Design Knowing and Learning: Cognition in Design Education

Wide aspects of a university education address design: the conceptualization, planning and implementation of man-made artifacts. All areas of engineering, parts of computer science and of course architecture and industrial design all claim to teach design. Yet the education of design tends ot follow tacit practices, without explicit assumptions, goals and processes.

This book is premised on the belief that design education based on a cognitive science approach can lead to significant improvements in the effectiveness of university design courses and to the future capabilities of practicing designers. This applies to all professional areas of design. The book grew out of publications and a workshop focusing on design education. This volume attempts to outline a framework upon which new efforts in design education might be based.

The book includes chapters dealing with six broad aspects of the study of design education: • Methodologies for undertaking studies of design learning • Longitudinal assessment of design learning • Methods and cases for assessing beginners, experts and special populations • Studies of important component processes • Structure of design knowledge • Design cognition in the classroom

Introduction: Bringing Design Knowledge and Learning Together (W.C. Newstetter et al.). Stalking Homo Faber: A Comparison of Research Strategies for Studying Design Behavior (D.L. Craig). Studying Engineering Design Learning: Four Verbal Protocol Studies (C.J. Atman, J. Turns). Novice Conceptions of Design: Implications for the Design of Learning Environments (W.C. Newstetter, W.M. McCracken). Design Cognition: Results from Protocol and Other Empirical Studies of Design Activity (N. Cross). Variants in Design Cognition (Ö. Akin). An Argument for Design Research á la Carte (C. Zimring, D.L. Craig). New Directions in Design Cognition: Studies of Representation and Recall (C. Eastman). Visual Analogy – A Strategy for Design Reasoning and Learning (G. Goldschmidt). Dissociation of Design Knowledge (V. Goel). Scenario-based Design: A Brief History and Rationale (J.M. Carroll). The Mind in Design: A conceptual Framework for Cognition in Design Education (R. Oxman). Design Knowing and Learning: A Socially Mediated Activity (L.L. Bucciarelli).