Consideration of sustainability in product and industrial design courses is becoming more common and relevant within higher education in the UK. However little is known about how widespread the teaching is and what is actually understood as sustainable design with discrepancies in the definitions used in different institutions. Literature highlights that many universities now engage with the tangible environmental aspects of sustainable design, whilst the intangible social aspects are left unaddressed. This thesis explores methods for encouraging and enabling students to address the social aspects within sustainable product design (SPD) education. The first research stage presents the results of a nationwide survey, which investigated how widely SPD is taught, which social aspects are addressed, how SPD is taught and assessed and the attitudes and awareness of it amongst academics. The second research stage presents further research into best practice in SPD through detailed interviews with leading academics in the field. A third research stage built upon the findings from both these studies, and sought to address a perceived weakness in SPD education; the lack of understanding and consideration of the social aspects in sustainable product design in teaching and project outcomes. Three Rethinking Design workshops were developed and tested at five universities in the UK and Ireland. These workshops were designed to introduce students to the wider social aspects of SPD, through the use of audio visual group based workshops. The design of the workshops enabled a learning environment where a deep understanding of the social aspects of Sustainable Product Design could be developed through; group work, discussion and critical reflection, which led to students exploring design thinking responses, suggesting that deep learning, had occurred.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-05-25T12:16:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniele de Mello.pdf: 14934915 bytes, checksum: f82ae5d6fa942d10da98ea57fd46a000 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-25T12:16:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Daniele de Mello.pdf: 14934915 bytes, checksum: f82ae5d6fa942d10da98ea57fd46a000 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-20 / Nenhuma / O presente trabalho objetiva discutir as contribuições da perspectiva estratégica do design na educação, através da abordagem do Design Thinking, para apoiar professores na projetação de estratégias de ensino e aprendizagem, frente às transformações impulsionadas pelo avanço tecnológico que, por sua vez, modificam o ambiente escolar. Para tanto, esta pesquisa apresenta uma abordagem qualitativa de caráter exploratório, que conta com pesquisa bibliográfica - que oferece aporte teórico aos temas relacionados; etapa complementar quantitativa através de pesquisa survey - que buscou verificar percepções das escolas privadas sobre design, inovação e Design Thinking; seminário - realizado com instituições privadas a nível de ensino fundamental e médio, para apresentação de resultados prévios obtidos e ampliar a discussão sobre design e educação; e investigação do tipo estudo de caso junto aos Colégios Luterano da Paz e Luterano São Paulo - a fim de melhor compreender como o Design Thinking poderia contribuir para o contexto educacional de Porto Alegre/RS. Como principais resultados, cabe destacar o design atuando como um mediador na composição de estratégias para a troca e geração de novas ideias, bem como na identificação e solução de problemas, ao tempo em que desperta a comunidade escolar para a cultura colaborativa que, por sua vez, é necessário para inovar na educação. Para além da discussão, apresenta-se um quadro de referência de Design Thinking para ser utilizado por escolas na identificação e solução de problemas internos, de forma exploratória e criativa. / This study aims to discuss the contributions of the strategic design perspective in education, through the Design Thinking approach to support teachers in theplanning of teaching and learning strategies, due the transformations driven by the technology advancement that, in turn, modifies the school environment. For such purpose this research presents a qualitative exploratory approach, which includes literature review - that offers theoretical supportto related topics; complementary quantitative phase through survey research - that sought to verify the private schools’ perceptions on design, innovation and Design Thinking; seminar - performed with private institutions in the level of elementary and secondary education, to present preliminary findings and broaden the discussion about design and education; and a case study investigation with the schools Luterano da Paz and Luterano São Paulo- in order to better understand how Design Thinking could contribute to the educational context of Porto Alegre / RS. As main results it is worth mentioning the design acting as a mediator in the composition of strategies for the exchange and generation of new ideas, as well in the identification and solution of problems, by the time that arouses the school community for collaborative culture that, in turn, is necessary to innovate in education. In addition to this discussion, it is presented a framework of Design Thinking to be utilized in schools, in the identification and solution of internal problems, in an exploratory and creative way.

In this study, semi-structured interviews adopted from repertory grid studies are conducted with ten 5-year-old preschool children, during which children are asked to evaluate four types of construction play materials and four types of metallophones.In the study, the important design attributes of these two types of play materials preferred by preschool children are analyzed by gathering their own evaluation criteria. Based on the interview data, children&rsquo / s preferences, evaluation criteria and the reasons behind their preferences are tried to be identified. The results of the study show that, children evaluated construction play materials considering method of construction, form of the pieces, color, size, types of pieces, types of constructions, ease of construction and material. Children evaluated metallophones considering color, placement of the keys, sound, being in the openbeing closed, form, size, storage of the mallets, weight, size of the mallets, form of the keys, coding, number of mallets, number of keys, height and material. The study also includes the analysis of the relationships between children&rsquo / s evaluation criteria for each product group and comparison of the evaluation criteria related to construction play materials and metallophones.

This qualitative, ethnographic case study explores the professional development opportunities for teachers of adults in Pakistan in order to understand how these are currently experienced and what changes can be made to make them more effective. / This study took place mainly in Lahore, Pakistan. The study engaged six practitioners from different colleges, universities and government education departments: three teachers of adults, two professional development providers, and a professional development designer. Their perspectives were gathered in their indigenous languages - Urdu and Punjabi - using semi-structured interviews. The data collected was analysed using a Miles and Huberman (1994) style matrix which revealed five themes: unhappiness, school-based provision, social learning as the pedagogy, personalised generic teaching skill formation, and evaluation. These themes were explored to produce results which were used to generate a model of effective professional development. The results of this study indicated that teachers of adults, in Pakistan, wanting for change in their professional development practices, believe in school-based provision of professional development with social and reflective learning as the pedagogy. / Accordingly, this study contributes to the understanding of teachers of adults’ professional development needs, the types of professional support that they need, and how these should function within their own workplaces in Pakistan.

This thesis explores the relatively under-researched experiences of module design of academics employed within one UK university. In all, 96 people responded to an initial e-questionnaire survey, and 23 of these participated in follow-up semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data collected from both sources is the main focus of discussion. The thesis contextualises the research by presenting a brief description of the university of study and a sense of the social and political context of higher education in the few years preceding the onset of the project. Following this, there is a review of the existing literature around module and curriculum design. A separate chapter outlines the mixed methods employed to collect the data and the form of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) used to theme the qualitative data provided by the survey and interviews. The findings supported previous studies, but there was some contradictory data concerning assessment design, the value of the institutional approval procedures, and the usefulness of involving students in the design process. This study found that, as a result of the effect of institutional processes and documents on design, the consequence of changing student profiles (particularly around assessment), and the obligation staff feel to their students (despite their expressed lack of available time and resources), module design (and redesign) is more situation-informed than evidence-informed. It concludes that module designers employ a realistic and pragmatic approach to the process, even when their views, attitudes, and consciences around the rights and wrongs of the design process are sometimes questioned.

This thesis explores the relatively under-researched experiences of module design of academics employed within one UK university. In all, 96 people responded to an initial e-questionnaire survey, and 23 of these participated in follow-up semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data collected from both sources is the main focus of discussion. The thesis contextualises the research by presenting a brief description of the university of study and a sense of the social and political context of higher education in the few years preceding the onset of the project. Following this, there is a review of the existing literature around module and curriculum design. A separate chapter outlines the mixed methods employed to collect the data and the form of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) used to theme the qualitative data provided by the survey and interviews. The findings supported previous studies, but there was some contradictory data concerning assessment design, the value of the institutional approval procedures, and the usefulness of involving students in the design process. This study found that, as a result of the effect of institutional processes and documents on design, the consequence of changing student profiles (particularly around assessment), and the obligation staff feel to their students (despite their expressed lack of available time and resources), module design (and redesign) is more situation-informed than evidence-informed. It concludes that module designers employ a realistic and pragmatic approach to the process, even when their views, attitudes, and consciences around the rights and wrongs of the design process are sometimes questioned. / The full text was made available at the end of the embargo, 26th Oct 2020

This study aimed to evaluate the development process of Development and Learning course according to critical thinking based instruction in the Faculty of Commerce and Tourism Education at Gazi University by using Stufflebeam&rsquo / s Context, Input, Process, and Product evaluation model. Data were collected from various sources through qualitative and quantitative methods such as questionnaires, individual and focus group interviews, student journals, achievement test, and California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). The context evaluation results showed that there were problems in the attainment of course objectives and in the application of the effective instructional strategies for learning and improving thinking skills. Thereupon, at the input evaluation stage, the course was redesigned according to critical thinking based instruction. Pretest-posttest experimental study was carried out while implementing the redesigned course. Concerning the process evaluation, student journals pointed out that while critical thinking based instruction was effective on learning, thinking and metacognitive skills, students experienced some difficulties. Regarding the product evaluation, according to achievement pre-posttest and retention test results and CCTDI pre-posttest results, students in both groups showed a significant progress within a semester. However, there was no difference between treatment and control groups. On the other hand, in the focus groups interviews, the students from the treatment groups expressed the contributions of the course to their teaching and thinking skills, understanding and participation. In conclusion, though quantitative data addressed that critical thinking based instruction did not create difference compared to the traditional instruction, qualitative data delineated positive effects of this approach.

This thesis examines the potential of a learning outcome-led model of curriculum design to influence how students perceive learning in education studies within a modular context of a new university. It identifies and compares the conceptions of learning held by students and lecturers on traditional and outcome-led modules, and it explores and specifies the design factors which shape these conceptions. The issue is located within the interpretivist paradigm for the research seeks understanding which derives from the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs that students and their lecturers hold about learning in a given context. But the methodology employed is not wholly consistent with this paradigm, for a qualitative approach is complemented by the use of factor analysis techniques to facilitate the identification of the design features which influence how students perceive learning. The approach is thus eclectic drawing on quantitative methods to examine what is essentially qualitative data. An innovative model of learning outcome-led design is proposed, implemented and modified as a result of the research. The learner is placed at the centre of the learning experience which is defined as incorporating three domains: the teaching context; the assessment régime; and the directed learning undertaken by students outside of taught sessions. The model incorporates a trichotomy of outcomes which define the subject -specific, the transferable skills and the generic academic outcomes which influence directly both the content and process of learning, and which successful students are expected to achieve on completion of a module. The findings show that five design features influence how students perceive learning: the clarity of expectations; congruence between the content and process of each domain of the learning experience; direction in respect to the learning activities which should be undertaken in each domain to achieve the outcomes; and the content and process of the teaching context. The data suggest that a much higher profile should be given to metacognitive skills in curriculum development in HE because how students perceive both the process and the content of learning profoundly influences their conception of learning and, consistent with the underpinning theory, how they approach learning and therefore ultimately the kind of outcomes they achieve. The research leads to recommendations for the modification of the three models of learning in context; Ramsden (1988), Biggs (1990b) and Prosser (1995), which are presented and analysed in the thesis. The findings suggest that the learning experience should be redefined to specify the three domains - the teaching context, assessment régime and directed learning - and that clarity of expectations, metacognitive skills and congruence between the content and process of learning in each of the domains should be articulated as directly influencing students' conceptions of learning. The models should also seek to indicate that learning outcomes influence how students perceive learning, and that therefore they feature both at the starting point and as the end product of a contextualised learning process. The findings relating to students' conceptions of learning show that the study of outcome-led modules has resulted in a much greater degree of congruence between how lecturers and students perceive learning in a given module and that fewer students studying outcome-led modules hold a quantitative conception of learning. This suggests that the outcome-led model does have the potential to improve teaching and learning and consequently that there is an educational rationale for curriculum development premised on this model.

This statement gives an overall summary of the aims and achievements of the research work and scholarship carried out by the author during her time at The University of Manchester (and UMIST - now part of The University of Manchester) for which the publications presented give evidence. The research has been about exploring the design process, the activities and issues, and elements involved - from both an industry and student point of view. The publications explore design pedagogy, the skills required by designers and how these might fit into a curriculum for design today.In three parts it summarises the publications presented, reviews the main aspects of design and the current state of knowledge and research in design and summarises the core aspects as distilled from over 36 years practice, research and scholarship.The driver for much of the research undertaken has been to gain a better understanding of the core aspects of design - what key knowledge and skills are required by designers to allow the consistent design of better products and services which enhance the experiences of users. The work presented investigates design and design methods: the activities and processes and the elements involved. It considers responses to designs, the emotional aspect of design - why some designs are preferred over others, why some colour combinations are more desirable, and why repetition is so important to the human psyche. Underpinning the work presented are three research questions. • Are design rules and processes generic for whatever is being designed? • Can a better understanding of design theory and the emotional response to designs ensure a more effective process and thus lead to stronger designs? • Can students be educated to be better design thinkers and ultimately better designers? It concludes that: • 'design' is a process; • design is a problem-solving process and problem-solving is a design process; • for the most effective outcomes a creative and structured approach is required; • this process is based on generic rules and principles which are applicable across all discipline areas; • collaborative/cross disciplinary elements reinforce the concept that there are processes involved that are not unique to individuals or discipline specific; • a greater understanding of the process is of benefit to all individuals and organisations; • any design/problem solving activity will normally result in more than one solution option. The results of the research have informed the author's teaching practice and have been disseminated through publications to benefit the wider education arena. The work presented aims to inform students and design education practitioners.

Design/Build education in architecture schools is growing in popularity across North America. I have researched the development of this movement, particularly as it has influenced educational programs. This paper begins with a review of the history of design/build at the University level. These historical precedents chart the course of several major benchmarks that have influenced design/build in the United States over the past 100 years. The second part of the study features a matrix highlighting seven current academic programs with long-term success in design/build. Then, I highlight my own design/build experiences within this format. After determining successful design/build programming, I used this information to develop a new curriculum. To test this new system, I led the development and realization of a local design/build project involving a Five College undergraduate team. This small-scale project was chosen in January and the physical build occurred in March, 2015. Completion of this project allowed for a critical analysis of this new method. This paper compares my results with the initial definition of program successes in an attempt to determine best practices for design/build curriculum moving forward.