Developing sustainable literacy in industrial design education : a three year action research project enabling industrial design students to design for sustainability

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation into why Industrial Design students cannot Design for Sustainability (DfS); that is, students are unable to design in a way that can contribute in real terms to a sustainable society, economy or ecology. To proactively address the question, a three year action research project at the University of Western Sydney took place within the sustainable design stream of the undergraduate Bachelor of Design / Industrial Design program. This study examined over 400 conceptual DfS scenarios, which were the outcomes of student assessment tasks at the end of the sustainable design stream. Using content analysis, the 'conceptual design scenarios' were examined against progressive DfS theory to locate the effectiveness of both the theoretical and pedagogical interventions. Through the process, insight into Industrial Design Education for Sustainability was gained to inform the three key findings of the thesis: First, the definition of the unsustainable problem being worked with strongly determines the quality of the design outcome in terms of DfS (how you define is how you design). To enable Industrial Design students to design for sustainability, a sound, targeted definition of unsustainability is first required, a task that has been neglected in Industrial Design Education. Second, the role of pedagogy is equally as important as the theoretical material to which Industrial Design students are exposed. The pedagogy of deep learning and a student-centred approach to teaching was employed. These assisted both to progress students' understanding of unsustainability and to transform their understanding into Designs for Sustainability. Third, if Industrial Design students are to be motivated and engaged in DfS, sustainability needs to be presented as more than a responsibility; students need to see clear, feasible, future vocational opportunities in DfS. Hence DfS needs to be presented as an opportunity with explicit career paths for their future vocations. The proposed future opportunities expand from the product focus of Industrial Design. The three key findings of the thesis informed the pedagogical framework for Industrial Design Education for Sustainability that is presented. To summate, the thesis argues that students can design for sustainability if an appropriate understanding of unsustainability is defined (the problem context), supported by pedagogic processes to transform this understanding into appropriate and forethoughtful design outcomes, which are seen as viable potential proposals justified for real world applications in a transformed Industrial Design practice.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	English