Undergraduate Design Students Research Articles

Integrating Regional Cultural Characteristics into Art and Design Education in a Normal University in Henan, China

Regional culture is a comprehensive embodiment of the geographical environment, living forms, historical inheritance, and humanistic spirit of a region, and is a valuable resource for the region’s sustainable development. The current regional culture-related curriculum of art and design courses in many local colleges and universities is monotonous, and the concept of talent training is outdated. Thus, it is time to carry out a reform of this curriculum based on the regional culture characteristics. Using a normal university in Henan Province as an example, this paper discusses how to effectively integrate the regional culture into the curriculum model reform. Data were collected from 533 undergraduate design students and used to examine the following issues: (i) Analysing the integration of the art and design curriculum with the regional culture, (ii) Proposing a comprehensive teaching model for the integrated art and design curriculum.

Seeing Through Things: Exploring the Design Space of Privacy-aware Data-enabled Objects

Increasing amounts of sensor-augmented research objects have been used in design research. We call these objects Data-Enabled Objects, which can be integrated into daily activities capturing data about people’s detailed whereabouts, behaviours, and routines. These objects provide data perspectives on everyday life for contextual design research. However, data-enabled objects are still computational devices with limited privacy awareness and nuanced data sharing. To better design data-enabled objects, we explore privacy design spaces by inviting 18 teams of undergraduate design students to re-design the same type of sensor-enabled home research camera. We developed the Connected Peekaboo Toolkit (CPT) to support the design teams in designing, building, and directly deploying their prototypes in real home studies. We conducted Thematic Analysis to analyze their outcomes which led us to interpret that privacy is not just an obstacle but can be a driver by unfolding an exploration of possible design spaces for data-enabled objects.

Cultivating of Emotional Teaching Value to Art Design Undergraduate Students’ Aesthetic Ability in China

Cultivating of Emotional Teaching Value to Art Design Undergraduate Students’ Aesthetic Ability in China

Form follows Meaning: the design process and the value of solitude

Beginning with historical and cultural studies ofthe materials, form, and manufacturing processes of three iconic chess set designs (Staunton, Bauhaus, and Balanis), this paper discusses the development of seven conceptual chess sets by undergraduate design students in Brazil. To encourage creative practice guided by sustainable principles, this design exercise focussed on hand skills and the use of local natural materials or reused (discarded) materials. Walker’s "progressive design praxis" was employed as a practical approach to design research, which combines thinking-and-doing to address the principle of "form follows meaning". Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the exercise was developed online, with students working at home. Compared with the previous experience (2019) when students worked alongside each other in the studio, the elevated level of the design outcomes suggests that, despite the anxiety felt due to the pandemic, the tangible and intangible aspects of the artefacts were enhanced by students working in solitude.

Understanding Stress in the Education of Designers: A Study Exploring Learning Pressures for Design Students

Learning pressures can influence the academic performance and psychological well-being of college students. Research has found each student experiences pressure in the learning process, which can negatively impact their learning outcomes if not properly addressed. This study examines learning pressures experienced by undergraduate design students at a Midwestern University in the United States. Students majoring in studio arts, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and landscape architecture were surveyed. The survey contained 17 questions that measured stress and pressures caused by peer pressure, self-expectation, time and financial pressures, and future career pressures on a Likert scale. Eight inquiries identified demographic information for additional evaluation and consideration. Investigators found students felt the most learning pressure when not satisfied with their work, specifically when perceiving they were not achieving their own goals. Indicators point to self-esteem as a key component of learning pressures. This paper also shows co￾relationships to learning pressure based on demographic information. Insights gained from this research will help instructors create an empathetic and supportive classroom for students.

The BEE Model with Live Virtual Classroom to Enhancing Creative Works

Online learning is recognized as an effective teaching method and tool, widely integrated into different teaching and learning strategies to provide quality education at different levels. However, the field of design education does not have extensive research into online learning, delivery, and assessment. This study developed an online learning model for design disciplines to improve creative work effectively. This paper describes an empirical study to test the BEE model outcomes developed following previous research. This present study has focused on the intensity of the live virtual classroom in every step to compare differences in the scores of creative works. Therefore, the assumption was that Thai undergraduate design students who learned with the BEE model through live classroom learning (experimental group) would have at least one element of the creative work scores compared to the group learning through the traditional online teaching method (control group). Furthermore, we conducted a multistage randomized sample of 66 participants, divided into an experimental group of 33 participants and a control group of 33 subjects. To compare the scores of creative works, the test of creative works assessment rubric was used to collect the data. Then, they were analyzed using the MANOVA statistical test. The results found at least one element of them, and the average creative work scores of the experimental group showed that they were significantly higher than the control group (p<0.05). Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-SIED-08 Full Text: PDF

Engineering judgement in undergraduate structural design education: enhancing learning with failure case studies

ABSTRACT Universities face the challenge of developing undergraduate structural engineering students' design judgement. This study evaluates whether introducing ‘learning from failure', centralised around ‘real-world' case studies, serves to facilitate the development of engineering judgement in structural design. The study identifies the use of three characteristics of engineering judgement: diagnostic, inductive, and interpretive in the work of the first-year undergraduate structural design students. Thematic analysis, combined with a constant comparison method and the rigour of inter-researcher reliability, was used to develop coding and mapping to evaluate students' work. The majority of students correctly applied diagnostic engineering judgement to the definition of a problem for a failure case study; and displayed the inductive aspect of judgement. Students' interpretive understanding embraced multi-faceted considerations, with engineering practice, complexity in causality, and learning from history being dominant. Introducing case studies deepened students’ enquiry, stimulating the development of a more nuanced understanding of structural engineering judgement.

Type D personality is associated with lower cardiovascular reactivity to stress in women

Objective This study examines if Type D personality is (1) associated with cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress in a healthy sample, and (2) has predictive utility for cardiovascular reactivity above its individual subcomponents (negative affect; NA, social inhibition; SI), as well as anxiety and depression. Design Undergraduate students (n = 173) competed a standardised cardiovascular reactivity experimental protocol consisting of resting baseline and stressor phase (mental arithmetic), with systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) monitored throughout. Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measures were cardiovascular reactivity to the stressor, which was operationalised as the difference between resting baseline and the stressor phase for SBP, DBP and HR. Results The continuous Type D interaction term (NA × SI) significantly predicted lower SBP reactivity to the mental arithmetic stressor amongst women, independent of NA, SI and confounding variables. Moreover, this remained significant after adjustment for anxiety and depressive symptoms. Depression, NA and SI were also significant independent predictors of SBP reactivity amongst women. Conclusion Type D personality is associated with lower SBP reactivity to acute stress in women, which may be indicative of blunted cardiovascular reactivity. This association was independent of NA, SI, Anxiety and Depression.

Conceptual Designs for Sustainable Aesthetics: creative chess sets where form follows meaning

The paper presents conceptual designs that explore the notion of ‘sustainable aesthetics'. To encourage reflective practice through form and process, and guided by sustainable principles, a practice-based (thinking-and-doing) methodology was followed by Brazilian undergraduate design students. Beginning with a theoretical overview of the historical aesthetics of chess sets (premodern, modern and contemporary) the experimental findings show different approaches to thematic chess set designs that are guided by meaning-laden cultural considerations and developed using local, natural materials or reused (disposed) industrial materials. This is the first experiment of a project that represents a creative attempt to explore and develop an aesthetic for material culture through what we have termed a 'sustainable aesthetic function'. It demonstrates how objects with the same function can be expressed in very different ways whilst all adhering to the notion of "form follows meaning'.

CREATIVE INTEGRATION OF DESIGN THINKING AND STRATEGIC THINKING IN A DESIGN EDUCATION FRAMEWORK

With rapid globalization, designers are increasingly required to use creative integration of strategic thinking and design thinking to deal with complexity and uncertainty in an era of constant transformation. This study reviews the current status of design education to address the key question of how strategic thinking and design thinking can be enhanced creatively in undergraduate design students’ education in South Korea. Furthermore, it investigates the key drivers for and barriers to the enhancement of strategic thinking and design thinking; seeks insights from successful design education programs; and gathers perspectives about strategic thinking and design thinking from design students, educators, and strategists. By using qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative (a questionnaire) research methods, the study offers significant insights: (i) design undergraduates’ short-sighted mind-set should be reshaped, (ii) additional practical, multicultural, and interdisciplinary applications of strategic thinking are needed to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical classes, and (iii) consistent stimulation is required to internalize strategic thinking and design thinking.

‘Navigating the bubble’: Exploring student experiences of design writing

Undergraduate design students at London College of Communication were interviewed about the relationship between their writing practice and their design practice. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (1983) framed the study. This article takes the position that polarizing the relationship between linguistic (textual) and bodily kinaesthetic (visual) forms of intelligence itself becomes a barrier to arts students’ epistemological development. The well-rehearsed art school rhetoric of ‘I’m a visual person not a writer’ can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, disabling the potential to learn through writing. The research explored student perceptions and experiences of design writing, with data surfacing themes of anxiety, identity, artefact, articulation, process and value. Suggestions about how to support students to write about design praxis are presented for consideration.

Sustaining a prolonged pivot: Appraising challenges facing higher education stakeholders in switching to online learning

Abstract An Irish Government directive to close colleges amid the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch to emergency remote teaching. Many lecturers unused to practicing online began teaching students who were unfamiliar with online learning. Completion of the semester does not necessarily indicate that it is practicable for a more extended period. This paper queries four aspects of the sustainability of emergency remote teaching: its acceptance by stakeholders; its impact upon student motivation and faculty workload; and its effect upon learning outputs. Questionnaires administered to undergraduate design students and faculty captured their respective experiences of emergency remote teaching. Acceptance of an extended pivot to online learning is not guaranteed, but will surely form a central facet of academic continuity. Increased working hours associated with online teaching endangers the work-life balance of lecturers, yet the same staff must find ways to support student motivation. Faculty’s reduced expectations of student output places strain upon the sustainability of online education founded upon an unplanned pivot. The experience of emergency remote teaching has created an opportunity for all parties to leverage the affordances of online learning – the challenge will be to ensure that all aspects of any extended switch to online are sustainable.

Design to improve patients' sleep experience in NHS hospital wards: involving students in solving 'real world' problems

This article presents a collaborative educational initiative designed to enhance the learning experience for undergraduate product design students and boost their employability through an introduction to ‘real-world’ design challenges in healthcare settings. The initiative centred upon enhancing the learning experience for a cohort of 38 product design undergraduate students across a 3-year programme through interdisciplinary research-informed teaching. We started with a student project in year one designed to help learners to understand the complexities and opportunities when designing for healthcare environment, as well as the importance of understanding stakeholders' needs (public involvement). This paper addresses the three steps taken to involve them in the project: (1) the research used to guide the selection of the problem; (2) the approaches we used to engage the students with an unfamiliar scenario, and(3) the involvement of students and stakeholders. The results of the student projects are discussed with some reflection on ways to improve teaching. In this way our ideas contribute to new and innovative approaches to learning and teaching in design through cross-disciplinary collaborations with healthcare researchers, academics, practitioners and patients. These approaches can help to overcome common challenges that might hinder design educators in proposing human-centred healthcare projects to students.

Know the Land, Save the Land: Apparel Design for Extension Education

We leveraged collaboration by a county Extension office, apparel design undergraduate students, and university faculty to develop an innovative educational product to capture the attention of new audiences for invasive plant education programming. Nationwide press highlighted the project—titled Know the Land, Save the Land—generating national interest and sales. We achieved our goal of using innovative educational materials to reach new audiences for Extension education. As well, the project is fiscally self-sustaining and continues to support experiential student learning opportunities for apparel design students through future product releases.

Hands-on versus virtual: Reshaping the design classroom with blended learning

The heart of design studio teaching is traditionally linked to one-on-one teaching activities and to the exchange of feedback prompting many design educators to think it does not lend itself to online delivery. This study explored how design educators can translate the essence of design studio pedagogy into a blended learning environment. The four-year study involving 119 first-year undergraduate design students reports on the development, implementation, and iteration of a blended learning experience in an introductory design subject. The subject followed a flipped classroom model where video lectures, software tutorials, and additional readings were delivered online through a Learning Management System; practical face-to-face tutorials allowed students to work on their projects, present their work, and engage in the dialogical learning process. Student and design instructor feedback was collected to evaluate the changes and overall effectiveness of the design of the blended learning experience, which proved to be effective.

Teaching Cultural Understanding to Undergraduate Graphic Design Students: A Case Study for Design Educators

Teaching Cultural Understanding to Undergraduate Graphic Design Students: A Case Study for Design Educators

CO-CREATION WORKSHOP FOR INTERFACE DESIGN - DESIGNING INNOVATIVE HMI FOR AUTOMATED VEHICLES


 
 
  The increasing growth in the development of new technology is changing the way users interact with products. Thus, designers must re-think the human-machine interfaces (HMI) for communicating information regularly. Co-creation – the process of joint creation of users and designers – is an approach to product and experience development that can substantially benefit the generation of innovative product proposals. The present paper aims to assess the feasibility of co-creation workshops for the development of proposals for interfaces of Artificial Intelligence derived products through a case study on interfaces for autonomous vehicles. For this purpose, two sessions of co-creation workshops using group brainstorming techniques were conducted with undergraduate and graduate Design students and professors, who are specialists in interaction and information design. The results showed that the interfaces proposed by the designers were communicated information in a wide range of ways, making use of existing technologies to present messages in an innovative manner, meeting autonomous vehicles’ users’ needs.
 
 

Designer Competency of the Fashion Design Undergraduate Students in Thailand: A Need Assessment Perspective

Abstract This study used a mixed approach research design. The objectives were to study employers’ and college instructors’ needs regarding the designer competencies of undergraduate fashion-design students in Thailand, and to propose a guideline for the development of designer competencies of undergraduate fashion-design students in Thailand. For the quantitative approach, the research samples included 250 business owners/designers and 163 college instructors from fashion design faculties in Thai universities. A questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Data were collected by email. A “need-assessment analysis” technique was implemented in the data analysis. Regarding the qualitative approach, 15 key informants were interviewed via the interview script. A “content analysis” technique was used to analyse the qualitative data in this research. The results revealed that the employers’ need for improved components of knowledge competencies was consistent with the need of college instructors: both placed a priority on the development of language knowledge, followed by product-management knowledge, innovative knowledge and design knowledge. The employers’ need for improved components of skill competencies was consistent with the need of college instructors: both placed a priority on the development of language skills, followed by product-management skills, innovative and technology skills, and design skills. The employers’ need for improvement of qualification competencies was consistent with the need of college instructors: both placed a priority on the social role, followed by inner drive and self-conceptualisation, respectively. However, the findings indicated a difference between their needs: employers found that none of the qualification competencies needed rapid development, whereas college instructors indicated that one component needed rapid improvement – the social role.

Undergraduate design students’ experience of risk-taking in an open-ended design project

In this article we investigate the student experience of risk-taking in an open-ended design project that appeared to be ideally suited to encourage risk-taking. The article is informed by a phenomenological case study documenting student experience of risk-taking during a concentrated, week-long design project. The data revealed multiple instances where students had taken risks and how they had experienced risk-taking. Three significant aspects of risk-taking in design education were identified in the data and explored. The first aspect considers how the students’ experience correlated with a theoretical educational approach that encourages risk-taking. The second provides a broad overview of the students’ experience of risk-taking during the project. The third draws out common student experiences that highlight that risk-taking is often prompted by the undefined and unexpected elements of a project and gaps in student knowledge, experience and skills.

Zeitgeist publication: a storytelling project with residents and design students

In Spring 2018 and then again in Fall 2018, residents in a long-term care facility came together with undergraduate communication design students, to co-design and co-write a mini publication series featuring resident stories. Through our project, small teams of two to three students were paired with two to three residents, to create a mini-publication over the course of six visits with each other. The purpose of the Zeitgeist project was to create a platform for meaningful exchange and social interaction between students, residents, their families and care home staff through both the design process and the final design outcomes. This project gives voice to residents, providing an opportunity for creative and emotional expression, stimulation of positive memories and the engagement of residents in a unique and meaningful activity. Simultaneously this project offers design students learning opportunities in storytelling, publication design, co-design and participatory design research. This project was inspired by the Zeitgeist Kollektiv, a public editorial design and storytelling project within a care home system.