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Where innovation starts

Caroline Hummels & Diana Vinke

Eindhoven designs volume two

Developing the c ompetence of designing intelligent systems

Department of Industrial Design


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A catalogue record is availablefrom the Eindhoven University of Technology Library

ISBN: 978-90-386-1966-8

Authors:Caroline Hummels

Diana Vinke

Graphic design:Joris Zaalberg

Department of Industrial DesignEindhoven University of Technology

The Netherlands

Eindhoven University of Technology 2009All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronical or mechanical, includingphotocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission from the authors.


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Since 2001 the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology hasbeen facilitating students to become professional designers. Given the departments focus,educational approach and organisation, our graduates distinguish themselves from other designers in various ways. They design intelligent systems, are life-long and self-managinglearners, develop their expertise and identity continuously, and contribute to buildingcommunities at the intersection of design, engineering and social science.

The design of our curriculum is rooted in the departments focus on designing intelligentsystems, products and services for social/societal transformation, a competency-centred

approach to learning, and a network organisation that aims to integrate education and research.In this book we elucidate the theoretical bases for this foundational trinity and illustrate howwe have implemented them in our curriculum. As such, it offers an explanation of the what, whyand how to our staff members and students. But it may also prove to be a source of inspirationfor external curriculum designers who would like to adopt a similar innovative and integrativeapproach or who are merely curious about the ins and outs. Moreover, it might give insight to our industrial partners: what can they expect and how can they benefit from the department and our students? What can our new type of designers do for you?

For people who would like to have more detailed and practical information about our curriculum,we suggest having a look at our intranet: http://w3.id.tue.nl/en/intranet/

Designing, improving, and enabling an innovative curriculum such as ours requires a continuousand joint effort. We would like to thank all staff members and students for their contributions tothis process. Several of them took the responsibility to shape, for example, competency areasand Themes as described in this book. Many of them participated in sessions and workshops weor they organised as part of the implementation process. Their comments, questions and efforthave been input for further improvement, have sharpened our thinking and have inspired us towrite this book.

We are very grateful for what all our students achieve in our programme and for the supportour staff members provide them with. We would like to thank all students whose work is shownon the photographs in this book. Furthermore, we would like to give special thanks to thosestudents whose work has been illustrated in this book for wanting to share it with this larger audience: Bas Groenendaal, Erica Battaglia, Veronica Cornacchini, Youyou Yang, Pak Wing Man,Jesper Schwachfer, Sibrecht Bouwstra, John Helmes, Eva Hopma, Floris Kimman, Bram Knaapen,David Menting, and Emin Sinani.

Caroline Hummels Diana VinkeDirector of Education Policy Officer Education

Preface


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Table of contents1 Foundation: ID in a nutshellFocus: intelligent systems for social/societal transformationEducational approach: competency-centred learningOrganisation: education and research integrating networkExamples of Themes

2 Social and societal transformation through intelligent systemsIntertwining of design with societyResponsibility of designers: towards transformationTechnological mediation

3 Competency-centred learning Background to our approachCompetency definedFacilitating learning and growth

4 ID Competence Framework: introduction & competency areasIntroductionTen competency areas enabling design

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5 ID Competence Framework: learning activity perspectiveLearning activity perspective

Reflective, transformative design process

6 ID Competence Framework: competence of designing perspective & stages of growth as a designerCompetence of designing perspectiveStages of growth as a designer

7 Learning activities and staff rolesProjects

Assignments and modulesClassesMinorsWorkshopsIDentity weeksStaff roles

8 Feedback, assessment and showcaseFeedbackAssessmentShowcase

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Foundation:ID in a nutshell

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) intends to be a

research-driven, design-oriented university of technology atan international level with the primary objective of providingyoung people with an academic education within theengineering science & technology domain. It aims to advancethe development of technological innovations leading to thegrowth of welfare and well-being, both within its own region(technology & innovation hotspot Eindhoven) and beyond

Mission of the TU/e).

Chapter 1



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Focus: intelligent systems for

social/societal transformation

Based on its discussions with industry,the department decided to concentrateon the design of intelligent systems,products and related services, whichaddresses aspects such as adaptive

behaviour, context-awareness and highlydynamic interaction. The traditional focusof industrial design on products is movingmore and more towards systems. At ID wesee systems as adaptive environmentsin which humans can interact withintelligent products to gain access toservices provided. These intelligentproducts are connected to each other and

the surrounding system to achieve a newtype of user experience. Especially theshift towards the complexity of systemsand the non-physical aspects of servicesrequires different competencies fromdesigners. Moreover, these competencieswill need to develop towards the futuresince the scope and definition of systemswill probably grow over time, includingpeople, organisations, logistics, politics,economics and education.

Being intelligent means that the adaptivebehaviour is based on the situation,context of use and users needs anddesires. In particular we focus onopportunities that are of benefit toindividuals, societies and differentcultures worldwide. This implies thatintelligence incorporates an ethicaldimension. However, our contemporaryculture has lost a unifying ideology

(Branzi, 1989). Therefore, we believethat designers have to not only developthe next generation of digital systems,products and related services with whichpeople can pursue their lives, but also

investigate what kind of life and societywe (designers, users, industry, society,) want these products to support(Hummels, Ross and Overbeeke, 2003).When is it beneficial to us and whatmakes it so?

This asks for a new type of innovationthat can transform the lives of people, the

way we act in the world and the way weexperience the world, and consequentlytransform our society. Such innovativeintelligent systems, products andservices that weave into everyday lifeuntil they are indistinguishable from itwill inherently bring about a profoundsocial transformation (Ross, 2008).Design is pre-eminently the professionthat can deal with the complexity of these new innovative systems for social transformation. According to BruceNussbaum, design is now the force withinthe business culture, because designersfocus on human behaviour, on iterationand speed, and are searching for newoptions and opportunities; they are ableto construct instead of destruct andthrough their designs connect to powerfulemotions (Nussbaum, 2008). Moreover,the complexity of these new systemsasks for a new type of designer being on


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the edge of design, engineering and (social)science (Bartneck and Rauterberg, 2007).

These envisioned innovations cannot merelybe technology-driven, or based on needsof users in existing product ecologies. Asnew technology is potentially capable of transforming our world in ways that we cannotknow of beforehand, we educate studentswho are able to apply new technologies ininnovative, daring and preferably beautiful

ways, driven by a design vision of how our (social) world could be in the (near) future,and based on explorative studies and solidresearch with users in the social-culturalcontext (Hummels & Frens, 2008). Moreover, itrequires an intense relationship with industryto turn this design vision into reality. In thechapter Social and societal transformationthrough intelligent systems we explainin depth the concept of transformation,exemplified by design projects.

During the discussions with industryleaders in the starting period of our department, it became clear that theywere interested in hiring academicallytrained Industrial Design engineers,who are able to lead and work in multi-disciplinary teams, bringing the differentperspectives together, and to bridgethe worlds of new technological andbusiness strengths on the one hand, andthe societal and user desires, needs andopportunities on the other.

The approach of becoming such anintegrator was also scrutinised whenlooking at the societal developmentswith respect to learning: present-daysociety asks for self-directed and life-long learning. Society in the twenty-firstcentury is characterised by rapid changes

in various domains, e.g. political,economical, social, aesthetical andethical. At the same time, science andtechnology are developing at a veryhigh pace, which is turning this erainto a knowledge age. The amount of knowledge is increasing very fast andis expected to go on growing at an evenhigher pace. Together with the advancesin information and communicationtechnology, this increases the volumeof easily accessible information beyondimagination. Functioning effectively inthis society requires the ability to dealcreatively and flexibly with large amountsof constantly evolving information andthe ability to learn continuously. Life-longlearning, in turn, requires the ability todirect and regulate your learning. Thenotion of self-directed or self-regulated

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competencies, and different students willprefer different competencies and developthem differently. Therefore, our studentstake responsibility for and create their ownprogramme. We have developed a varietyof learning activities with an emphasis onexperiential learning and self-reflection,while taking into account differences betweenindividual students. Students can choose fromthese learning activities such as assignments,modules and classes that best match their learning goals and required competency

development for a particular semester. Allthis, of course, within the structure andcontent which the department provides andwith the help of senior employees (staff) whoserve as project coach, competency coachand expert. Moreover, students work onprojects with different real clients and experts,which integrates and tunes their competencydevelopment required for becoming

interactive/intelligent system designers. Thefocus is on interactive systems, products andrelated service with an awareness of intelligentsystems at the Bachelor level, moving on todepth and expertise on intelligent systems atthe Master level.

Since competency-centred learning is a holisticapproach, the assessment does not use agrading system for separate learning activities,but focuses on the overall competence of designing, including the vision on designing,as well as the growth as a designer duringthe study. Students go through differentstages during and after their study: (blank )awareness depth expertise visionary.Reflection in and on action (Schn, 1983)as well as reflection for action are importantmechanisms to become aware of what one

has learned, and to stimulate and directthis growth. During the semester, the coach,assignor, lecturer and expert provide feedbackon student achievement and learning processin the different learning activities, whichthe student uses to reflect on his or her development. At the end of the semester,students create/update their showcaseelucidating their development as a designer

over the past semester, in the context of their history as a designer up to that point, and inrelation to their envisioned development in thefuture. This interactive showcase is assessedat the end of each semester.

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Competency-centred learning is applicable notonly to students, but also to all staff members.We want every individual as well as the entiredepartment to develop their expertise andidentity, to go beyond interactive products

and move towards really intelligent systems bygrowing together as a community. Therefore,we emphasise the importance of expertisebuilding, identity building and communitybuilding. This process of building refers to anindividual level (student and staff) as well asto the departmental level (we as the IndustrialDesign department). We believe that it is onlypossible to handle the complexity, and designfor intelligent systems, products and servicesat the intersection of design, engineering andscience, if we use and share the expertise of the entire ID community. We need integrationin several ways.

Within our department we use the conceptof themes for this integration. Themes arefields of interests within the design & researcharea, which focus and cluster ID Bachelor andMaster projects, create links to other learning

activities such as assignments and modules,and are closely connected to research areasand projects within the department. Examplesof themes are Wearable Senses, Health Careand Playful Interactions. We have developedthemes in order to strengthen the link betweenresearch and education, between the differentresearch groups with their own expertise,between Bachelor, Master and PhD studentsand employees, as well as the link betweenthe university, industry, commerce and other external partners. For example, since we wantan authentic learning environment, almost40% of our coaches are professional designpractitioners and well over 60% of all projects

Organisation: education and

research integrating network

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are in collaboration with an external client.By working together, sharing our expertiseand learning from each other, we can raisethe overall level of quality, become an evenstronger community and, most importantly,design for innovative intelligent systems,products and services.

Last year we started working with 12 themes,of which two also physically integrate studentsand staff, education studios and research labs.They are becoming a living lab. Although this

is a challenge due to the different backgroundsof our employees, which sometimes makesit sometimes hard to speak each otherslanguage, the size of the themes (up to 10staff members and 50 students), the closecooperation on projects and the integrationof research and education, appears to havea positive influence on communication andextending the overall knowledge, although we

have not yet had the time to fully evaluate theimpact of using themes.

The introduction of themes has put us one stepcloser towards a network organisation withmore responsibility for employees. Instead of a hierarchy with rules and control, the networkorganisation is based on flexible self-managingteams that share knowledge and expertise,and collectively come to decisions within theoverall framework of the department. This typeof organisation especially aims at supportingself-directed and long-life learning, stimulatescreativity and innovation, and thus fits inperfectly with competency-centred learning

and taking responsibility for ones own(individual & departmental) development.

Within this network organisation, employeessimultaneously have different roles withineducation, for example being a coach,assignor/lecturer, assessor, coordinator,theme champ, member of a theme and expert,next to the roles they have within research.

In the remaining part of this book, we will elucidate the focus of our department.In chapter two we will explain in depth why and how to design for social/societal transformation. Chapter three addresses the theoretical bases for competency-centred learning. Chapter four to seven explain the implications of this theory for the Department of Industrial Design, which is consolidated in theID Competence Framework. Chapter four introduces the framework and explainsthe different competency areas and chapter five addresses the design processand the importance of reflection within the framework. Chapter six discussesthe development of the overall competence of designing during the study andshows the developmental stages of growth as a designer. Chapter seven explainshow this theoretical framework is put into practice through the different learningactivities. Finally, chapter eight shows the mechanism of learning through feedbackand our assessment procedure, which includes the showcase: the students toolto demonstrate and communicate development of the overall competence of designing, and their growth as a designer.


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In the theme of Wearable Senses we apply themission statement of the department with our special focus on those interactive products,systems and services that are close to, nearor on the body . Our challenges are multiple:how to combine hard electronics with softmaterials, traditional craftsmanship with

innovative technology and smarttextiles, functionality with fashion, valuepropositions with gadgets, Do-It-Yourself with manufacturing, and sewing withsoldering? How do these products fit the body,measure bodily parameters and behaviour, andhow give these products meaningful feedback?Wearable Senses has a strong networkof partners, excellent facilities, high-endmaterials and the main application areasare expressive clothing and accessories, sportsgarments, interior textiles and interestingdeviations.

Health is a significant factor for the qualityof life for us human beings. The themeHealth Care focuses on both physical andpsychological health our well-being. Healthcare at ID embraces designing intelligent

systems, interactive products and servicesto stimulate and promote health and patientcomfort for both at home and in the hospitalenvironment. Renowned clients includeMxima Medical Centre (MMC), WilhelminaKinder Ziekenhuis (WKZ) and Philips. Skillsand developments trained through projects

in the theme Health Care consist of smarttextiles, physiological signal measurements,wearable electronics, monitoring, measuringmovements, simulation, actuators, sensors,medical training process, user, form giving,clinical validation, etc. In summary, we aim at aunique integration of knowledge from science,

design and engineering, contributing to themulti-user and multi-disciplinary nature of health care.

The theme Discovering & Learning exploreshow Situated Learning can be applied inprofessional support like design tools for conceptual phase, exploring data suchas music or books in libraries, assistingthe elderly with new technologies, andstimulating knowledge sharing in multiculturalneighbourhoods.

Situated Learning is a function of the activity,context and culture in which it occurs. In thismodel of learning, learners become involvedin a community of practice with certain beliefsand behaviours to be acquired. Learnersconstruct their own knowledge by applying

prior knowledge and experience to a newsituation and integrating the new knowledgegained. The design opportunity for the developmentof intelligent products, systems and servicesresides in the transition of the supporting

Examples of themes


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systems from fount of knowledge to facilitator. In fact, it meansdesigning systems that teach higher order skills such asabstraction, reasoning, and reflection. The main challenge is toenable learners to learn how to learn by having a more open-ended evaluation of learning outcomes, and developing acooperative and collaborative way of learning skills.

Experience design is a developing field of design. Theaim of the theme Emotions and Experiences is tooptimise users experiences of products, systems andservices by communicating specific emotions, valuesand identities through design. Typical experiencedesign projects cross multiple design disciplinessuch as product design, communication designand architecture. In retail for instance, a productspackaging, the (interactive) communication mediaand the spatial design of a store are all involved increating a unified user experience. Similar principlescan be found in the design of novel technologicalartefacts in which the boundaries of productsfade due to their inherent interconnectednessand pervasiveness. Optimising experiences inthese cases is complex given the multitudeof occurrences in which people engage withdesign. Thus, given an application domain,knowledge is needed to identify (a) the

critical situations in which (b) desiredexperiences should be evoked and (c) howthe body is involved in shaping them.

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Chapter 2


Social and societal

transformation throughintelligent systems


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Designing intelligent systems, productsand services has social consequences,because they are inextricably intertwinedwith society. Their adaptive behaviour is based on the situation, context of use, and users needs and desires, andthe opportunities offered are of benefit

to individuals, societies and differentcultures worldwide. They will have asocial impact as soon as they enter society. Products arise in a social contextand, consequently, are a reflection of that society. Moreover, a product is avehicle to steer society implicitly as wellas explicitly, it influences the behaviour and experiences of users (Hummels,2000; Verbeek, 2006). Open office layoutand furnishing, which originated in the1920s, enabled the ideas of scientificmanagement, such as efficiency,introduced by Frederick Taylor (Forty,1986). Present-day computers supportour market economy and managementsystem, where time is money andknowledge is power.

One can say that technologies haveintentions; they can transform whatwe perceive (Idhe, 1990). For example,a microscope can enable us to seethe smallest bacteria, Google Earthinfluences our perception of the earth,and Skype gives a different perceptionof social relationships at long distances.The influence and intention of

technological artefacts is not unilateraland univocal, but reciprocal and dynamic.When a technological artefact is used,

it facilitates peoples involvement withreality, and in doing so it co-shapes howhumans can be present in the world andhow their world can be present for them.The context influences the intention andinterpretation of technology. For example,the telephone was originally designed

as a hearing aid and consequentlyis differently interpreted and has adifferent meaning for the hard of hearingthan it has for us as a communicationdevice. Don Idhe calls this phenomenonmultistability (Verbeek, 2006).

One can see a similar context-dependency with the concept of affordance. James Gibson, the founder of the ecological theory of directperception, thought up this noun tocomplement the verb to afford. Theaffordances of the environment are whatit offers animals, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill (Gibson,1986). At its simplest, one could say thatan affordance is what the environmentmeans to a specific animal in terms of

action. So a chair affords sitting to anadult person, and it affords stability to asmall child who wants to stand up.

Intertwining of design with society


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In the last century, several disciplinesemerged which study the relationshipbetween products and society, such asthe sociology of technology (Bijker and

Law, 1992), the philosophy of technology(Heidegger, 1962; Achterhuis, 1997) anddesign history (Forty, 1986). Designersare not sociologists, philosophersor historians; they create and buildintentional technology. Therefore, wesupport Peter-Paul Verbeeks notion thatthe ethics of engineering design should take more seriously the moral chargeof technological products and rethink the moral responsibility of designersaccordingly (Verbeek, 2006).

At the Department of Industrial Design,we believe that our design students needto take an active position in thinkingabout the social and moral role of design,about social and societal transformation.They should be aware of and address

the mediating role of technology duringthe design process. Designers haveto put this topic of social and societaltransformation on the table despite the

fact that it is not their sole responsibility,because designers often work inmulti-disciplinary teams and becausetechnology is context-dependent and

multi-stable.

ID is not alone in this focus. In 2004the British Design Council set up RED,a do tank that uses innovative designto tackle social and economic issues.They challenged accepted thinking andused creativity in close cooperation withusers who are part of the design team,to design new public services, systemsand products that address social andeconomic problems. And they calledtheir approach transformation design(Burns, Cottam, Vanstone and Winhall,2006). Also in 2004, Matthijs van Dijkstated that industry and, con sequently,designers need to put more emphasison true innovation based on a context-driven design strategy that evokes a

paradigm shift which opens up andrequires a redefinition of the interactionbetween humans and products (VanDijk, 2004). Robert Fabricant, Vice

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President of Creative at Frog Design,sees a shift towards design with intentthat has an immediate impact onuser behaviour through direct social

engagement (Fabricant, 2009). And BruceNussbaum, editor of the innovationand design coverage of Business Week,claims that Innovation is Dead. HeraldThe Birth of Transformation as TheKey Concept for 2009. He believesthat transformation takes the best of design thinking and innovation, andintegrates them into a strategic guidefor the unknowable and uncertain yearsahead. Nussbaum believes that we arealready on the way to developing globalnetworks working within ecosystems/platforms (e.g. iTunes/iPod/iPhone, NikePlus and Zipcar) that will make up our socio-economic and political worlds.Nussbaum considers transformationinteresting, because it puts the focus onpeople, designing networks and systems

off their wants and needs. It approachesuncertainties with a methodology thatcreates options for new situations andsorts through them for the best quickly. It

deals with a creative society in which weare all producers and consumers of value.Moreover, it can look at our systems -education, health-care, economic growth,

transportation, defence, and politicalrepresentation (Nussbaum, 2008).



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Technological mediation

But how does one design for social andsocietal transformation? What are themechanisms that one can use? PhilipRoss devoted his PhD thesis to socialtransformation with an emphasis on therelation between ethics and aesthetics.

He studied how we can we design anintelligent system or product that elicitsspecific values in aesthetic interaction,which resulted in the Perspectives onBehaviour in Interaction framework,and the Interaction Quality framework, inaddition to two intelligent lamp designsfor AEI and Luxger, which can evokedifferent values in interaction (Ross,2008). See chapter eight of his thesis for an explanation and movies at:http://www.idemployee.id.tue.nl/p.r.ross/thesis/

For his work, Philip Ross used theTechnological Mediation framework of Peter-Paul Verbeek, which builds on thework of e.g. Don Ihde and Bruno Latour (Verbeek, 2006). Let us briefly explain

Verbeeks framework that gives us avocabulary to discuss and address socialtransformation.

Technological mediation concernsthe role of technology in human action(conceived as the ways in which humanbeings are present in their world) andhuman experience (conceived as the

ways in which their world is present tothem). (p. 363, Verbeek, 2006).

So, technological mediation has twoperspectives: experience and action/behaviour, both with their ownmechanisms that we will explain further on.

Transformation of experienceDon Idhe sees two relationships for mediating human experiences andinterpretation of reality.

Firstly, there is the embodied relationshipin which the technological artefactbecomes an extension of the humanbody. Heidegger (1927; Coyne &Snodgrass, 1993) calls this a ready-to-hand tool that typically withdraws fromthe users attention. For example, whenlooking through a pair of glasses oneperceives the environment and not theglasses. The opposite of ready-to-handis present-at hand, in which the product

itself asks for attention instead of thethings you want to do with the product,for example when it is malfunctioning.

The second relationship is called thehermeneutic relationship, in whicha person needs to interpret (theinformation presented by) the designedartefact because its a representation

of reality. For example, the thermostatrepresents the actual temperature, so



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one cannot feel the temperature through athermostat but it supports in knowing what the

temperature is and in regulating the heating.

When technology mediates our sensoryrelationship with reality, it transforms whatwe perceive by amplifying or reducing specificaspects. This transforming capability is calledtechnological intentionality; technologicalartefacts are not neutral elements, they haveintentions and play an active role in the

relationship between humans and their world.Take for example Scope, designed by BasGroenendaal (2007) in his Masters graduationproject at Industrial Design. His photo cameraaims at stimulating the psycho-socialdevelopment of underprivileged children,especially children living in (former) warzones.

Scope uses the benefits of photography for these children, as is done within phototherapy,to enhance their feeling of empowerment,strengthen their notion of identity and theenvironment, and develop social skills(Sitvast, 2004). Groenendaal uses the principleof framing to give the children a differentperspective on life. Scope is held like asteering wheel and the frame (a rectangular hole) is used to observe the surrounding world.Squeezing the two semi-rings together makes

a photo, which can be downloaded and printedor viewed on a computer (small audience) or projection screen (large audience).

In terms of transformation, the frame reducesthe periphery sight and blocks out certainparts of the environment, and it amplifies theframe and the world behind it. Painters andprofessional photographers often use this

principle by creating a frame with their hands,

in order to search for interesting parts andcomposition, and to increase the intensity of

observation.

Transformation of behaviourThe other form of transformation is coupledto action and behaviour. As already stated inthe beginning of this chapter, human actionsare not merely based on their intentions or the social context in which they live, but alsoon the mutual influence of people and thematerial environment. Don Ihde (1990) refersin this case to intentionality of a product andto multistability, which indicates that peoplecan use and interpret product differently,depending on the context. James Gibson(1986) introduced the concept of affordanceswhich are context- and species-dependentaction possibilities, and Bruno Latour (1992)introduced a concept from the movie andtheatre world; he uses the concept of scriptsto describe the influence of an artefact onhuman actions. For example, a ceramic coffeecup has the script to be washed after use, anda cardboard cup the script of being thrownaway.

Like the amplification and reductionmechanisms for the transformation of experience, transformation of behaviour alsohas two mechanisms for transformation:invitation and inhibition. Lets go back to theproject of Bas Groenendaal to elucidate thesemechanisms and see what Scope invites andinhibits.


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Scope, designed by Bas Groenendaal,coached by Richard Appleby


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Scope, designed by Bas Groenendaal,coached by Richard Appleby

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Due to the size of the frame and the overalldoughnut-shaped camera as well as the lack

of immediate feedback of the resulting photo,the frame acts as an intermediate betweenthe photographer and the person beingphotographed. The frame invites to have socialand playful interactions between persons onboth sides of the lens. On the other hand, thesize of the frame inhibits the behaviour of being an outside observer detached from thescene, as is often the case with photographers.

The described behaviour was exactly what BasGroenendaal found during a user study at anasylum centre in the Netherlands. Childrenstarted playing with the camera and werelooking actively for social engagement throughthe frame.

The influence of the design on peoplesbehaviour is present for both the ready-at-handand the present-at-hand situation. Scope isan example of a ready-at-hand device and itappeared that the device influences peoplesbehaviour, both that of the photographer aswell as that of the person being photographed.But present-at-hand devices also influencebehaviour. A speed pump for example,stimulates you to slow down.

Materialising moralityin the design processThe mediating role of technology and itsinfluence on how people act mean thatdesigners are doing ethics often implicitlyand sometimes explicitly through their designs. So how can designers and our design

students incorporate this dimension in their design process? Verbeek sees two options. Theminimum scenario would be to assess if the

design has undesirable mediating capacitiesand try to reduce or eliminate those. The

second scenario would be to build in specificforms of mediation which are considereddesirable.

However, the fact that technological mediationis not objective and detached from the contextof use and the user - on the contrary, it occursin the complex interplay between user andartefact - makes the prediction of desirable

and undesirable very difficult. For example,is an intelligent toilet that is able to analysethe users faeces after every visit to thetoilet in order to check his health, desirableor undesirable? And what if it is placed in afactory and the management gets to know theoutcome too?

Moreover, it becomes even harder when thefocus is on innovative intelligent systems,products and related services which envisionnew and unknown transformations, becausethey require an anticipation of future mediationroles of technology. But products are oftenused in unforeseen ways and they stimulateunforeseen behaviour. So how do we dealwith that kind of complexity during the designprocess?

We believe that it requires an integration of thetwo ways of analysis that Verbeek proposes.On the one hand, the designer can use his/her imagination to envision the transformation andthe desired and undesired impact. In this case,the designer can also bring in his/her ownvalue system and invite certain behaviour.


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For example, within the Right through makingproject, Masters students developed systems

and products that aim at empowering andseducing people to reach the ideals containedin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,through to kalon, a synthesis of beautyand good. Their designs invite specificbehaviour and amplify certain experiences andperception in order to evoke the principle of aspecific article. This learning activity was donewith design students from different cultural

backgrounds, who together developed a visionon social and societal transformation (Trotto,Hummels, Overbeeke, Chanfanelli, Frens andGoretti, 2009). For example, BeeHugged wasdesigned for article 25: Everyone has the rightto a standard of living adequate for the healthand well-being of himself and of his family,including food, clothing, housing and medicalcare and necessary social services, and theright to security in the event of unemployment,sickness, disability, widowhood, old ageor other lack of livelihood in circumstancesbeyond his control.

The students translated this article inBeeHugged, a system where you can shareenergy with the principle of the car jump start.They designed this based on the fact that intodays Western society, the majority of people

carry some sort of electronic product. Whenpeople are in need of energy, other peoplewho have enough energy and are willing toshare it can recharge them. With this systemthe students hope to add to a society whereshowing mutual care and sharing becomes anatural habit. The energy level will be visibleon the clothes, and the clothing will also bethe container for the energy. The pace at which

energy is transmitted depends on the amountof physical contact. For example, a handshakewill result in a lower transport rate than a hug.

This envisioning should be intertwined with,on the other hand, a rooting in society through

close collaboration with all stakeholdersthroughout the entire design process. Themediation role of the design-to-be can beaddressed in all phases of the design process.For example, Smart Jacket for neonatalmonitoring with wearable senses wasdesigned by Sibrecht Bouwstra in her Mastersgraduation project at Industrial Design(Bouwstra, Chen, Feijs and Bambang Oetomo,

2009).

Her project fits in a larger research project of TU/e in cooperation with the Mxima MedicalCenter for improving the health care of mother and child before, during and after delivery,with special emphasis on neonates. Sibrechtfocused from the early phases of her designprocess at amplifying the bonding betweenparent and child while providing reliablehealth monitoring as well as a comfortableclinical environment for neonatal care. TheSmart Jacket was designed in such a waythat it invites skin contact and reduces thevisible presence of technology. During thewhole process, she kept in discussion with allstakeholders, including parents and medicalstaff, in order to find the desired socialtransformations in comparison with current

neonatal monitoring.

We believe in the integration of bothapproaches, in which the designer not onlyenvisions social transformations, but alsoexplores and validates these visions together with all stakeholders in the context of use.Therefore, these two approaches play anessential role in the reflective transformative

design process, which is explained in chapter four to six.

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Prototype Smart Jacket by SibrechtBouwstra, coached by Loe Feijs, Sidarto

Bambang Oetomo and Wei Chen

BeeHugged designed by Erica Battaglia,Veronica Cornacchini, Youyou Yang, Pak

Wing Man and Jesper Schwachfer



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Competency-centred educational approaches like ours are

rooted in recent societal developments and in the constructivistlearning paradigm. Pivotal in the constructivist perspectiveon learning is the notion of activity: learning is an activeconstruction of meaning by the learner. This perspective onlearning has various implications for the goal we have definedfor our curriculum, the way in which we have designed ourcurriculum and learning environment, and the role assessmentplays.

Chapter 3Competency-centredlearning



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Constructivistperspective on learning

Societal changes and developments have turned

the 21st century into a knowledge age (seechapter one). These changes have affected the

professional workplace, and thus the demands placedon graduates: they need to be able to function as

knowledge-managers rather than knowledge-owners(Dochy, Heylen and Van de Mosselaer, 2002). These

developments have also affected theories about learning,such as the constructivist perspective on learning. Our

competency-centred learning approach is rooted in these

societal changes and in the constructivist learning paradigm.Preparing graduates for their changing role in society requires

a student-centred approach. In terms of educational goals thisalso implies a shift from teaching a specific body of knowledge

to facilitating students ability to learn and to developcontinuously: to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes needed

to perform a task or role in a specific and often complex setting.

The constructivist paradigm includes learning theories that focus on

mind-world relations. The individual or cognitive theories assume thelocus of knowledge construction to be in the mind of the individuallearner; the social or situative theories assume this locus to be in

Our competency-centrededucational approach builds

on the constructivist viewof learning. In addition, it

emphasises the principlesof: context-related learning,

experiential learning, exemplarylearning, self-directed learning,

reflective learning, and learning bydoing. Last but not least, a holistic

and integrated approach also playsa central part.

Background to our approach

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socially organised networks (Birenbaum,2003). Common to both perspectives,however, is the key notion of activity:the understanding that learning andknowledge are an active constructionof meaning by the learner. Furthermore,both focus on the learning process as

a whole and on the interactions withinthis whole (Dochy, Heylen and Van deMosselaer, 2002). Learners constructmeaning by relating new informationto what they already know. In doing so,they are influenced by their motivationaland affective make-up as well as by their social-cultural environment (Tigelaar,2005). We adhere to Birenbaumsreconciliatory view that these twoperspectives are rather two sides of thesame coin: it is the interaction betweenthem that provides a starting point for unravelling the phenomenon of learning.

A constructivist perspective on learninghas implications for the role of thestudent, for the design of the curriculumand assessment, and for the role of

the teacher. The curriculum shouldallow for active student participationand control, offer ample opportunity for interaction, and provide an authenticcontext for students learning. Learningactivities as well as assessmentsshould allow for, or even necessitate,a holistic and integrative approach.Students need to develop the ability to

reflect, to self-regulate their learning,to take responsibility, to learn fromexperience and to assess themselves.

Staff members need to make a shift fromteacher-focused to learning-focused, andtheir role needs to change from beingan authoritative source of knowledgeto facilitating students learning.This requires a shift in their personalconceptions of knowledge, intelligence,

teaching and learning (Birenbaum, 2003).For staff members this paradigm shiftmay well prove to be quite hard becauseit touches upon their professional identity(Van Heijst and Van der Krogt, 2008).

A competency-centred curriculum Our curriculum consists of fairly largecourse components, called blocks. Ablock is composed of a particular setof curricular learning activities that, asa whole, covers a full semester. So our Bachelors consists of six blocks and our Masters of four. The learning activitiesvary in size, scope and purpose (see

chapter seven). All types of learningactivities are designed to facilitatecompetency development, either onecompetency area or the integration of allcompetency areas.

At the start of each semester, studentsselect learning activities, depending ontheir individual learning needs. They

need to take into account the requiredcomposition of the block they aregoing to do, the departments focus on


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designing intelligent systems,products and services, the

competence framework, and their own envisioned growth as a designer

as laid down in their PersonalDevelopment Plan. During as well as

at the conclusion of these learningactivities, students receive feedback on

their process and outcomes from the staff members involved.

At the end of the semester, students areassessed on the development of their overallcompetence of designing, vision on designing

and growth as a designer. It is the student whohas to prove or demonstrate what he/she has

achieved in the semester as a whole: his or her showcase plays a crucial part. This assessment

is a formal decision but also a starting point for students development and growth in the next

semester.

From this brief description it may become apparentthat our approach to curriculum design is holistic and

integrative. It may also point out that the expected roleof students and staff members assumes a constructivist

perspective of and approach to learning. In the remainingpart of this chapter and subsequent chapters we

discuss and illustrate the implementation of this learningperspective in more detail.

Exemplary learningStudents develop their competencies in a specific context. This

context varies according to the learning activity and role at hand.In a five-year programme we cannot offer students all possible

contexts, design problems and design opportunities. Moreover,they will encounter new, unthought-of contexts and changing roles

in their professional practice. This implies that students learningis exemplary. They demonstrate that they can learn from particular experiences and that they can acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes

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in particular contexts. At the same time thisshows their ability to analyse the context and

to determine if and what new learning thisrequires on their part. In other words, this alsodemonstrates their potential: to analyse newand different contexts and to act accordingly.The exemplary nature of learning in acompetency-centred curriculum stresses therelevance of authentic learning activities thatreflect students future work as a designer.

Experiential learningand learning by doingInherent to the nature of design is learningand performing through practical application.Considered from an activity perspective thisis also referred to as learning by doing or studio-based learning in the context of (more traditional) design education (Ellmers,2009). Looked at from a learning perspective,so learning from doing, this is referred to asexperiential learning (Kolb, 1984). Learningfrom an experience does not occur of its ownaccord. It requires an active constructionof meaning on the part of the learner. InKolbs four-stage learning cycle, the stagesof reflective observation and abstract

conceptualisation enable the learner toconstruct meaning and build knowledge, and,by doing so, learn from a concrete experience.This implies the relevance of learning byreflecting, which is discussed in the nextparagraph.

Reflective learningOur view of reflective learning builds on theexperiential learning cycle (Kolb, 1984), the

reflective practitioner (Schn, 1983), andreflection in learning (Moon, 2004). In our

curriculum, students do various curricular learning activities. These activities becomelearning experiences by the meaning studentsgive to them. By constructing this meaning,students build new knowledge, and relatethis to existing knowledge. Reflection is amental process that facilitates this creation of meaning and knowledge. If students articulatetheir reflections, for example by discussing

their ideas or views with others or by writingthem down, these reflections become arepresentation of their learning, which canbe shared with others and may result in anew or transformed learning experience. Assuch, these reflections are an integral part of learning itself (Moon, 2004).

Viewed this way, reflection is critical thinkingin retrospect: looking back and learningfrom it. Though the scope of his definition ismuch more restricted, this is essentially whatSchn (1983) calls reflection- on-action. Italso comes close to what Kolb (1984) callsthe stage of reflective observation in hisexperiential learning cycle. This cycle containsfour stages that students go through in a fixedsequence but, depending on the learnerspreferred learning style, any of the four

stages can be the starting point. Reflectiveobservation is essential to learn from anexperience: by observing and reflecting on aconcrete event or experience, students canform abstract concepts which they test byactive experimentation, thus creating a newexperience. We have adopted Kolbs learningfrom experience by reflection principle butwe have abandoned the fixed sequence

principle: students can jump from one stage(or in our terms: activities) to any of theothers. Furthermore, in our view students learn



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from reflecting on all stages, not only fromreflection on concrete experiencing.

From Kolbs learning cycle it becomes clear thatlearning from a particular experience is oftennot a goal in itself: abstract conceptualisationenables students to create a new and differentexperience, in which they build on andexpand their knowledge. In order to do so,they de-contextualise the knowledge theyhave acquired, strip it from the context of

the activity during which they achieved thisknowledge, so they can expand or redefine it ina different context or activity. This anticipatoryperspective of reflection, which links currentlearning to future learning, is called reflection-for-action.

Schn (1983) also distinguishes reflection-in-action, which is part of the activity. It occurswhen something unexpected or surprisinghappens. Moon (2004) identifies such alearning moment as one of the instances of transformative learning, which is the mostsophisticated and deepest stage of learningin her five-stage model. It is a moment whenthings fall into place, a substantial new viewemerges and there is a sense of intellectualexcitement.

In our approach to learning we have adoptedthe notions of reflection in, on and for actionas described above. We also adopt Moonsview that reflection is part of learning itself.The scope of reflection on and for action,however, can vary from a single activity to awhole design process or even students overallcompetence of designing, which representstheir learning outcomes of a semester as a

whole. In the Facilitating learning and growthsection of the current chapter, these reflectionsare more concretised. In chapters five and six

the reflections are integrated in the specificcontext of our learning environment and our

competence framework: they are linked tothe various elements in the learning activityperspective and the competence of designingperspective.

Context-relatedlearning

What students learn is influenced or mediatedby the tools and signs of their socio-culturalenvironment, as well as the establishedcommunities of practice which their academicdiscipline represents (Birenbaum, 2003). Thisimplies that learning is context-related. It alsoimplies that learning includes enculturationinto and participation in these communitiesof practice, and adoption of the principlesand standards shared by members of thesecommunities.

If we want to facilitate students learning weshould create opportunities for them to learnin an authentic context. That is why we havedesigned different types of learning activities,varying in the degree of authenticity. Projects,for example, and students showcase reflectprofessional practice quite strongly. In their

project, students have the opportunity toexperience and perform various activitiesand roles, to deal with a real client and to becoached by professional design practitioners(about 35% of the coaches).


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The notion of competency is defined as anindividuals ability to acquire, select and usethe knowledge, skills and attitude that arerequired for effective behaviour in a specificprofessional, social or learning context.From this definition the role of knowledgeacquisition appears: acquiring knowledge isno longer an end but a means to develop a

particular competency needed to perform aspecific task or role. Put differently, acquiringa specific, well-defined body of knowledge isno longer at the core of a competency-centrededucational approach. Instead, studentslearn how to construct meaning by performingauthentic learning activities. This constructionof meaning includes the acquisition of context-

The very notion of competency marks the shift in educational goals,which go beyond teaching specific knowledge. The way in which we havedefined competency reflects the constructivist view of learning, in whichit is the learner who gives meaning to a particular learning event and, bydoing so, relates this new knowledge to existing knowledge.

Competency defined


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showcase as a communication tool for a

students overall development is a pivotalelement of the assessment (see chapter eight).

The showcase, often referred to asportfolio, is a visual, interactive andintegrative representation of studentsoverall development. In order to createtheir showcase students review what

they have achieved in their learningactivities of a particular semester, framedin the short-term goals they set in their PDP. They examine their deliverables,feedbacks and reflections and determinehow these have contributed to andshaped their overall competence of designing and vision on designing.They evaluate this overall development,with the long-term goals in their PDPas a point of reference. This evaluationresults in a coherent and overall pictureof what they achieved in the semester as a whole. Students link this top-layerof the showcase to the evidence layer by including integrative reflections.The evidence layer contains a carefulselection of their deliverables, feedbacksand reflections, which corroborates their

overall development and growth.

In order to demonstrate their growth asa designer across semesters, studentsinclude a time dimension in the top-layer of their showcase. The overalldevelopment students have achievedin a particular semester (present) isfitted in with their growth as a designer

up to that point (past, which refers toprevious semesters) and their view of thedesigner they want to become (future,

which embodies the long-term goals

in their PDP). The past is transformed,the present becomes the past, and thefuture becomes the present (see chapter eight for more detailed information onshowcase).

Reflection

In the course of curricular learningactivities, students reflect at variousmoments. The common element in thesereflective moments is that they helpstudents understand and enhance their learning. By reflecting they give meaningto what they are doing or, put differently,they articulate what an activity or experience means for their own learningor development. When performing adesign activity, they capture valuablelearning moments by reflection in action.During the (design) process they reflecton action by reviewing what they haveachieved so far, or by connecting newlyacquired knowledge to prior knowledge.They reflect for action by identifyingwhat knowledge or skills they still needto acquire to accomplish high-quality

deliverables, or to perform a specific taskor role effectively; or by determining whatdesign activity they need to perform as anext step. Students are advised to writethese reflections on a regular basis, for example in a learning journal (Moon,2004); and to include correspondingvisualisations of their deliverables andprocess. At the conclusion of a curricular

learning activity they reflect on and for action as well. They look back to establishwhat they have achieved in the learning


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Facilitating learning and growth

Competency-centred learning is a cyclical, highly individual and context-dependent process. This requires a holistic approach to designing acurriculum and corresponding assessment. The goal of our curriculum isto facilitate, support and promote students development of the overallcompetence of designing and their growth as a designer. In order toaccomplish this goal we have created a competency-centred learning

environment.

This competency-centred learningenvironment for our students includesvarious mechanisms that facilitate,support and enhance students learningand competency development at thelevel of a curricular learning activityas well as the semester as a whole:personal development plan, curricular learning activities, showcase, reflection,feedback and assessments. Figurexx gives a schematic overview of therelationships between the componentsof the learning environment.

PersonalDevelopment PlanIt is the students responsibility todetermine what kind of industrialdesigner they want to become, takinginto account the departments focuson designing intelligent systems,products and services. They capture

this by setting long-term goals for their overall competence of designing intheir Personal Development Plan (PDP).

They manage their growth as a designer by determining what competencydevelopment this requires and whatlearning activities they need to selectfor a particular semester in order toachieve this. They include this in their PDP by setting short-term goals for thatsemester. Typical moments to reflecton their progress, and to review andadjust their PDP are halfway through andtowards the end of the semester. At theassessment students long and short-term goals serve as a point of referenceto establish their development of theoverall competence of designing andtheir growth as a designer.

Curricular learningactivitiesDuring the semester, students areengaged in various curricular learningactivities, each with their own

specific focus, scope and size, either representing individual or team work(see chapter seven for a more detailed


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Schematic overview of the learningenvironment

explanation). Characteristic of all learningactivities, however, is that students gothrough an iterative learning loop: a loop of competency development in a specific context.In other words, learning activities createopportunities for students to develop their competencies by acquiring context-specificknowledge, skills and attitudes.

Projects, for example, provide students withquite an authentic learning context. Studentsperform design activities and roles that arederived from or similar to tasks and roles in theprofessional practice of designing. Performingthese tasks and roles is not an end in itself. Itis intended to generate a meaningful learningexperience: learning to determine what to

perform, how to achieve this performanceand why to achieve this. The how refers tocompetencies to be developed and the why to

the ultimate goal of all the generated learningexperiences: contributing to and shapingstudents overall competence of designing,their vision on designing, their growth as adesigner, and their ability to learn.Since students achievements within learningactivities are not an end in themselves, theyare not assessed separately. Instead, students

receive written feedback at the conclusion of alearning activity (see above).

ShowcaseStudents also go through iterative learningloops at the level of a semester as a whole:their growth as a designer. The showcase playsa crucial part in this learning loop: it is the

students tool to monitor and communicatetheir development of the overall competenceof designing and their vision on designing. The

competencycoach

feedback

learningprocess

learningactivity

learningactivity

evidence &feedback

evidence &feedback

assessment

PBP /showcase


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showcase as a communication tool for a

students overall development is a pivotalelement of the assessment (see chapter eight).

The showcase, often referred to asportfolio, is a visual, interactive andintegrative representation of studentsoverall development. In order to createtheir showcase students review what

they have achieved in their learningactivities of a particular semester, framedin the short-term goals they set in their PDP. They examine their deliverables,feedbacks and reflections and determinehow these have contributed to andshaped their overall competence of designing and vision on designing.They evaluate this overall development,with the long-term goals in their PDPas a point of reference. This evaluationresults in a coherent and overall pictureof what they achieved in the semester as a whole. Students link this top-layerof the showcase to the evidence layer by including integrative reflections.The evidence layer contains a carefulselection of their deliverables, feedbacksand reflections, which corroborates their

overall development and growth.

In order to demonstrate their growth asa designer across semesters, studentsinclude a time dimension in the top-layer of their showcase. The overalldevelopment students have achievedin a particular semester (present) isfitted in with their growth as a designer

up to that point (past, which refers toprevious semesters) and their view of thedesigner they want to become (future,

which embodies the long-term goals

in their PDP). The past is transformed,the present becomes the past, and thefuture becomes the present (see chapter eight for more detailed information onshowcase).

Reflection

In the course of curricular learningactivities, students reflect at variousmoments. The common element in thesereflective moments is that they helpstudents understand and enhance their learning. By reflecting they give meaningto what they are doing or, put differently,they articulate what an activity or experience means for their own learningor development. When performing adesign activity, they capture valuablelearning moments by reflection in /on action.During the (design) process they reflecton action by reviewing what they haveachieved so far, or by connecting newlyacquired knowledge to prior knowledge.They reflect for action by identifyingwhat knowledge or skills they still needto acquire to accomplish high-quality

deliverables, or to perform a specific taskor role effectively; or by determining whatdesign activity they need to perform as anext step. Students are advised to writethese reflections on a regular basis, for example in a learning journal (Moon,2004); and to include correspondingvisualisations of their deliverables andprocess. At the conclusion of a curricular

learning activity they reflect on and for action as well. They look back to establishwhat they have achieved in the learning


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activity as a whole and how this hascontributed to developing particular

competencies. They look forward bydetermining how they can put this to useor expand their development in futurelearning activities, either within the sameor in the next semester.In the process of creating a showcaseit is also students reflections thathelp them understand and deepentheir learning, this time at the level of

their overall competence of designing,vision on designing and growth as adesigner. Students mostly reflect onaction by examining what they haveachieved in the semester as a wholeand how this had contributed to their overall development and growth. Theyreflect for action by determining whatto achieve in the next semester, giventhe long-term ambitions for their growthas a designer. But creating a showcasemay also offer moments of reflection inaction. When reviewing the semester asa whole, students may have valuableor surprising learning moments, for example understanding what a particular competency area is about, or seeing adiscrepancy between their competencyprofile and their envisioned competence

of designing.

The explanation above shows that,depending on the context and scopeof students learning and activity, their (written) reflections vary in the level of abstraction, detailing and specificity.Their reflections on action within alearning activity, for example, are at

the low end of abstraction and at thehigh end of detailing. The integrativereflections in the top-layer of their

showcase, on the other hand, are at thehigh end of abstraction and at the low

end of detailing.

FeedbackLearning, which includes acquiring andapplying knowledge, is an individualprocess on the students part: it is anactive construction of meaning by the

learner. Feedback is a very powerful wayof supporting and enhancing studentslearning. It provides students withqualitative information on how theylearn (process) and on what they learn(results). The scope of this feedback is acurricular learning activity, the exceptionbeing competency coach feedback:this addresses students learning andcompetency development process of the semester as a whole (see chapter seven for more detailed information onstaff roles). Feedback provides studentswith an external perspective, whichis complementary to the internalperspective of their own reflection.

During the process of a learning activity,staff members give verbal feedback on

a regular basis and in a dialogue. Thisfeedback helps students understand their process and competency development.Students can use this feedback toenhance their learning within thelearning activity and achieve high-qualitydeliverables.

The written feedback which students

receive from staff members at theconclusion of a learning activity helpsthem to establish what they have



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achieved in the learning activity as a wholeand how this contributes to their overall

competence of designing. This writtenfeedback also serves as evidence for thestudents showcase and, as such, is inputfor the assessor (see chapter eight for moredetailed information on feedback).

AssessmentThe focus of the assessment is students

development of the overall competence of designing, their vision on designing and their growth as a designer. The various elements of the assessment are the end-of-term exhibitionat which students show their project; studentsshowcase; and a meeting between theassessor and student (see chapter eight for more detailed information on assessment).

The formal function of the assessment is todecide whether or not the student is promoted

to the next block, and receives 30 creditsor not. In our case this is determined by thedevelopmental stage a student has achieved,related to the block he/she has been doing.

Assessments also have a feedback function:the assessment gives qualitative informationon the developmental stage the student hasachieved (see chapter six for more information

on developmental stages), and how thestudents growth has evolved since theprevious assessment. As such, this gives thestudent feedback on his/her ability to self-assess. Last but not least, the assessmentfulfils a feed-forward function: it gives studentspointers to fine-tune or adjust their long-termgoals for their growth as a designer and to setcompetency development goals in their PDP for the next semester.


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ID Competence Framework:

introduction &competency areas

Chapter 4



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Based on the departments focus andlearning approach, we have developed theID Competence Framework. Being a studentand developing through a competency-centred learning approach, puts an emphasison activities and processes. So becominga designer is not merely about being able

to deliver qualitative excellent intelligentsystems, products and related services, it isalso about the process and competency of accomplishing this excellent design, and theprocess of becoming a competent designer.

Therefore, the ID Competence Framework triesto capture the overall competence of design-ing, which consists of both the process of designing and becoming a designer, and theresulting design. The overall competence of designing is shaped by the integration of:

1. The students development of the differ-

ent competency areas, both with respect toweight (breadth and depth per competencyarea) and profile (the contour of all com-petency areas with respect to depth) as wellas the students insight in their competency

development. So the development of com-petency areas refers to process (of designingand of becoming a designer) as well as tocontent (the elements of a design).

2. The extent to which the student is in

control of the activities he/she performswithin the (design) process of a specificlearning activity, as well as the process

profile of a student: the path and stepsthe student prefers to take in the (design)process, so which steps and in which order.

3. The quality of the students overall

design or the whole of his/her deliverables,including the extent to which the studentsdeliverables show the students own signa-ture.

4. The students overall attitude includ-

ing the professional and personal attitude.

In the remaining part of this chapter as wellas the next two chapters we will provide an in-depth explanation of these four elements thatcomprise the ID Competence Framework. Inthis chapter we will clarify the ten competencyareas that form the bases of the ID Compe-tence Framework. In the next two chapters wewill describe two perspectives for looking atcompetence development. The first perspec-tive described in chapter five looks at the four elements within a specific learning activitysuch as a project, an assignment, a moduleor a master class. The second perspective de-scribed in chapter six looks at the relationshipsbetween several learning activities resulting inthe overall development of competence of de-signing. The student can look for behavioural

patterns, identity patterns of the deliverables,and growth as a designer over time while car-rying out several learning activities. Growth isobtained through different stages.

Introduction

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attitudedeliverablesprocesscompetencies

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The ID Competence Framework includesten specific competency areas that are

involved during designing, related to thecontent of the system, product or service

to be designed, and/or to the approachneeded for the act of designing or becoming

a designer. These ten competency areas are:

Although all competencies have strong relationshipsand together are necessary for the overall competence of

designing, some of these competencies can be seen asmeta-competencies. These competencies are necessary for

all other competencies to develop. Especially Self-Directedand Continuous Learning is an important meta-competency,

but also Teamwork and Communication as well as Designand Research Processes have a meta-character. Modelling

in general can be considered a meta-competency but in thisframework we focus on a specific kind of modelling. We will

briefly describe all ten competency areas.

Self-Directed and Continuous Learning

Descriptive and Mathematical Modelling

Integrating Technology

Ideas and Concepts

Form and Senses

User Focus and Perspective

Social Cultural Awareness

Designing Business Processes

Design and Research Processes

Teamwork and Communication

Ten competency areas enabling design

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Self-Directed andContinuous LearningTake responsibility for and give directionto your own personal development,

based on a continuous process of self-reflection and out of curiosity for future developments in technology andsociety.

Developments in society are characterised byan enormous increase in available knowledgeand information, which makes it impossiblefor graduates to have a complete commandof their academic discipline. There is just toomuch to know and to learn, and what you knowtoday may well be out of date in a number of years. Industrial Design as an academicdiscipline, too, is susceptible to changes.Once students have become professionaldesigners, they will be challenged to createan environment that adapts to and supportsthe lives of individual people. Rather thanacquiring a particular body of knowledge, this

requires their ability to acquire, select anduse the knowledge, skills and attitudes thatthey need for effective behaviour in a specificcontext.

This, in turn, requires an attitude of openness:not only to developments in their professionand in society, but also towards the studentsown performance and learning needs in

professional situations. Students graduateonce but they will never stop learning. Theability to learn is at the core of becoming

a life-long learner. Students should get anunderstanding of what learning is as anactivity, discover what their preferred learningstyle and learning strategy is, learn how toplay with various styles and strategies, anddevelop the skills they need to design their

own learning process. This understandingshould be grounded in theoretical as well asexperiential knowledge.

In a competency-centred programme such as IDstudents need to direct and manage their owncompetency development, learning processand learning activities: what do they want or need to learn, and what does it take to achieveit? This requires the ability to orientate oneself on what there is to learn, to set ones ownlearning goals, to choose suitable learningactivities (and sometimes create their own),to plan, execute and monitor these activities,to analyse ones learning outcomes in termsof competency development and to evaluateif one has achieved the goals one sets. In theend students should also be able to self-assess their competency development and

growth as a designer. Needless to say, the self-management aspect of this competency onlyworks if they take full responsibility for their own learning process.

Learning and designing is a process of trialand error. From making mistakes, in particular,they can learn about themselves and aboutdesigning. But this takes the courage and the

ability to look more closely at themselves,their learning process and learning outcomes.What knowledge and skills have they actually


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acquired, what went well in the process,what went wrong, why did it go wrong,

are they satisfied with the results, areexperts satisfied with their results, whynot, what do the results say about their identity-building as a designer, whatwould they do differently next time? Thisability to observe and reflect on their ownlearning, on the design process and ontheir overall development as a designer is essential to develop themselves

professionally as well as personally. Theability to communicate all this will enableothers to give feedback, which in turn willenable students to enhance their learningexperience. Finally, self-directed andcontinuous learning is a competency thatenables the development of the other competencies. At the same time their experiences with the other competenciesprovide students with specific instancesof self-directed learning and as suchwith input for self-reflection. In thisrespect the development of the other competencies and self-directed learningare processes that will reinforce oneanother.

Descriptive and

MathematicalModelling Being able to create and applydescriptive and mathematicalmodels by using formal andmathematical tools, in order to justify design decisions andsupport the design of complex,highly dynamic and intelligentsystems.

Designers operate in a complex world. Inthis context of complexity our studentsare encouraged to design innovativesystems, products and related services.Technology transforms the experienceand behaviour of users in unforeseenways. In addition, problems are usuallyill-defined and opportunities oftenunlimited. All this makes the decision-making process difficult and conditional,based on the information present at thattime. An academic design engineer needsto develop insight and apply powerfultools that help to take appropriate

decisions. Developing their analysisand abstraction skills, as well as their descriptive and mathematical modellingcompetency helps students unravelprinciple patterns and mechanismsin this complex reality, and explorethe potential impact of their designdecisions.

Understanding and mastering methodsand tools for descriptive modelling

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enables students to describe relationshipsbetween parameters resulting in systems

behaviour. The next step is mathematicalmodelling to describe this behaviour inmathematical relationships. For engineers,understanding and learning mathematicalmodels is the foundation for simulation andoptimisation. These enable exploration of the desired and undesired capabilities of technological mediation that occurs in thecomplex interplay between user and artefact,

as explained in chapter two. Instead of usingtrial and error methods, students need toexplore systematically and get insight: whatare the crucial properties of especially highlydynamic and intelligent systems and productsthat benefit from mathematical modelling?During the design process the results of thesetypes of modelling can be compared withprototype tests and analyses.

Integrating TechnologyBeing competent in integratingtechnology means being able to explore,visualise, create and demonstrateinnovative concepts and experiencesusing technology, as well as analysing

the technical and economic feasibilityof complex designs in which technologyis integrated. Moreover, one needs tounderstand scientific writings and beable to communicate with engineers andresearchers of another discipline.

Designing interactive and intelligent systems,and building prototypes requires training

in choosing sensors and actuators, object-oriented design, algorithms, circuits andmechanisms, and integrating them in the

overall competency of designing. Next tosynthesising and concretising, developing

ones analytical and abstraction skills todetermine the technical and economicfeasibility of a design can be done throughinformed judgements through calculations,maths items and appropriate math tools, aswell as generating sufficient knowledge thatenables you to read further and go into depthon technological, design-related issues.

Designers typically work in multi-disciplinaryteams. This, and the fact that intelligentsystems can overstretch at some point theskills and knowledge of Industrial Designstudents, requires students to understandscientific writings and be able to communicatewith engineers and researchers of another discipline. Thus understanding E, I and W asdisciplines and being able to cooperate withthe E, I and W engineers, which may requirereading specifications and datasheets,documenting hardware and software, andfinally awareness of computer science andartificial intelligence.

Ideas and ConceptsDevelop visions, innovative ideas and

concepts through creativity techniques,experimentations and the translation of research.

Ideas and concepts are initiated throughdifferent ways of doing and thinkingaccording to your attitude, influences andexperiences such as: empathic thinking(concerned with feeling and sensing your way),

associative thinking (compares and makesconnections with different objects, places andexperiences), thinking with your body and



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hands (e.g. sketching, physical modelling,the choreography of interaction), different

analysis and selection processes to selectand match the best design, and observing theflow of experience and actions as a part of theconcept-forming process.

The process of generating ideas to developinto selected concepts is a major step. It isessential to practise your

Eindhoven Designs 2 Hummels

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