Conference Agenda

Product design workshops represent environments where technological progress has had a significant impact, especially in prototype creation processes, encompassing both the technology employed in construction and integrated components. However, project management activities persist in being conventionally addressed, susceptible to increasing the margin of error in product manufacturing and extending the time required to conclude the planning phase.

This paper delves into the initial integration of a generative artificial intelligence assistant in the search for relevant information for the execution of product design projects in manufacturing workshop environments. The advanced capabilities of generative data processing are harnessed with the aspiration that this assistant becomes a dynamic collaborator, efficiently supporting and guiding the student throughout the prototype creation process.

This initial approach of the assistant was applied to prototype and manufacturing courses in the 4th and 6th semesters of the Product Design program.

Deaf and hard of hearing learners face unique challenges on a day-to-day basis, especially in a higher education environment. The variability in the types/methods of teaching within Product Design Education means there are various challenges to overcome within various settings where teaching takes place. Accessibility and disability considerations differ from student to student and thus require a significant amount of planning and testing for academic teams to ensure deaf and hard of hearing learners gain access to the same quality and consistency of education as other students do regardless of the setting.

Studying product design often requires teamwork and collaboration, which can be challenging for students with hearing impairments to feel fully integrated within. To create an inclusive and collaborative working environment many adjustments must be made whether this a teaching environment, the use of digital technologies or even consideration of the peer to peer and tutor communication. Furthermore, the stigma associated with deaf and hard of hearing learners often means that students and staff must be appropriately educated when considering the overall learning experience. This paper discusses the successes and challenges of methods of managing the product design teaching environment in combination with the use of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, electronic/handwritten notetakers and the accompanying technologies across a four-year period where online learning, blended learning and face to face delivery were all a part of the learner’s experience.

This paper presents a case study examining the four-year learning experience of a student with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) and permanent bilateral severe-profound hearing loss who studied BSc (Hons) Product Design SW at Nottingham Trent University which included a placement year in industry at Kinneir Dufort as a Product Design Intern. We reflect on the education adjustments designed into the course curriculum which have benefitted all students, whilst also reflecting on the support provided for applying for placements ensuring a successful placement/internship can be secured including embracing and integrating the necessary adjustments in relation to the access to work guidelines. In addition, a student review and testimonial of their learning journey will be presented reflecting on their educational development and support systems.

Creating an inclusive education environment to support deaf and hard of hearing learners in product design education environments and within industrial settings requires a proactive approach and as such all factors must be considered ranging from fostering a supportive inclusive learning community to integrating/embracing the network of specialist support staff to ensure all students thrive.

In this work, we apply the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)’s STEAM x D (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, and D = Design Thinking) transdisciplinary collaborative principles to a different set of disciplines (i.e. Humanities, Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing, etc.), in a workshop which was carried out for a total of 46 participating high school students (17-18-years old) in which ~ 40% were female students. In this 5-day workshop the students worked in teams of 4 to 5 students along 8 SUTD instructors from different disciplines, and 10 SUTD undergraduate helpers, to solve a design challenge using a systems approach complemented with human-centric, design thinking, and engineering elements as part of our daVinci@SUTD immersion programme, which seeks to inspire youth in human-centered design and innovation that are grounded in STEM education fused with the understanding of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences to serve greater societal needs. In general, survey feedback showed high levels of student engagement, awareness of using Artificial Intelligence, engineering, and design thinking to address real-life problems, and overall, the students found the workshop useful and insightful.

This study reports on what tool and methods design major students use to discover, define and solve design problems. The site of this study is Design Thinking and Methods, a compulsory course for first-year Chinese design majors. The teaching goal of this course is to cultivate students’ design thinking practice and innovation ability. Firstly, this paper reviews the definitions of design problems and design thinking through literature. Secondly, it outlines students’ understanding of design thinking and design problem solving. Then these concepts are analysed to explore similarities and differences among 220 students. Finally, students design project are classified in relation to students’ attention in different stages of design activities. The study found that most students can find design problems, but often they are unable to identify the nature of the design problems, which then leads to inappropriate design solution.

In this study, over one hundred undergraduate students across three courses track time spent on a design course. Students received points only for measuring and reporting time and not for the quantity of time, thus helping increase time-tracking data validity. The study’s correlation between time and student performance is unsurprising. However, several other outcomes of this study are fascinating.

Soft skills, like time management, are often not explicitly taught in primary, secondary, or university education. The exercise of tracking time teaches students about themselves, helping them recognize opportunities for improvement. Most students do not like tracking time, but many admit it is beneficial. Time tracking allows them to be personally responsible and accept the consequences. Many conversations with students have shifted from “Tell me how to get a better grade.” to “Help me improve time management so I can learn more and do better.” Time-tracking data also provides additional context for professors to interpret student performance. When students are not performing well, time-tracking data clarifies how to help: do students need help recognizing the discrepancy between time invested and results expected, or do they need additional help understanding and applying course content?