A Guide for the Standard Structure of the First Year of Industrial Design Education

Abstract

The creation of a guide for the production of a standard structure for the foundations year of industrial design education is the essential purpose of this thesis. This teacher’s aid will offer a resource for instructors to reference when creating a foundations year studio curriculum, thus, providing a means for guided discovery and the development of a departmental structure. This study will discuss the psychology of adult learning to best introduce design students to abstract concepts. The definitions of the elements and principles of design will be described and their inherent psychological references will be outlined. This study will also explore relationships among the fundamentals to best propose a chronological order for presenting the foundations elements and principles in the first year of design. The focus of this thesis will be the design of a device an instructor can interact with to aid in the creation of a curriculum. The teacher’s aid will discuss the importance and the instructions for use of the following preparatory resources; core concept teaching points, interactive note taking devices project idea sources, visual descriptions of the principles and elements, student evaluation materials, self-reflection sections and a guide for documenting your work as well as that of the students. This thesis will culminate in a product design section for fabrication of a physical transportation device to organize and store the interactive guide and teaching materials. The purpose of this aid would be to not only provide a standard basis for design foundations studios, but also to encourage the professor to add ideas, create and try new projects, and record what works and what does not, thus creating a solid curriculum.