AC AD EM IA 360°
BUILDING EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN EDUCATION
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n this column, we are building upon our experiences serving on the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) jury where we witnessed innovation in design thought, application, and manufacturing and had many fruitful discussions about design and all its facets with our fellow jury peers. We are curious to know what design excellence means for stakeholders in the academic environment. Below we highlight the voices of educators and students from different parts of the country in their response to a simple prompt:
“When thinking about design education excellence, I think about the importance of growth, practice, community, and resources. These components go hand-in-hand, guiding us students to reach our desired goals and full potential. As we work together to set each other up for success, our growth needs to be fostered by safe, adequate, and open-minded studio environments, relevant course offerings, dedicated faculty, and a commitment to not only ourselves but those around us as well. Design education doesn’t end in the classroom but should continue throughout all facets of the educational institution. This includes consistently advocating for student needs and acting on concerns, as well as facilitating introductions for professional relationships, community action, and future employment opportunities where students can continue to grow and learn through their chosen design practice.” —Dara Benno, S/IDSA, Masters of Industrial Design Class of 2022, Rhode Island School of Design
“2020 has impacted our education system drastically: For educators, they not only have had to shift the way they teach to keep the students engaged but also have had to update the materials they’re teaching to make it work for the virtual format. For students, they have had to rethink how they can get the most out of their design education experience while adapting to the new learning format as well. Interestingly, we have started to see some shifts in the learning experience and outcome from this interruption. More and more students have started to use design thinking to tackle more societal issues with a systemic approach by understanding the root cause of the problems they’re solving for, instead of only designing to resolve surface-level matters. Not only has this change provided students with more opportunities to figure out the issues they care about the most and the areas of focus they want to have as designers, it has also given the design educators a chance to restructure their courses and revise their class materials to allow their students to explore their passion and purpose during their design education. While 2020 has passed, we still and will always have many challenges ahead that need to be addressed in a more systematic and timely approach. We as designers can be the forces of change. Design education has a huge impact on shaping the next generation of designers’ way of problem-solving. Because systemic issues are by design, we as designers have a tremendous responsibility to use our skills purposefully to create the future we want to live in. To me, this emphasis on problem-solving through a more systematic approach is design education excellence.” —Danielle Chen, IDSA, designer, Huge, and adjunct faculty, Drexel University
INNOVATION FALL 2021
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