Design Philosophy (H1044)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

Design philosophy is about developing an understanding of how designers think and work. The focus is on revealing what designers do during the activity of designing and on building an understanding of the nature of design ability. You will gain insight into past design movements, what it means to be a designer, how designers employ creative thinking skills and what is known about different aspects of design ability and its development, from novice student to expert professional.

The module aims to give a deeper understanding of the nature of design thinking, and will give commentary and advice and provide the opportunity for you to initiate and develop you own research in relation to their design practice and thinking, aiding them to better understand - and perhaps also to question - the things they do in their work life, and why they do them.

This will result in a series of essays, which together will culminate in a sustained piece of research.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Presentation, Project)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 117 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2021/22. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: