Evolving a model of learning in design

The purpose of this paper is to report on an investigation into pupil beliefs about designers and designing conducted as part of a research project focussing on Designerly Activity in Secondary Design and Technology which builds upon a pilot study (Barlex and Trebell in Int J Technol Design Educ, 2007). Four research questions drove this element of the study: (a) What do pupils believe designers do? (b) What do pupils believe about the knowledge and skills designers must possess? (c) What do pupils believe designers are like? (d) What do pupils believe about the design decisions made by the designer of a given product? This paper compliments the work of Welch et al. (Designing the future: The design and technology association international research conference 2006, University of Wolverhampton, Telford, 2006) relating to student beliefs about designers and designing by drawing on some elements of the research design to inform this study. Pupil responses to questions relating to the role of the designer, what designers are like and what designers need to know are in line with the findings of Welch et al. (Designing the future: The design and technology association international research conference 2006, University of Wolverhampton, Telford, 2006) in their study of elementary students beliefs about designers and designing with both studies concluding that the qualities ascribed to the designer are positive and non-stereotypical-they can be young or old, female or male. Keywords Designers Á Designing Á Design and technologyThe nature of design activity as revealed by some design professionals Design of the kind undertaken by professional designers could be considered one of the most intellectually demanding types of thinking as it involves both procedural knowledge, that is, knowing how to do something and declarative knowledge, that is factual or conceptual knowledge (Lawson 2004). In addition designers are required to understand a broad range of contexts and to be able to respond to briefs in a creative manner. Cross

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Design Activity As Revealed By Pupilsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Exploring pupils’ beliefs about designers and designing

Trebell

2009

“…The repetition of 'what if' moves increases the pupil's understanding of the issues, thereby informing, guiding and stimulating further designing (Schö n & Wiggins, 1992). It is, in effect, a powerful learning tool that the designer uses to learn about the design proposal as he or she is creating it (Sim & Duffy, 2004). This indicates that they all had a clear grasp of process relevant generic features required to support designing and making in design and technology and used this in their approach to teaching for creativity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Perspectives on pupil creativity in design and technology in the lower secondary curriculum in England

Rutland

Barlex

2007

This paper is based on work carried out as part of a research study into the professional practices of secondary design and technology teachers in England. It focused on fostering creativity or teaching for creativity as defined by the Robinson Report (1999, All our futures: creativity, culture and education. London: Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)) for pupils aged 11-14 years. The overall research question that drove this study was ''to what extent can teachers influence the creativity of pupils aged 11-14 years in design and technology lessons?'' The paper provides the basis used to generate a unique theoretical threefeature model or framework that can be used to explore creativity within an educational context. The findings of three investigations in the study are presented in this paper. The first and second investigations looked at what could be learnt from the professional practices of art and design and design and technology teachers and the views of four 'expert' teachers known for their ability to develop the creative potential of their pupils. The data is discussed under emerging themes and it is used to inform specific criteria in the evolving theoretical three-feature model for creativity. The model is then used to analyse the data from the third classroom based investigation and the findings are discussed under the emerging themes to help identify the issues related to fostering creativity within the design and technology classroom. This paper discusses the implications of the research for classroom practice and suggests that, as creativity is a complex, multi-faceted concept and process, the theoretical three-feature model and related criteria evolved in the study provides a sound framework to explore creativity within an educational context. As a tool it helps identify examples of good practice and highlight areas that require further attention by teachers aiming to foster their pupils' creativity. It is suggested 2007 that design and technology teachers have lessons to learn from the practices of their art and design colleagues and 'expert' design and technology teachers. It is concluded that there is a need for greater understanding by teachers of their implicit theories regarding teaching, learning and creativity. A wider use could be made of the breadth of strategies outlined by the 'expert' teachers. This would help address the weakness identified in the school based study and strengthen classroom practice when teaching for creativity.

“…Its repeated use also increases the designer's understanding of the issues, thereby informing, guiding and stimulating further designing both within and outside the given design situation (Schö n & Wiggins, 1992 Fig. 1 The design decision pentagon tool that the designer uses to learn about the design proposal as he or she is creating it (Sim & Duffy, 2004).…”

Section: What It Means For Pupils To Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design-without-make: challenging the conventional approach to teaching and learning in a design and technology classroom

Barlex

Trebell

2007

The purpose of the study reported here was to investigate the use of a design-without-make unit as part of the design and technology curriculum with pupils aged 14. Three research questions drove the study: (a) What sort of designing do pupils do when they work collaboratively to design without having to make what they have designed? (b) What is the teachers' attitude to design-without-make? (c) What is the pupils' attitude to design-without-make? The study is a small pilot and data were collected using semi-structured interviews with a class teacher and two pupils and detailed scrutiny of five pupils' design ideas developed during 6 lessons towards the end of an 18 lessons teaching sequence. Findings indicate that the teacher and pupils in this study responded favourably to design-without-make. The pupils' designing was highly iterative, creative, involved making a wide range of design decisions and revealed understanding of technological concepts.