THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Design

Undergraduate Course: Product Design: Electronic Things (DESI08084)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course offers an introduction to the design of products that use electronics and software to sense and respond to their environment.
Course description Through a series of lectures, design studies and workshops, students will be introduced to the use of digital technology to create objects that engage with their social and physical settings. The course provides an understanding of how designers are increasingly required to work with electronics and microprocessors in order to create products that are responsive and agential around their human counterparts.

Through an introduction to hardware and software platforms, students will be supported in the designing of digital artefacts. Digital artefacts are capable of sensing the world around them, interpreting and re-presenting the data to the people with whom they co-exist. Creation of these artefacts combines the social science goal of collecting information about the use and the users of the technology in a real- world setting, the engineering goal of field-testing the technology, and the design goal of inspiring users and designers to think of new kinds of technology to support their needs. A combination of a series of lectures that reflect upon current creative electronic practice, and workshops that provide technical and creative will support students to develop their own electronic artefacts for deployment in settings informed through their own interests.

This course will:

1. Introduce students to the use of electronics in creating physical products.
2. Develop student skills in the use of software and hardware for sensing, recording and reacting to data.
3. Develop student skills in the analysis of data from the capture methods toward the definition of design briefs.
4. Introduce students to designing technological products in a user-oriented manner.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Small electronics purchases, typically less than £50
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  15
Course Start Semester 1
Course Start Date 18/09/2017
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Formative Assessment Hours 3, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 159 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) The semester long combination of review, reflect and make will result in two distinct outputs:

1. The development of a technical device that responds to its environment. 40%
2. The design and development of a technological artefact that functions within a specific social setting in such a way as to promote interaction. 60%

Relationship between Assessment and Learning Outcomes:
Learning outcomes will be assessed through presentations at midway point and a final presentation / submission in week 12. Students will be expected to give an overview of the research and studio practice that led to these outputs.

Learning Outcomes will receive the same assessment weighting (33.33%), with 40% of each LO being determined by the first assignment, and 60% by the second assignment.
Feedback Formative spoken feedback will be provided during weekly tutorials and mid way assessment of the 1st output, with written formative feedback after the 1st output.

Summative written feedback will be provided following both outputs.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate skills in the development of technical devices that collect and respond to data in real-time.
  2. Design artifacts that are informed by a study of a social setting, and that are engaging for the user/s so as to promote interaction.
  3. Demonstrate the analysis of empirical data through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Reading List
Nussey, J. (2013) Arduino For Dummies, Wiley. ISBN-13 9781118446379
Platt C Make: Electronics, (Maker Media Inc, 2009, ISBN: 978-0596153748)
Dawes B Analog In, Digital Out, (New Riders, 2006, ISBN: 978-0321429162)
Maeda J Creative Code: Aesthetics and Computation, (Thames & Hudson, 2004, ISBN: 978-0500285176)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research and Enquiry, Technical/practical skills, Communication
KeywordsElectronics,Software,Arduino,Sensors,Empirical data
Contacts
Course organiserDr David Murray-Rust
Tel:
Email: D.Murray-Rust@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Karolina Mazur
Tel: (0131 6)51 5712
Email: Karolina.Mazur@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information