Accomplishing results through teachers and students partnership

![CDATA[Current Australian tertiary education intake is formed by students with diverse experiences, skills, ethnicity, language proficiency and economic background. Accordingly, it is a challenge for design education to achieve intended learning outcomes while confronted with constraints of retension. Industrial Design Studio 4 (IDS4) is a third year unit led by Lecturer Mauricio Novoa at University of Western Sydney (UWS). The unit undertook an overhaul in 2005 in preparation for its current international phase. Students were given the choice to democratically participate in the reshaping of the unit. A design agency/studio and production environment structure was set in place to give students a real feel of professional life. Expectations for the subject were raised although accommodating to course objectives and intended students' learning outcomes. Unit outline was changed to cover previous year content in 4 weeks with a structure concentrated in developing research, conceptualisation and pitch proposal to client by week 5. The remaining weeks were focussed in developing industrial design solutions at similar level as in professional life. Students were given the role of clients, suppliers, markers and judges of each other with the creation of a healthy competition, ownership and critical judgement. Students rose to the challenge and showed high levels of professionalism and satisfaction with the subject. Many went through a change of heart about just wanting to pass to measure their success based on their learning outcomes. The success of the unit was best represented by students who either were offered jobs and/or commercialization of their designs. They evaluated themselves and some even decided to fail the unit and come back the following year. They believe they did not meet their own expectations and judged passing as unfair to the rest of the class. Such outcome had not happened before in the School of Engineering and Industrial Design.]]