Developing a Pedagogic Framework for Product and Automotive Design

Abstract

An approach to industrial design education based on „transformative practice‟, which has the ambition of equipping students with a passport to enter the community of professional design practice, is described. This is mapped onto a version of the designerly way knowing which is illustrated as an analysis-synthesis model involving a conversation between the two cognitive modes, which are emphasised in various teaching activities. The uncertainty threshold, which is inherent in this, is both essential and routine, but can present problems for some students. The development of a re-designed course programme devised with a more flexible project delivery arrangement to accommodate these issues is briefly described. Its effectiveness is assessed through focus groups and feedback from early results is giving a broadly positive response to the new scheme.