Conversations in Design Education

What is our charge? What are we trying to do?

·       Student profiles? Their future Aspirations? Emerging global dimensions.

·       How is the profession changing? How do we best prepare the students?

·       We are a design profession and the quality of the student work is the acid test / remember, parents pay us to participate in insuring their children's future.

How do students learn? How should we teach?

·       We fine-tune curricula / we fine-tune studio structures and syllabi / we rarely examine how students learn, as well as our own teaching and review methodologies and performance.

·       Education of primary teachers  – 4 years with constant reviews.

·       École des Beaux-Arts.

·       Domains of learning / knowledge, attitude, skills.

·       Teacher training in our graduate programs / video-tape protocol.

·       Cognition

·       Learning theory.

·       MB & MMPA – personality profiles.

·       Small group behavior.

·       Leadership.

·       Interpersonal communication.

·       Active listening theory.

·       Neurophysiology of divergent thought / creative thinking.

Questions: 

·       What is “good design”?

·       How do you identify “good design”?

·       How do you do it?

·       Where do good ideas come from?

·       Objectify process as learnable.

·       Can creative thinking be taught?

Trust:

·       Students should trust that you are very good at what you profess.

·       They should trust that you have their best intentions at heart.

·       They should trust that you will do what you say.

·       They should trust that what you say is relevant to their future.... they are all in a search of relevancy.

·       This is not "blind trust". This is trust earned everyday.

My research and experience in design education indicate that some phenomena consistently appear to be productive ingredients in successful learning and teaching environments: trust, respect, enthusiasm, and effective leadership. They are, of course, all interrelated and difficult to discuss in isolation from one another.

I have observed in many exceptional design and planning programs that administrative and studio leadership were actively involved in 'trust-building'. It is my experience that without trust, everyday misunderstandings can become betrayals, and individuals (faculty and students) can over-personalize criticism and seek to hide performance problems. Without trust .... risk-taking, innovation, and creativity are often stifled.

golden rule / the ethics of reciprocity

Many design studios initially ask that the student make a leap of faith in learning to design. At times, design can become subjective, emotionally volatile, and intimidating. Students, who have excelled in other academic endeavors, can become anxious about design, designing, and learning to design. The initial steps can be especially bewildering as we are asking students accomplished in cognitive domains of learning to also engage learning in both affective and psychomotor domains as well.

   objectify process

   group critiques

   collective case study review (frequent)

I have observed several exceptional design teachers that appear to have diverted their attention to 'student learning' rather than focus exclusively on teaching methods and curriculum design. These individuals appear to have developed a repertoire of situational responses to individual student needs, desires, and personal alignments. They were quite effective at establishing a rapport with individual students that eventually evolved into mutual respect and trust. In situations such as these, defensiveness seemed to abate, and collaborative idea building became a real possibility.

learning theory

domains of learning

small group behavior

 

I believe that enthusiasm for the material, the process, and the people involved in design enables many exceptional educators to effectively build learning environments where ideas flow freely, unimpeded by excessively harsh criticism, and where the advantages of collaboration are consistently apparent. In this context, enthusiasm can become motivational, and could be described as an enabling process where teachers and administrators listen, question, reflect, empathize, and advise in sincere, non-manipulative manners. They look for strengths and possibilities rather than core-defects and inevitabilities.

 

leadership

divergent thinking

interpersonal communications

Process specifics:

·       Model studios on best office practices and professional expectations.

·       Willingness to jettison ineffective methods and sublimate ego / embrace new technologies and methods / software, fabrication, materials ....

·       Process efficiency (more time to develop ideas) / studio critiques / presentation techniques.

·       Ordering Systems.

·       Sources of form.... diagram how these are used.

·       Applied research approach to design / lit. rev. - case study analysis – detailed env. and contextual analysis, demographic survey analysis....identifying sources of form not merely collecting data.

·       Design diaries / rapid hand diagramming technique. Easy to change and elaborate ideas quickly – use in all phases of design. Facilitates accountability and design communication, (will likely soon become digital).

·       Constant generation of multiple alternatives and then synthesis, (develop design processes that result in predictably excellent products).

·       Studio charrette strategies / ideas as public domain.

·       Frequent (in progress) review.....sometimes once a week. 

·       Never critique without drawing multiple alts. to resolve a problem.

·       Develop digital fluencies .... jump regularly from diary to computer.

·       Interactive case study review - on a daily basis.

·       Interactive dress rehearsal – on a daily basis (the “bad guy” - to tighten design and verbal defenses).

·       Individual master plans, programs, building types.

·       Intra-class critiques on a regular basis / intra-project presentation.

·       Team design and review / idea building.....jump from group to individual work regularly.

·       Interpersonal communications – usually takes about 2 or 3 weeks for students to perceive you have their best interests at heart.

·       Draw, draw, draw – multiple alternatives.

·       Sublimate ego – listen carefully.

·       Deliver lecture material when the students are aware they need the information....keep it directly relevant.

·       Actively build ideas with students off of their initial intentions.

·       Pass the pen…. ask accountability from jurors in their remarks ask that they draw / diagram optional solutions to problem areas in student designs.

·       Humor defuses so much.

Curriculum:

·       Four-year program needs acceleration.

·       1^st and 2nd year – accelerate.

·       Utilize vertical, interdisciplinary, international, options and outreach studios.

·       Introduce sustainable practices / and LEED seminars.

·       Consider integration of research, teaching and service into our academic paradigms.

·       Collective leadership strategies / collaborative idea-building / develop creative learning environments.

·      Integrate design education training into our graduate program.

Jury - Studio Protocols / Discussion: 

·      What is “good design”?

·      How do you identify “good design”?

·      How do you do it?

·      Where do good ideas come from?

·      Objectify process as learnable.

·      Can creative thinking be taught?

·      How do you build ideas?

BILKENT UNIVERSITY: INSTRUCTOR AND COURSE EVALUATION BY STUDENTS

BILKENT UNIVERSITY: INSTRUCTOR AND COURSE EVALUATION BY STUDENTS

https://stars.bilkent.edu.tr/...&semCode=20172&crsCode=ARCH&crsNum=402&brCode=1&evalcrypt=15aa1872075a40fc2f5f25ef72850761[11/8/2018 4:52:21 PM]

¬ What are the strongest and weakest points of the instructor?

- The best design instructor ever!