Postgraduate Course: dLab(2): Design for Technical Change (DESI11106)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This DesignLab (dLab) interrogates the complex challenges and issues contemporary societies face that are technological in nature. Drawing directly from issue-based themes from the RCUK Global Challenges Areas and the UN's Global Goals, each year a particular area is identified for critical examination through design-led interventions, leading to propositions and prototyping of alternative futures interrogating the impact that the relentless pace of technological change and development, in various forms, has on the lives of individuals and their communities of practice.
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| Course description |
More big data, delivered even faster; so much electronic waste; robotic factories making traditional work and skills redundant; cars that drive themselves. What is the real influence and impact of new technologies on the future lives of people and communities? As some believe we are approaching a singular consciousness with the machine, and technological progress accelerating at a rate where people and communities struggle to adapt, what is the human cost? A human centred approach to technology (rather than a technology-centred approach to humans) is the heart of dLab(2): Design for Technical Change, where we interrogate and speculate on dystopic, technical futures through design-led methods, communicating new insights and deep understanding regarding the relationship between human needs and our capacity to absorb accelerated technological progress.
In dLab(2): Design for Technical Change, we place speculative and critical practices at the heart of understanding the relationships forged between peoples and technologies of all kinds and at all levels, to examine how new relationships and interactions can be constructed and enacted, leading away from dystopic futures to understanding how others may define new utopias, for better, healthier and more balanced interaction between people and the machines and technology which are continually finding their ways into our lives.
Each year, one dLab theme is identified in partnership with relevant stakeholders, drawn from the Global Challenges debates - the UN Global Goals and the RCUK Global Challenge areas provide insights into the selected themes. Through coursework teaching design-centred practices through issue-based contexts, you¿ll learn to analyse the circumstances, synthesize findings in a designerly way, and evaluate, with others, successful pathways leading to preferential change within the identified theme. Communication and reflection are key components of design practice we foster throughout coursework over the semester.
In dLab(2): Design for Technical Change, we place speculative and critical practices at the heart of understanding the relationships forged between peoples and technologies of all kinds and at all levels, to examine how new relationships and interactions can be constructed and enacted, leading away from dystopic futures to understanding what how others may define new utopias, for better, healthier and more balanced interaction between people and the machines and technology which is continually finding its way into our lives.
Each year, one dLab theme is identified in partnership with relevant stakeholders, drawn from the Global Challenges debates -the UN Global Goals and the RCUK Global Challenge areas provide insights into the selected themes. Through coursework teaching design-centred practices through issue-based contexts, you'll learn to analyse the circumstances, synthesize findings in a designerly way, and evaluate, with others, successful pathways leading to preferential change within the identified theme. Communication and reflection are key components of design practice we foster throughout coursework over the semester.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | The nature of studio courses is such that there is reasonable expectation of materials being consumed and deployed in the development of prototypes, models, and visualisations (including printing). For this course, a reasonable expectation is that students may spend an average of £50, but these costs vary significantly across individual projects and with students' choices of materials involved with project execution. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 32 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 33,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 components of assessment.
Component 1 (50%): a textual submission with supporting visuals (2000 words) outlining examination and synthesis of findings to the relevant theme of inquiry, which establishes a future direction for the remainder of the studio coursework. Submitted Week 6
Component 2 (50%) : a final series of visualisations, prototypes, models, or other related work which concretises the student's proposition for change through design, including written text (2000 words) supporting the students' evaluation and reflection of their intended design-led change, and the communicative potential associated with their work. Submitted Week 13.
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| Feedback |
In week 6, a group formative feedback event is held where each student delivers a visual presentation to their fellow students and teaching/research staff, summarising their written submission from Component 1, enabling internal examiners to provide audio captured verbal formative feedback regarding project scope, direction and future engagement leading to deeper understanding of requirements for component 2.
Further formative feedback is regularly provided through the course. This takes a variety of forms, including verbally through group and individual meetings where work and ideas are discussed with both peers and tutor |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- articulate discoveries of novel design-led insights in the technical domain through primary and secondary sources
- provide strong evidence of practices of synthesis using appropriate ICT tools, drawing from qualitative and quantitative insights, in order to showcase unique design-led propositions
- display professional standards of communicating proposals for technical change through appropriate design platforms including a range of texts, images and objects, either alone or in combination
- demonstrate a strong ability to communicate clear and transparent rationale used to select best possible candidates addressing complex project themes
- articulate strengths and weaknesses of design-driven project proposals, against consideration of alternative, potential proposals
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Be open to new ideas, methods and ways of thinking
Be able to identify processes and strategies for learning
Be ready to ask key questions and exercise rational enquiry
Search for, evaluate and use information to develop their knowledge and understanding
Be able to respond effectively to unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts
Be able to make decisions on the basis of rigorous and independent thought, taking into account ethical and professional issues |
| Keywords | design,issue-based design,strategic change,critical futures,technical innovation,global challenges |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Arno Verhoeven
Tel: (0131 6)51 5808
Email: a.verhoeven@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Jane Thomson
Tel: (0131 6)51 5713
Email: jane.thomson@ed.ac.uk |
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