It would also be interesting to look at hybrid programs. For example, in Canada, it’s common for the more applied oriented colleges to team up with the more theory oriented universities. These two programs come to mind:
York University + Sheridan College
https://www.sheridancollege.ca/academics/programs-and-courses/bachelor-of-design.aspx
Carleton University + Algonquin College
http://bitdegree.ca
--
Jed Looker
MDes Student
School of Industrial Design
Carleton University
613 715 1025
id.carleton.ca<http://id.carleton.ca>
On Sep 28, 2014, at 10:46 AM, Don Norman <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
I retitled this thread to reflect the topic. It is a good question.
On Sun, Sep 28, 2014 at 4:55 AM, Marcela Machuca <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
wrote:
Something that I'd wish to be able to see better is comparison between
Design programs embedded in Engineering schools, Art schools and Humanities
schools within Education institutions.
I have visited numerous design programs in all three of these categories
and have taught in two of them (large universities (UC San Diego,
Northwestern) and engineering (Northwestern, KAIST) (and done guest
lectures in another dozen of all forms).
My experience is that the categorization of those three different kinds of
programs is coarse and simplistic, but it is not a bad first approximation
for a discussion. But there is a fourth difference, which would be
Engineering Design versus traditional design taught in an
engineering/technology school (such as the schools of design at CMU,
Georgia Tech, any of the TUs in Europe or Asia (TUE, TUD, TUM, ... ),
KAIST, Hong Kong Polytech. There, my experience suggests, design is
not engineering design but more traditional design.
In the USA, design in a traditional university means the students get
a broader training in university topics (resulting in a
somewhat lesser training in design). This is because in the US, the
undergraduate degree is four years, roughly two of which are required
courses that span the curriculum -- arts, humanities, math, science,
literature. And this is because American universities assume the student
enter the university ill-taught in these topics so they must complete that
education in years 1 and 2.
Students in stand-alone schools, on the other hand, get almost no exposure
to any other discipline except for the craft of design with the
mild exception of a course on ergonomics or research methods and the ilk --
that is one or two scattered courses as opposed to a sequence that has
some depth.
-----
Many countries assume far-better prepared students, so
the university experience is entirely focussed upon the major. In the UK,
for example, students have one more year of schooling prior
to entering the university, so the university can concentrate entirely on
the major. I know Americans who go to Oxford or Cambridge for their PhD
because it is easier than in American universities: they can get it in 2 or
3 years (in science or technology subjects). In these schools, the students
start with their research as soon as they enter -- basically they do not
need to take any courses because it is assumed they already know the
content matter.
In the US, the first few years of graduate school are spent taking courses,
because here, we assume graduate students start knowing almost nothing of
the subject.
(In the US, a graduate student is the same as a post-graduate in
many other countries. Post graduate means after the first degree, In the
US, it means people who have graduated with their first degree. In the US,
a post graduate student is someone with a PhD who is still studying.)
---
Engineering design is a different beast, because it is primarily one of
emphasis on technical matters, on mathematics, CAD, materials, and ensuring
reliability, low cost, ... Optimization is a focus. Here is where
students learn matrix methods fo comparing feature combinations, ranking
and assigning weights and selecting the
optimum combination (optimum defined rigorously (even if the weights
are subjective -- this point is usually glossed over)).
Want a beautiful product -- get a traditionally-trained designer. Want
hinges that hold up to the weight and are reliable and efficient, get an
engineering designer.
In the US, many schools of product design and engineering design are
in departments of mechanical engineering in engineering schools (Stanford,
MIT, Purdue, ... )
Note that the US still has Industrial Design and in many European schools
which join with engineering schools or are art of a technical university
(e.g., RCA + Imperial College or TUDelft) it is called IDE -- Industrial
Design Engineering. Everyone i talk to hates the term "industrial design"
because that reflects the mindset of the mid 20th century that is wrong
today. Nobody has a better name -- yet.)
-----
All this is a horrible oversimplification, and I have seen great
well-balanced designers as well as not-so-great, narrowly focussed
designers from all the different schools. There may well be more
variability in the person than in the schools.d
CAVEAT: I know that many on this list will tell me my information is old,
out of date, wrong, over-simplified, and misleading, demonstrating my
biases and ignorance. I plead guilty to all those charges.
Don
Don Norman
Director, DesignLab, UC San Diego: Think Observe Make
Prof. Emeritus Cognitive Science & Psychology, UCSD
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> www.jnd.org<http://www.jnd.org> <http://www.jnd.org/>
Join us for the Design Lab opening on October 1st! http://designlab.ucsd.edu
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