National Conference on the Beginning Design Student No. 34

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Vol. 34 No. 1 (2018): The 34th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, (NCBDS)

The theme of the 2018 conference is TIME. The conference focuses on the ways in which the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE are considered and engaged in beginning design education.

Published: 2018-10-04

History and Precedents

Programs and Curricula

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The theme of the 2018 conference is TIME. The conference focuses on the ways in which the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE are considered and engaged in beginning design education.

S T A R T I N G  T I M E
L e v e r a g i n g  t h e  P a s t
Students begin their design education with diverse backgrounds and different sets ofexperiences and expectations. How is this diversity cultivated in the context of a beginning design curriculum? Should beginning design education serve as a formalized and unified reset for all students, regardless of their unique points of entry? Are homogeneity and heterogeneity both pedagogical goals in beginning design? History and precedents are essential components of design education. How are these embedded in studio culture and curricular structure? How has the encyclopedic reach of the internet changed the study of history and the use of precedents?

 

T A K I N G  T I M E
F o c u s i n g  t h e  P r e s e n t
Time and attention are increasingly subject to interruptions - intentional, habitual or unexpected. Students are more than ever in the habit of multitasking, of incorporating multiple and simultaneous stimuli in their workspaces. How are these new realities affecting not only learning environments but also the character and quality of learning itself? Evidence abounds that solitude and long stretches of unimpeded concentration are necessary for the evolution of understanding, practices and skills. What is happening at the intersections of
short time (interrupted) and expansive time (uninterrupted) in beginning design education? Beginning design students are situated in institutions, which are in turn situated in communities. At what point do design students reach past the frame of the university and into the larger social, cultural and built context? What initiatives exist to facilitate or encourage this reach?

 

S H A P I N G  T I M E
I m a g i n i n g  t h e  F u t u re
Many institutions incorporate professional experience as an integral part of design education. How much should the educational experience include industry experience? Where should the anticipation of and preparation for an employment future be situated in design education? How is deepening in the now related to planning for and tasting parts of what is to come? In times of rapid technological, cultural and political change, design educators are readying students for an uncertain future. How are students prepared not only for success but also for failure? How are they taught to be adaptable? How are they taught to be responsible fortheir own lifetime of learning?