1st Teaching Design History Workshop 10 September 2010

Teaching design theory to design practice students

London Metropolitan University

10 September 2010

The Design History Society is launching the first in a series of workshops aiming to encourage a forum for sharing and thinking about our teaching practices. We particularly recognise that design history and theory is taught by many new to teaching or working part-time. We hope the workshops can offer a supportive network for practitioners in the field and we warmly welcome suggestions for future workshops.

Our first workshop addresses the special relationship between design history and design education. What particular issues does teaching theory to future practitioners raise? We have divided the day into two parts where the first will debate the ‘what we teach’: How do we develop a design history curriculum which responds to the needs of the field and the individual student? The afternoon will focus on writing and assessment. The plenary will bring our conversation together and raise further themes for future workshops to address.

Welcome and registration 10.30 - 11.00

What we teach: Curriculum and content. 11.00 – 12.30 AM

1. Histories: Developing histories for design
2. Methodologies: Introducing design students to methods for researching design.
3. Theories: The relevance of theoretical perspectives for design practice.

Lunch (provided) 12.30 - 2.00 PM

How we teach Writing and assessment 2.00 – 5.00 PM

1. Writing for design history: Writing - and academic writing in particular - can be a challenge for all design students. This workshop will address how can we best teach and support writing amongst a diverse body of design students.
2. Assessment and feedback: Coursework should be a part of a conversation between student and teacher. How do we enable assessment to be a positive learning experience and feedback to be effective and valuable to students?

5.00 – 6.00 PM Wine reception and plenary

This event is free and generously funded by the Design History Society. We would be grateful if you could circulate this to interested colleagues in your department. Registration is necessary.

For further details and to register, please contact Torunn Kjølberg (t.kjolberg@brighton.ac.uk)