The evaluation of different styles of teaching and learning in the context of design and technology education

This paper reports two elements of a small scale investigation concerning the preferences of undergraduate students in relation to elements of the teaching and learning process. The work was conducted with students who were engaged in a four year undergraduate programme of Industrial Design and Technology. Data collected from a questionnaire administered half way through the first year of the course sought to identify the styles of teaching and learning that students preferred during the early period of their transition between school and university. Subsequently, the same cohort of fifty, first year students was involved in peer review and evaluation sessions, linked to the practical design outcome and the design folio from two coursework design projects that they had completed. Following these review and evaluation exercises, data relating to the potential benefits and problems associated with the incorporation of this style of teaching and learning was collected using a group discussion and reporting technique. Positive and negative reactions of the students to their involvement in the process of design evaluation and assessment will be considered, along with how this element might be incorporated into a balanced framework of teaching and learning in technology project work.