DTE4 THESIS PROPOSAL FORM

Student Name: Luke Bowden G00286640

1. Working Title
The Educational Value Of The Design Process In Second
Level

Education

Subjects

Of

In

MTW,

The

Context

Constuction

Of

The

Studies,

Technology
Design

And

Communication Graphics And Technical Graphics.

2. Research Aims

The aims of this thesis are to:

1. To investigate design as a truly educational experience.
2. To create a number of teaching strategies and student activities
which explore the design process in the classroom in the context of
MTW, Construction and DCG

3. Research Objectives

To investigate design as a truly educational experience.

o Define the design process.
o Analysis the educational value of each stage of the design
process for a secondary school student.
o Critque the subject of Design Technology from the UK
education system.

To demonstrate the importance of the design process in the cognitive

development of adolescents.
o Establish a link between cognitive development in adolescents
and the design process through research.
o Investigate if problem solving and creative

thinking

in

adolescents can be improved by engaging in the design

process.

To identify a number of teaching strategies and student activities

which explore the design process in the classroom in the context of
MTW, Construction and DCG
o Manufacture a number of teaching strategies and student
activities for MTW, Construction and DCG that engage students
in an aspect of the design process

CONTEXT
Establish a context for design in the classroom using chief examiners
reports and the syllabii of DCG, MTW and Construction along with the
Architectural Technology Syllabus which was designed to replace
Construction Studies.

o Examine the syllabus for architectural technology which was

deisgned to replace construction studies and investigate the
clear emphasis on design and the design process which exists
in it.
o Investigate the chief examiners reports from MTW, DCG and
Construction Studies to quantify the direction in which the
value they put on Design in the classrom.

4. Research Methodology
Secondary Research
This involves the summary, collation and or synthesis of existing
research rather than primary research. I intend to explore a number
of book, articles, journals, videos and websites for my thesis. Chief
examiners reports and the syllabi of Architectural Technology,
Materials Technology Wood and Design and Communication Graphics
will provide a foundation for the context of my thesis. The subject of
Design Technology in the UK will provide an insight into a more
design led approach in secondary schools.
I will critically analyse all of the sources I use, assessing their values
and merit, whilst establishing a strong supporting argument for my
belief that design and the design process itself contain an important
educational value which is in large part being overlooked by our
education system.

Primary Research
This is new research, carried out to answer specific issues or
questions. It can involve questionnaires, surveys or interviews with
individuals or small groups. I plan to design a number of teaching
strategies and pupil activities that have been developed as a
solution to the ineffectiveness of current methods of facilitating

design in the classroom of MTW, Construction and DCG.

5. Initial Literature Review

National

Council

for

Curriculum

and

Assessment.

(2007).

Architectural Technology Draft Syllabus. Dublin: NCCA.

Manufactured with the intent to be phased in as of 2007 along with the
DCG syllabus the Architectural Technology Syllabus was drafted by the
NCCA to replace Construction Studies as a subject for the leaving
Certificate. This syllabus reflected a strong desire to ensure design became
a larger part of the leaving cert practical subject. Both the core aspect and
options for the subject the contains design as a subject matter designing
for human comfort, design issues and considerations, design apprasial and
processes, design manfuacture. This draft Syllabus will provide a solid
foundation and context for my thesis.

State Liberty of Queensland. (2012, Unk unk). Design Minds.

Retrieved

26,

2015,

from

Design

Minds:

http://designminds.org.au.
This website formed in large part by Natalie Wright a Lecturer in Interior
Design at the School of Design at the Queensland University of Technology
contains numerous videos, arcitles, conference papers and resources
which either promote,investigate, analyse or highlight the educational
value of design and the design process. I will use this website in my
attempts to illustrate the value of design in education.
Owen-Jackson, G. (2013). Debates in Design and Technology
Education. Unk: Routledge.

This book written by Gwyneth Owen-Jackson is part of a series of books

entitled Debates in Subject Teaching. Gwyneth Owen-Jackson is and vastly
published lecturer at the Open University (UK), along with a PHd she is also
qualfieid in the subjects of fashion design, graphic design and industrial
design.
This book investigates a number of aspects of Design and Technology
Education in the UK.
It

highlights

areas

such

as

government

policies

on

the

subject,

developments in the subject, international perspectives of design an

technology education, subject pedagogy and creativity for a new
generation. This book will provide me with an insight into Design and
Technology education in the UK and how developments in that subject can
inform Ireland about technology education here.
Wright, N., Davis, R., & Bucolo, S. (2013). The creative citizen :
understanding the value of design education programs in the
knowledge economy. Brisbane: ABM-media .
This conference paper written by Natalie Wirght, Rebekah Davis and Sam
Bucolo highlights the need for Education systems need to concentrate
less on specialist skills and more on the development of people with
broad-based problem solving skills that are adaptable

I will use this

paper to further support the thesis that creativite thinking and problem
solving are essential skills for life.
Design

Thinking

DesignThinkingEducators.

For

Education.

Retrieved

Sept

(Unk,
26,

2015,

unk).
from

DesignThinkingEducators.com.
This website details what design thinking is, it contains resources and a
toolkit for educators along with examples of desing thinking. A useful
resource for a teacher looking to understand how to implement design

thinking into the classroom this website will help me in the manufacture of
teaching strategies and pupil activities

Morehen, J., Wright, N., & Wrigley, C. (2013). Teaching design

thinking and design led innovation to non-designers : a tertiary
facilitator multidisciplinary study. Brisbane: Queensland university
of Technology.
This conference paper aims to address the knowledge gap in regards to
the potential role tertiary institutions can play in developing design
thinking and design led innovation capabilities in non-designers. I will use
this paper to highlight the role a teacher of MTW,Consturction Studies and
DCG could take in developing design thinking and design led innovation in
secondary students.
Aspelund, K. (2015). The Design Process. New York: Fairchild
Books.
In this book Karl Aspelund identifies seven stages of the design process,
Inspiration, Identification, Conceptualisation, Exploration and Refinement,
Definition and Modeling, Communication and Production. I will use this
book as the main starting point for identfiying what the stages of design
process are. I will cross reference with others books and the syllabi of
MTW, DCG, Construction and Architectural Design define a design process
which is easy for the students to comprehend.

Cross, N. (2012). Design Thinking. New York: Berg.

Focusing on what designers do when they design this book is focused
around a series of case studies of expert designers. It highlights how
designers work and how they think. This will be extremelly useful for in my

attempt to effectively adapt the design process into the classroom. The
insights of how designers work in this book will allow me to understand the
way in which students might work on this subject matter and therefore
allow to refine and activities and strategies I design.

deBono, E. (2008). Creativity Workout. Berkeley: Ulyssses Press.

This book by leading expert in creativity Edward de Bono is a collection of
62 creative exercises. Underpinned by the belief that creativity is a skill
which can be learned the book sets out to unlock these creative skills. This
book will greatly improve my knowledge in regards to how to engage
people creatively and how to develop creativity. It will also serve as a
support for the teaching strategies and pupil activities I design in my
thesis.

Sternberg, R. J. (1999).

Handbook of Creativity.

New York:

Cambridge University Press.

In the abstract the author states the goal of the Handbook of Creativity is
to provide the most comprehensive, definitive, and authoritative singlevolume review available in the field of creativity. This book achieves that
goal. It discusses creativity as a unit or units of knowledge, or a schema as
Piaget defined them. Sternberg himself is known for forming the theory of
Successful Intelligence having critiqued Howard Gardeners theory of
multiple intelligences stating it refers to abilities not intelligences he
formed his own theory centered around three main areas Analytical
Intelligence, Creative intelligence and Practical Intelligence. His belief in
Creative intelligence as outlined in this book will provide much needed

depth to the concept of my thesis.

Sriraman, B., Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2012). Being Creative

Inside and Outside the Classroom : How to Boost Your Students
Creativity And Your Own. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
This book examines the idea of divergent thinking and creative problem
solving in the classroom. It also brings to focus the debate; Can teaching
for creativity and teaching for content knowledge mix. I will use this book
to aid my understanding of how these concepts would work in the context
of MTW, Construction and DCG.

5. Initial List of References

Aspelund, K. (2015). The Design Process. New York: Fairchild Books.
Barnes, B., Morley, J., & Sayers, S. (2003). Issues in Design and
Technology Education. Unk: Routledge.
BEQUETTE, J. W., & BEQUETTE, M. B. (2012). A Place for ART and
DESIGN Education in the STEM Conversation. Art Education , 65 (2),
40-47.
Burgess, Z. (2010, Oct). Can we teach creative and critical thinking.
Good Magazine .
Cross, N. (2012). Design Thinking. New York: Berg.
deBono, E. (2008). Creativity Workout. Berkeley: Ulyssses Press.
Department of education and skills. (Unk). Construction Studies
Syllabus. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills.
Department of education and Skills. (Unk). Materials Technology
Wood Syllabus. Dublin: Department of Education and Skills.
Department of Education UK. (2013). National curriculum in
England: design and technology programmes of study. Unk:

Department of Education UK.

Design Factors. (Unk, Unk Unk). creatvie teachers for creavtive
learners. (A. Deeyto, Producer, & Foundation Building, University of
Limerick) Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from DesignFactors.ie:
http://designfactors.ie/design-practice-education/creative-teacherscreative-learners
Design Thinking For Education. (Unk, unk).
DesignThinkingEducators. Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from
DesignThinkingEducators.com:
http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com
Duell, C., Wright, N., & Roxburgh, J. (2013). Design minds : an online
design education platform for non-designers to enact cultural
change. International Conference for Design Education Researchers
(Volume 4). Oslo: ABM-media.
Franz, J. M., Bitner, G., Wright, N., Gillett, C., & Hannaford, R. (2010).
Inclusive universal design practice and activism : a case study.
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference : Universal Design
in Hamamtsu 2010. Hamamatsu: International Association for
Universal Design.
Harris, R. (2012, April 2). Introduciton to Creative Thinking.
Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from VisualSalt.com:
http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook1.htm
Humphreys, J. (2015, Mar 10). Can young people be thought to
thinkn critically. Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from IrishTImes.com:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/can-young-people-betaught-how-to-think-critically-1.2127763
Llyod, P. (2013). Embedded creativity: teaching design thinking via
distance education . International Journal of Technology & Design
Education , 23 (3), 749-765.
Lyon, P. (2011). Design Education: Learning, Teaching and
Researching Through Design. Unk: Gower Publishing Limited.
Michalko, M. (2006). Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking
Techniques (2nd Edition). Ten Speed Press; 2 edition .
Morehen, J., Wright, N., & Wrigley, C. (2013). Teaching design

thinking and design led innovation to non-designers : a tertiary

facilitator multidisciplinary study. Brisbane: Queensland university of
Technology.
Morrison, D. (2013, Aug 6). Why Design Thinking Doesnt Work
in Education. Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from
OnlineLearninginsights.com:
https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/whydesign-thinking-doesnt-work-in-education/
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. (2007).
Architectural Technology Draft Syllabus. Dublin: NCCA.
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. (2007). Design and
Communication Graphics Syllabus. Dublin: NCCA.
Owen-Jackson, G. (2013). Debates in Design and Technology
Education. Unk: Routledge.
Oxman, R. (2004). Think-maps: teaching design thinking in design
education. Design Studies , 25 (1), 63-91.
Sriraman, B., Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2012). Being Creative Inside
and Outside the Classroom : How to Boost Your Students Creativity
And Your Own. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

State Liberty of Queensland. (2012, Unk unk). Design Minds.

Retrieved 9 26, 2015, from Design Minds: http://designminds.org.au
Sternberg, R. J. (1999). Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
The American Scientific Affiliation. (2001, Unk Unk). Creative
Thinking Skills for Life and Education (teaching creativity). Retrieved
Sept 26, 2015, from asa3.org:
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/creative.htm
Vincent-Lancrin, S. (2013, Jan 30). Creativity in schools what
countries do (or could do). Retrieved Sept 26, 2015, from
http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.ie:
http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.ie/2013/01/creativity-in-schools-

what-countries-do.html
Wong, B. (2011). The design process. Nature Methods. , 8 (12), 987.
Wong, W. (1993). Principles of Form And Design . New York: john
Wiley & Sons.
Wright, N., Davis, R., & Bucolo, S. (2013). The creative citizen :
understanding the value of design education programs in the
knowledge economy. Brisbane: ABM-media .
Wright, N., Jerome, K. P., Franz, J. M., Berry, M. R., Wigg, A., Scott, A.,
et al. (2010). goDesign travelling design workshop program for
regional secondary students. goDesign travelling design workshop
program for regional secondary students. Brisban: University of QUT.
Wright, N., Wrigley, C., & Bucolo, S. (2012). Broadening horizons : an
emerging research agenda modelling design led innovation across
secondary education. Boston: International Research Conference,
DMI, Boston, MA,.