Overcoming the Challenges of Global Collaboration Through Design Education

Abstract

The challenges of integrating technology in global design classes have been published in the literature, but it is unclear if this knowledge makes its way back to the classroom. This paper investigates knowledge transfer by documenting the results of four workshops across two institutions and two distributed design classes. Participants were asked to identify the challenges of distributed design, the functionality of technologies to overcome the challenges and guidance on how best to perform distributed design to best help future students. 17 challenges, 10 functionalities and 8 guidelines were developed. The identification of challenges, functionalities and subsequent guidance created can be utilised to assist future students and educators of distributed design. Analysis of gaps in the knowledge identify where theories have not been transferred from literature to the classroom and will help to identify how best to fill the gaps in knowledge. The workshops also present a novel way to engage students in analysing their own collaborative work practices.

Use of Information and Communication Technology Tools in Distributed Product Design Student Teams

“…Even though researchers reported that students use various ICT tools in a distributed product based PBL courses, many challenges to their effective use still exist. Students can overcome some challenges using video conferencing, instant messaging and collaborative document editing tools (Brisco et al, 2019). However, learning new ICT tools might require a significant amount of time.…”

“…Students reported that they were more familiar with the tools they have chosen themselves and did not have time to learn another ICT tool given the course's high pace. Therefore, previous experience is one of the main forces that drive a decision on choosing another ICT tool (Brisco et al, 2019). Hence, students might feel that learning additional CAD tools is time-consuming and presents a distraction -a common reason for not adopting a suggested ICT tool (Verstegen et al, 2016).…”

“…Therefore, introducing new ICT tools might be beneficial for teams. Still, this introduction has to be organised considering students' previous knowledge and experience (Brisco et al, 2016(Brisco et al, , 2019 to avoid overloading students with new information (Verstegen et al, 2016).…”

“…Consequently, students' outcome from the PBL course might be affected. Furthermore, although there are some suggestions about which ICT tools students need and use during product design PBL courses (Brisco et al, 2016(Brisco et al, , 2019Verstegen et al, 2016), previous research reported the lack of tool support for product design PBL courses (Becattini et al, 2020;Vukašinović and Pavković, 2017). Therefore, it is still unclear which tools students use for different tasks during product design.…”

Lessons Learned in the Development of an Online 6-3-5 Digital Design Tool for Distributed Idea Generation

“…Some include specific templates for designers including decision making frameworks or ideation brainwriting. There are many case studies reported in the literature of distributed design teams conducting design activities as online technology capabilities grow, including synchronous CAD [2], social network sites [3], collaborative document editors [4], learning management systems [5], and video conference [6] for a range of design activities including design review meetings, democratic decision making (voting/polling), annotating concepts, CAD development and a range of design methods including TRIZ, design alternatives, market research and feedback from stakeholders. Over time, there have been novel developments of design methods and tools which are inspired by computer functionality.…”