Enhancing learner performance in design education for disadvantaged students : the case of Diploma programmes in Architecture and Jewellery Design and manufacture
- Saidi, Finzi, Nazier, Farieda
- Authors: Saidi, Finzi , Nazier, Farieda
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching , Design - Study and teaching - Curricula , Architecture - Study and teaching - Curricula , Jewellery design - Study and teaching - Curricula
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6094 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10967
- Description: Participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in South African higher education has been below acceptable levels and recent reports indicate that it is still in decline. Much has been discussed about the link of under-preparedness to poor performance of students. However not much has been discussed about under-preparedness of universities curricula for teaching an evolving student population in the design disciplines. This paper explores the implications of an increasingly diverse student body for curricula of design disciplines in higher education institutions. The paper uses the University of Johannesburg’s jewellery and architecture programmes to discuss curriculum change that has the capacity to enhance performance of students. The paper argues that student background can be used to develop responsive curriculum which contributes to effective learning for students in design disciplines- jewellery and architecture. The paper suggests a curriculum framework, based on students’ spatial origins, to developed teaching and learning practices that would enhance student performance and chances for success in their studies.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Saidi, Finzi , Nazier, Farieda
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching , Design - Study and teaching - Curricula , Architecture - Study and teaching - Curricula , Jewellery design - Study and teaching - Curricula
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6094 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10967
- Description: Participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in South African higher education has been below acceptable levels and recent reports indicate that it is still in decline. Much has been discussed about the link of under-preparedness to poor performance of students. However not much has been discussed about under-preparedness of universities curricula for teaching an evolving student population in the design disciplines. This paper explores the implications of an increasingly diverse student body for curricula of design disciplines in higher education institutions. The paper uses the University of Johannesburg’s jewellery and architecture programmes to discuss curriculum change that has the capacity to enhance performance of students. The paper argues that student background can be used to develop responsive curriculum which contributes to effective learning for students in design disciplines- jewellery and architecture. The paper suggests a curriculum framework, based on students’ spatial origins, to developed teaching and learning practices that would enhance student performance and chances for success in their studies.
- Full Text:
A role for information architecture in design education : indeterminate problems in design thinking
- Authors: Fenn, Terence , Hobbs, Jason
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Cyberdesign , Design - Study and teaching , Design thinking
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6084 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10932
- Description: When faced with complex problems that are situated in social reality many design students struggle to formulate meaningful and articulate responses to these problems. The cognitive skills required to solve complex problems are often learned only experientially. This paper argues for these latent, yet critical abilities, to be taught explicitly as part of a tertiary design education. This paper initially reviews the theoretical underpinnings of design thinking with a specific focus on the reciprocal relationship of the design problem and the subsequent solution. A range of the formative cognitive requirements needed to solve complex problems situated in broader society and within disciplinary practice are described in reference to the theoretical framework. In the subsequent sections of the essay, approaches to solving design problems are discussed particularly in reference to the theory of cyberdesign. In the concluding section of the paper the authors argue that the theory of cyberdesign may in a practical visual form be used as a tool for the development and representation of cognitive decisions while constructing meaningful design responses to complex problems.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Fenn, Terence , Hobbs, Jason
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Cyberdesign , Design - Study and teaching , Design thinking
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6084 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/10932
- Description: When faced with complex problems that are situated in social reality many design students struggle to formulate meaningful and articulate responses to these problems. The cognitive skills required to solve complex problems are often learned only experientially. This paper argues for these latent, yet critical abilities, to be taught explicitly as part of a tertiary design education. This paper initially reviews the theoretical underpinnings of design thinking with a specific focus on the reciprocal relationship of the design problem and the subsequent solution. A range of the formative cognitive requirements needed to solve complex problems situated in broader society and within disciplinary practice are described in reference to the theoretical framework. In the subsequent sections of the essay, approaches to solving design problems are discussed particularly in reference to the theory of cyberdesign. In the concluding section of the paper the authors argue that the theory of cyberdesign may in a practical visual form be used as a tool for the development and representation of cognitive decisions while constructing meaningful design responses to complex problems.
- Full Text:
Preparing undergraduate design students for complexity : a case study of the Johannesburg Art Gallery Project
- Authors: Fenn, T. , Hobbs, J.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Complexity , Innovation , Human centered design , Indeterminacy , Johannesburg Art Gallery , Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/377645 , uj:6133 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12478
- Description: This paper argues that preparing undergraduate design students for working with complexity, by requiring them to undertake discipline- neutral, indeterminate problems, is altogether manageable, appropriate and additionally, highly impactful on the student’s own practice and conceptualization of design. Key theories that will be introduced include Neil Johnson’s definition of complexity (2003), Richard Buchannan’s description of complexity in design and the corresponding restrictions assumptive design solutions place on innovation (1992), and Barry Wylant’s (2008) characteristations of innovative design practice. In order to exemplify the applicability of the theoretical framework this paper reflects on a complex design project that students from the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Multimedia undertook from June- September 2012. The design project sought to resolve many of the issues the Johannesburg Art Gallery, a municipal art gallery in downtown Johannesburg is faced with, as it strives to remain relevant to the city and people of Johannesburg. Issues include: communication approaches; building degradation; accessibility; operational concerns; social relevancy; politics; and economic sustainability.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Fenn, T. , Hobbs, J.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Complexity , Innovation , Human centered design , Indeterminacy , Johannesburg Art Gallery , Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/377645 , uj:6133 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12478
- Description: This paper argues that preparing undergraduate design students for working with complexity, by requiring them to undertake discipline- neutral, indeterminate problems, is altogether manageable, appropriate and additionally, highly impactful on the student’s own practice and conceptualization of design. Key theories that will be introduced include Neil Johnson’s definition of complexity (2003), Richard Buchannan’s description of complexity in design and the corresponding restrictions assumptive design solutions place on innovation (1992), and Barry Wylant’s (2008) characteristations of innovative design practice. In order to exemplify the applicability of the theoretical framework this paper reflects on a complex design project that students from the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Multimedia undertook from June- September 2012. The design project sought to resolve many of the issues the Johannesburg Art Gallery, a municipal art gallery in downtown Johannesburg is faced with, as it strives to remain relevant to the city and people of Johannesburg. Issues include: communication approaches; building degradation; accessibility; operational concerns; social relevancy; politics; and economic sustainability.
- Full Text: false
Praxis of design education to the current digital culture student
- Authors: Meiring, Elzabe
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6108 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12405
- Description: If “Design is shaped by the community and community shapes design” (DEFSA 2013 brief author), then how do we teach design to a culture that is engrossed within the ever-‐changing information age, what is the impact of this ethos on the current day designer and design? Today’s student is inclined to have an ethos that is different to students from as short as five years ago; post 2007, the year that social media started to be commonly used by South Africans, thus changing their ethos of design and continues to change as the digital information age develops. This paper looks at a design class, on third year level, as the Design Culture described by the conference outlines; understanding the dualism at play on the design process and the class group as the community. It investigates the culture that does not hold onto information, but has access to information at the press of a button. This investigation aims to understand the nature of this constantly changing culture and the influences the information age has on the ethos of a design culture. It investigates how teaching has to adapt to serve this digital culture and how learning happens within it. The paper considers the changes to the praxis of design; process of design, the nature of creativity and the communication of design within this ethos, the challenges and potential for growth that the information ethos brings with it. It aims to contribute to the discourse surrounding praxis of design teaching to today’s constantly changing, network driven design culture. In conclusion this investigation considers the influence of the digital culture on design cultures and aims to act as a catalyst to design educators to enrich the understanding of the cultures they are involved with and aims to contribute to the praxis of teaching design to a continually changing culture on the fringes or outskirts of the educator’s own culture.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Meiring, Elzabe
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6108 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12405
- Description: If “Design is shaped by the community and community shapes design” (DEFSA 2013 brief author), then how do we teach design to a culture that is engrossed within the ever-‐changing information age, what is the impact of this ethos on the current day designer and design? Today’s student is inclined to have an ethos that is different to students from as short as five years ago; post 2007, the year that social media started to be commonly used by South Africans, thus changing their ethos of design and continues to change as the digital information age develops. This paper looks at a design class, on third year level, as the Design Culture described by the conference outlines; understanding the dualism at play on the design process and the class group as the community. It investigates the culture that does not hold onto information, but has access to information at the press of a button. This investigation aims to understand the nature of this constantly changing culture and the influences the information age has on the ethos of a design culture. It investigates how teaching has to adapt to serve this digital culture and how learning happens within it. The paper considers the changes to the praxis of design; process of design, the nature of creativity and the communication of design within this ethos, the challenges and potential for growth that the information ethos brings with it. It aims to contribute to the discourse surrounding praxis of design teaching to today’s constantly changing, network driven design culture. In conclusion this investigation considers the influence of the digital culture on design cultures and aims to act as a catalyst to design educators to enrich the understanding of the cultures they are involved with and aims to contribute to the praxis of teaching design to a continually changing culture on the fringes or outskirts of the educator’s own culture.
- Full Text:
Critical engagement in informal settlements : lessons from the South African experience
- Bennett, Jhono, Osman, Amira
- Authors: Bennett, Jhono , Osman, Amira
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6103 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12400
- Description: This paper aims to present an approach to design thinking and teaching that takes the students and lecturers of design disciplines outside of the studio and university campus into contexts of deep complexity – informal settlements. Conventional methods of architectural practice are deemed to be of limited use or value in informal contexts. These informally- and incrementally- developed contexts appear chaotic and of little architectural value at first glance but, when examined closer, intricate systems of decision-making and negotiation are revealed. The quality of spatial articulation that emerges could not have been achieved through formal planning and design processes. The informal process results in a distinctive spatial quality as well as complex and varied forms of ownership and habitation models. The resultant fluidity and dynamism of these contexts offers critical lessons in design and the interaction between the different decision-makers/agents intervening at various levels of the built environment at any given time. As students and lectures engage with these contexts, employing tools such as structured mapping exercises, a better understanding can be achieved, as well as more appropriate design-decision making strategies for future interventions. By understanding the existing energies, activities and quality of routes, nodes and thresholds within these contexts, architects are better equipped to propose context-sensitive and sustainable solutions. The intention is to better prepare students to engage in non-conventional professional practice – while the lecturers, and the institution to which they belong, are able to make meaningful contributions to a broader debate regarding the role of the profession and the professional in contexts of informality. Through this process, it is also possible to provide much-needed services to identified vulnerable communities. However, the significance of the approach goes beyond that and involves the up-skilling of residents, the gathering of crucial data about the context, acquiring critical first-hand experience of the selected settlements; it also offers lessons on action research and knowledge on sustainable and socially-relevant technical solutions. The latter is achieved by identifying possible catalyst interventions, enabling the testing of development concepts through active build projects.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bennett, Jhono , Osman, Amira
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Design - Study and teaching
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6103 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12400
- Description: This paper aims to present an approach to design thinking and teaching that takes the students and lecturers of design disciplines outside of the studio and university campus into contexts of deep complexity – informal settlements. Conventional methods of architectural practice are deemed to be of limited use or value in informal contexts. These informally- and incrementally- developed contexts appear chaotic and of little architectural value at first glance but, when examined closer, intricate systems of decision-making and negotiation are revealed. The quality of spatial articulation that emerges could not have been achieved through formal planning and design processes. The informal process results in a distinctive spatial quality as well as complex and varied forms of ownership and habitation models. The resultant fluidity and dynamism of these contexts offers critical lessons in design and the interaction between the different decision-makers/agents intervening at various levels of the built environment at any given time. As students and lectures engage with these contexts, employing tools such as structured mapping exercises, a better understanding can be achieved, as well as more appropriate design-decision making strategies for future interventions. By understanding the existing energies, activities and quality of routes, nodes and thresholds within these contexts, architects are better equipped to propose context-sensitive and sustainable solutions. The intention is to better prepare students to engage in non-conventional professional practice – while the lecturers, and the institution to which they belong, are able to make meaningful contributions to a broader debate regarding the role of the profession and the professional in contexts of informality. Through this process, it is also possible to provide much-needed services to identified vulnerable communities. However, the significance of the approach goes beyond that and involves the up-skilling of residents, the gathering of crucial data about the context, acquiring critical first-hand experience of the selected settlements; it also offers lessons on action research and knowledge on sustainable and socially-relevant technical solutions. The latter is achieved by identifying possible catalyst interventions, enabling the testing of development concepts through active build projects.
- Full Text:
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