Abstract
Education for Sustainable Design (ESD) requires a comprehensive systems approach to higher education design practice-based course and curriculum development. Internationally recognized agencies stress the current need for ESD to address climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and public health impacts. In practice-based design programs, curriculum maintenance is complex, addressing more than individual class structures, and continuously evolving through ongoing assessment not only of students’ comprehension but also ensuring content relevant to the designated practice discipline and positive environmental outcomes. Teachers in practice-based programs must strike a balance between constructivist pedagogies supporting students creating their own knowledge to the detriment of not acquiring best practice knowledge, and cognitive-based or “instructivist” delivery methods that can discourage innovation. In the context of ongoing research in interdisciplinary sustainable design education, this paper focuses on the teachers’ comprehensive pedagogical role across course design and curriculum strategies including the position of the student within the class experience. Studies have shown that design students learn in many ways, with an individual often employing multiple styles. Learning styles are informed by perceptual modalities, information processing methods, and personality models. Studio class teaching methods, appropriate for practice-based programs and for accommodating learning style diversity, include Kolb’s Learning Styles, Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and Active Learning course structures which are not confined to one theory. This research showcases how teachers have responded robustly to sustainable design education utilizing a variety of active learning strategies including project-based learning, service learning, participatory action research (PAR), and interdisciplinary or cross disciplinary collaborative learning.
Presenters
Johnnie StarkAssociate Professor of Interior Design, Design Department, University of North Texas, Texas, United States Barbara Trippeer
Assistant Professor, Design Department, University of North Texas, Texas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
PRACTICE-BASED DESIGN PROGRAMS, SUSTAINABLE DESIGN CURRICULUM, LEARNING THEORY, DIDACTIVE STRATEGIES
