Teaching design foundation online for non-major students: Challenges and discoveries in crossing boundaries

Paper

This proposed session will first address the differences between the design pedagogy of studio-based learning and that of online learning by exploring the boundaries and limitations of both platforms in the contemporary context. In design education, studio teaching is the traditional mode of learning and environment for instruction. The roots of studio-based training can be traced to the guilds of the Middle Ages where apprentices learned under the direction of a master artist or craftsman. The Beaux Arts method, a teaching system developed in Paris, has been recognized as one of the standards of teaching in North America, where studio-based education was established in modern time. To understand the Beaux Arts training method, Donald A. Schön provides us with the concept of "reflective practice" or "a dialogue of thinking and doing." Discussion in this session will address how online learning is not a favourable delivery method of teaching for studio-based design education.

Second, the session will examine students' expectations in a studio versus in a fully online environment from a technical transition perspective. In a design studio education framework, Schön identified that design can only be learned by experimentation, cannot be learned in isolation, and he stressed the importance of the ability to appreciate or recognize covetable design outcomes through designing processes. In the classroom and in project critiques sessions of studio courses, instructors often fall back on "telling" and "demonstrating" and students learn by "listening" and "imitating." Using Learning Management Systems, such as Moodle and Blackboard, for online education, studies have found that it is possible to set up a framework for a design studio course in a virtual environment. However, the delivery of teaching in those modes is often reduced to the instruction level rather than encouraging students to experiment and experience through class interactions. Dialogues in this session will also reference curriculum design and present feedback from students as part of a case study of an online design foundation course at the post-secondary level. Presenters will also review how course design paired with digital tools can simulate the studio learning environment and facilitate creation in students' design projects.

Finally, the session will include a discussion on how knowledge on design or design literacy is important for our ever-changing social media and technology driven world, and why design educators should take a proactive role and reach out to design non-major students. Studio-based learning usually starts with the inquiry of a design problem followed by a process of exploration, critique and final juried evaluation. The instructors' role is to provide guidance for the completion of the final work through class interactions in the studio. The session's focus of inquiry, therefore, will be on the responses and learning progress of students from various disciplines and with no prior creative experience who are tackling the reflective learning expectations and process-based education of an online course through discussion forums and by navigating the design basic requirement of computer competency.

Takeaway

This session has three key takeaways: an overview of the current research on design education; review of a case study of an online design course for non-majors; and learn of the first person teaching experiences and critical issues related to the aforementioned course.

First, attendees will have the opportunity to consider the differences between traditional studio-based education and online learning through the lens of a case study of an online introductory level course on design foundation for non-major design students. In design education, especially in graphic design, there are very few research studies on design-based teaching approaches, and literature on online learning is also limited. Research on design education at the post-secondary level that is conducted in a virtual learning environment or via online education has been under investigation but is inadequate when compared with the network technology advancements and increased online course offerings in the recent two decades. Also, comparison studies between the traditional, small studio-based art and design education versus the large lecture format and educational opportunities beyond the classroom setting are rare. Attendees will benefit from this brief overview of the current research landscape in this area.

Second, attendees will review a case study based on my online design course set-up in Moodle for non-major design students at York University, Toronto. The course has no classroom meetings and all interactions are conducted through Moodle. The course requires students to be proactive learners, employ excellent time management skills, and be self-disciplined in order to succeed. Student activities include writing summaries of lectures and responses on reading assignments as well as participating in technical exercises. With the reflective learning design pedagogy simulated in this online course, students partake in design process reviews, deliver screencast-recorded presentations, and critique their colleagues' projects. For non-major design students without previous creative experience who assume design is about making things pretty, the course has proven to be overwhelming for many. In walking through the course structure and teaching elements, session attendees will be informed of a possible way of crossing the boundary between studio-based and online learning in design education.

Finally, through a review of documented interactions in the open discussion forum in Moodle between the teaching team and the students as well as the latter's design project submissions-both drawn from the case study-attendees will learn of the critical issues that I had not envisioned in my design of the course. DESN1010 Introduction to Design has two key learning objectives: to provide students with design literacy on the contemporary professional practice of visual communication design through lectures, readings/writing exercises, technical skills tasks, design projects, and participation in project presentation reviews and critiques. Due to the volume of technological literacy content, unfamiliarity with the reflective learning model and the creative process, misconceptions about design, and a lack of face-to-face support through the classroom setting, students have expressed feelings of isolation and of being lost in the learning process. Attendees will take away this first person teaching experience from the presenter.

Abstract

With the advancements in network technology and increases in online courses in higher education, the field of design education in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has not been fully investigated. Research comparing the tradition of small studio art and design education versus the large lecture format and educational opportunities beyond the classroom setting is also rare. This paper will explore the boundaries crossing issues in studio-based design education and online learning through the lens of a case study of an existing online course for non-major design students, DESN1010 Introduction to Design, delivered at York University, Toronto, Canada in the Winter 2018 term. My paper argues that design education is one of the important transition zones between disciplines, technologies and knowledge in today's social media and technological driven world, and design educators should take a proactive role to reach out to non-major students at the university level.

The edge effects include the pedagogical topic of "reflective practice" studio-based learning of design and the instructional-based teaching of online education. Through the lens of students' experiences with this online course-their receptions, responses and interactions documented in Moodle-the examination and analysis will be closely informed by Donald A. Schön's (1985) philosophy of design education on reflective practice. The inquiry will also draw from research studies and online pedagogy in VLE for design and learner characteristics of online learning. Through the studio versus online comparison, I will map out the pedagogical issues of these two learning and teaching approaches.

Another boundary that this inquiry will examine is the contemporary landscape for online learning, how the digital environment and modern technology can be combined in support of traditional studio-based design learning, and the challenges that instructors and students face in online learning. Research studies point out that the pre-programmed approach or the criteria-based learning approach in online education does not help students to gain exposure to creativity and experience in process-based studio education. Based on the case study, this paper will draw examples from students' responses in the course's discussion forum and through postings on design project process reviews and critiques.

Finally, this paper will investigate the edge of learning of design from the non-major design students' perspectives. Many students without previous creative education are not familiar with a learning method with grey areas where they cannot expect absolute correct answers. I am observing students who are feeling pressure to be perfect in their execution of creative activities even when proficiency is not expected or part of the assessment criteria. With the students' diverse disciplines, this case study provides an excellent opportunity for a discussion of the issues and needs of students with no or minimal prior design knowledge and literacy. The paper will conclude with recommendations for a better education approach for studio-based design learning other than the fully online model that is prevalent in our current technological age.