With all of this reflection going on I have been increasingly been subjected to the “R” word. Since the GRC two colleagues and I have been piecing together a proposal for a new research and participatory learning course hopefully to be implemented into the 3rd year of undergraduate (communication design) studies in the following year. The framework for the course is to create a reflective learning environment where invited practitioners will work with the students in developing their industry related research project. Lecturers and research assistants will be used to facilitate the learning and delivery of the practitioners through practice-led research. What we are trying to do is create a participatory environment where the student, practitioner and lecturer participate in the learning, understanding and reflecting. The research project will be based around the design industry, i.e the students will be required to research and understand a particular area of the design industry that they are interested in.
While we were discussing the plan for the course the “r” word came up constantly and not just because we are all doing design research but the use of the word in undergraduate education became a taboo. Teachers who mentioned research to students almost always received an automatic reply of research being “too boring”, “too academic” for communication design. It would be also safe to say that the word scares students because of its “undeveloped” connotations. Because of its historical background in the sciences and academia (Boyer) its no wonder students now are having trouble with the term. The discussion grew towards labeling it another name to avoid negative reactions from the students. Ah yes, a discovery of knowledge through the practice of designing. A little long. Maybe more time needs to be spent on how we can integrate research in early education so that its not just a separate part of design education (a research course) but a system in the entire curriculum. There are many references in communication design arguing the importance of practice-led research for both practice and education but there are few institutions really using design research as an integrated part of the curriculum. (Ill jump back here in a second) Maybe design research needs a good advertising campaign…
Speaking earlier about references:
I just finished co-authoring an abstract paper for a DRS (Design research society) conference. The paper is basically a stripped down version of what we are trying to do with the research course. While helping write the abstract there were many questions that came out of how we were positioning the paper and what exactly was the course about. Is it about research?, participatory learning? reflection? Through discussion I came to realize that we were not really building a research course but creating a pedagogical model using participatory learning. Through the learning of all parties, research would develop and be reflected on. The niche, lets say of the course is that it is bringing in practitioners to be involved in the learning and reflection. Too many big words here…
Anyhow, during this process I was thinking of some references to help back it all up. The key to all of this was participatory learning, which was something that I knew very little about. I found many cases regarding the model in sciences and medicine (wow) but very little directed towards communication design. I will admit though my search was very preliminary and on the surface. What I did find out was that it originated in Scandinavian countries mainly involving industry and not education. Some schools have used the model in their curricula, in fact Daria Loi at RMIT (industrial design) has used participatory learning and reflection as a core element for undergraduate teaching by introducing a group diary as part of the design process. Other institutes such as the New Jersey Institute of technology also are working to engage students as active participants in the design process by exploring, reflecting and questioning, allowing the students to create their own knowledge which also brings in a constructivists model of learning.
So once again my journey takes me into unknown territories.