research on design education

AIGA Boston Presentation
Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…
by Meredith Davis

Assumptions (about how design is to be taught)
• Students learn best through experiences that move from simple to complex
• Every student should be doing the same thing at the same time
• Individual performance and control of outcomes are among the highest priorities
• The computer is an extension of traditional tools and media
• Underlying principles of “good design” are universal
• Graduate education in design should follow the model of the fine arts and be about refining
visual skills
Trends
• Increasing complexity in the scale of design challenges
• Thinking about the people for whom we design as participants in the design process
• Emergent and remix technologies; designing social interaction
• The importance of understanding community
• The demand for new knowledge base that supports new practices

AIGA Design Education
Plain Talk about Learning and a Life–in Design
Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl

Thoughts on Education:
"Students gain a preliminary understanding of the contemporary world (albeit in a very abbreviated fashion) and a basic design education. They learn about history, science, and literature on the one hand, and perception, composition, problem solving, and design making, on the other."
"Successful undergraduates can do little more than complete their course of study with a strong foundation and a vision for the future."
While at the Workplace:
"Entry into the design profession might be seen as a reduction in scale; it shrinks the world, with its enormous, perhaps unattainable possibility, to an office or a studio with practical problems to solve and work to be done. It provides a place for growth and development of visual and practical skills, perhaps a safe place from which to view the technological change, globalization, and interdisciplinary work that defines the profession today. Additional learning opportunities are often available to those who find mentors and become active in their local design communities."
"For some, work becomes less challenging, problems seem more routine, and a deeper satisfaction (previously experienced) is missing. Some will work through this circumstance, some will change jobs as a means to reinvigorate their growth, and some will leave the field altogether. Others will seek out a graduate program in design... it is a crucial moment in the designer’s professional life. "
New Problems for Graphic Design Today
"If we wish to consider ourselves designers of experience, then our work must be accessible to more points of view and engage communication in a more holistic way. It requires an understanding of exchange between objects and people, and people with each other."
A Full Life in Design?
"design was much more than a job, or even a career — it was a perspective on life. It was a way of being alive in the world. "
"find ways to keep learning, to nurture creativity and curiosity, to continue to question and reflect on design process and actions and the culture in which we all live."