I try and get them to focus on the design and the development of their objectivity and awareness of what is of high quality in research, analysis, synthesis and presentation ability.
I am very much interested in learning more about other approaches to the defining of course goals.
Stephen B Allard
Seoul National University of Science and Technology
Seoul, Korea
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