Systems thinking and connecting the silos of design education

Hyuna Park, Eric Benson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

While the design industry is a complex and multidimensional landscape, the current design curriculum lives in stark contrast: linear and compartmentalized. University product design curricula are mainly insular, where studio art is separated from liberal arts courses, despite their close physical and theoretical proximities. While this separation allows students to effectively attain proficiency in skill-sets relevant to the product design discipline, students do not learn how liberal arts education can complement their design knowledge. These silos of practice stand in opposition to the type of creative processes and collaborations necessary to help solve the issues that humanity faces today. Wicked problems like climate change must be discussed in design education. The solutions to these problems mandate collaboration with other disciplines such as anthropology and/or engineering. This article is a proposal for new research examining how a liberal arts "integrated" design education may enhance the design students' systems thinking abilities. A more effective design curriculum will need to employ a systems thinking methodology, so a project can be viewed as a part of an entire system of connected concerns. This mode of thinking would not render the designer a generalist, but instead one that is always seeking to collaborate and explore outcomes outside of their typical artifacts. This article will also examine how the current product design education is structured and, despite the differences in the teaching and learning environment of liberal arts courses are different from studio art courses, they could and should work together effectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education
Subtitle of host publicationDesign Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013
Pages277-281
Number of pages5
StatePublished - 2013
Event15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013 - Dublin, Ireland
Duration: Sep 5 2013Sep 6 2013

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013

Other

Other15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013
Country/TerritoryIreland
CityDublin
Period9/5/139/6/13

Keywords

  • Integrated education system
  • Interdisciplinary
  • Liberal arts
  • Systems thinking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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