Looking for alternatives: challenging assumptions in design education

In this article, we argue that, in response to emerging societal, technology, and other global transformations, nine interrelated changes in the landscape of design are having an impact on design education in four principal areas: design practice, teaching arena, students, and pedagogy. We assert that these changes require a pedagogical model that can teach new designers how to navigate external shifts. Most of the changes we propose in this article have been discussed or even adopted previously, but they have never been introduced together as a comprehensive, overarching pedagogical approach. Through the analysis of two information design courses we introduce a student-focused, research-led, and science-based approach that will enable instructors to contend with these changes. Despite the success demonstrated by both courses, through students’ work and course evaluations, these cases also highlight new challenges for design educators. We assert that the proposed approach could lead the implementation of some fundamental changes in design education, and we provide recommendations to adapt design education in a small step-by-step fashion. We end the paper with possible areas for further investigation, such as the relevance of teaching experience and identifying students’ needs and motivations.