THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Design

Undergraduate Course: Product Design: Transactions (DESI10055)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course explores the role of artefacts within social, technical and material settings.
Course description A series of lectures will reflect on how objects change as they become entangled in the jurisdictions, hegemonies and the narratives of particular social/economic and environmental settings. Through an introduction to cultural geography and the production of spaces, the series of lectures, seminars and design studies will explore alternatives to the rhetoric of Modern strategies for design and focus on the role that artefacts play within tactical decision-making. Literature from design geographies, material cultures and Science and Technology Studies will complements the study of objects in mediums such as art, cinema and gaming. Students will be encouraged to understand the normalisation of objects by investigating transgressive and illicit practices that disrupt moral, social and economic values. Following a design brief that asks students to design toward breaching normalised practices, students will pursue a personal project in response to disruptions that an initial study revealed.

This course will:

1. Introduce students to the role that objects play in complex social, environmental, technical and economic settings.
2. Develop student skills in studying settings in which objects play a role, through a combination of passive and active design interventions.
3. Through practical projects, engage students in the development of designed artefacts or systems that are inspired by human practices.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements If this course is Core to your programme, you will automatically be enrolled. For all other students, including Design students, the course is open on a first come, first served basis until the course is full. This course may have limited availability for non-Design students. Please contact the Course Organiser if you wish to enrol.
Additional Costs Research and material costs according to student designs.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesOnly available to visiting students in the Design School
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  24
Course Start Semester 1
Course Start Date 16/09/2024
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 8, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 18, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 4, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 5.5, Formative Assessment Hours 0.5, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 160 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Students are expected to produce a response informed through an iterative making and researching process that is supported by a combination of talks, reflective discussions and practical workshops.

The semester long combination of review, reflect and make will result in two outputs including:

1. Develop an intervention for a 'real world' setting that will elicit findings about transgressive or disruptive practices 50%.
2. Based upon the findings of part 1, develop and manufacture a disruptive product or service that demonstrates an understanding of the social, economic and material opportunities within a particular setting 50%.

Relationship between Assessment and Learning Outcomes:

Learning outcomes will be assessed through a combination of presentation of the outputs over the semester, followed by final 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 be assessed through the two assignments. Assignment 1 will be assessed against LO1 and LO2 and will count towards 50% of the final mark. And Assignment 2 will be assessed against LO3 and will count towards the other 50% of the final mark.

LO1 and 2 will be weighted at 25% each and LO3 will be weighted at 50%.
Feedback Formative feedback will be provided during weekly tutorials, and mid way assessment of the 3rd output.

Summative feedback will be provided following the presentation of the 3rd output in the form of verbal commentary immediately following the presentation, and written feedback following assessment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the role that objects play in complex social, environmental, technical and economic settings.
  2. Demonstrate skills in studying settings in which objects play a role, through a combination of passive and active design interventions.
  3. Demonstrate skills in the development of designed artefacts or systems that are inspired by the transgressive social practices.
Reading List
Certeau, M. D. (1988). The practice of everyday life. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Garfinkel, H. (1964). Studies of the routine grounds of everyday activities. Social Problems, 11(3):225--250. 7, 106, 107, 118, 120
Goffman, E. (1973). The presentation of self in everyday life. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morton, T. (2017). Humankind: solidarity with non-human people. London: Verso.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research and Enquiry, Personal and Intellectual Autonomy, Technical/practical skills, Communication
KeywordsManufacturing,Assembly,Design,Disruption,Transgression
Contacts
Course organiserMr Richard Thompson
Tel:
Email: rthomps5@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Barbara Bianchi
Tel: (0131 6)51 5736
Email: barbara.bianchi@ed.ac.uk
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