2022.02.24
This dissertation presents a doctoral research on material education in design, which is based on understanding the tremendous undergoing changes in the material world thanks to the technology evolution and designers’ continuous exploration and reinterpretation of materials. It noticed that the exploration of new materials and their characteristics have caught more attention of designers and design educators, and design and material education is developing its own approaches. It answered the research question of ‘what are the new effective changes and phenomena of material education in design, and what are its potentials and values’ by a mixed research methodology.
The literature review elaborates the evolution of material education in design since the design discipline emerged, and listed the new knowledge, approaches and tools that emerged. The literature review also provides an overview of today’s material in design: new materials, material’s circularity, material’s uniqueness, the democratization of digital fabrication technologies, material designers as a future job, and philosophical discussion on materials.
After the review, the research followed up an investigation and pictured a panorama of current material education in design. Quantitative and qualitative results were presented. The research defined eleven types of material courses in design today, and with further analysis the research integrated information on the current state of material education in design, and captured its several emerging characteristics through selective coding process. Five core categories that revealed the convergent phenomena in design material courses today were defined. The research highlighted three vital factors which are highly correlated and jointly enhance the development of materials education in design here: fabrication technology, circular economy, and materials’ meanings. Among them, the meaning-driving part was highlighted as the original from the design discipline but still quite potent to be re-discussed more.
Focusing on the meaning-driven material education in design, three case studies were selected, observed, and studied. To better understand their pedagogies, the study highlighted their learning input, design activities involved, course outputs. This part defined the contributions of meaning-driven material education to design education, it helps students to have a more comprehensive understanding of the material world and facilitates two design activities: design materials, and design with materials. At the end of this part, the thesis discussed the MdME’s features from four aspects: the way to look at materials, theoretical basis, design activities involved, and the course impacts. Material investigation and material experimentation as the two most crucial activities were highlighted.
The research generated three hypotheses on the potential of meaning-driven material education in design, and they were verified by teaching activities. The dissertation elaborated on how did the researcher prepare the teaching materials and conducted three teaching activities, to help students to set up a ‘material’ way of thinking in different approaches. The results verified that design educators can enhance design education and expand design territories through MdME from different aspects. The end phrases discussed that the MdME framework can be applied to current design education in five methods: triggering material tinkering; cultivating a ‘designerly way’ to understand and use materials; enhancing speculative research on material futures; engaging global scale investigation; and re-awaking our consideration of the preciousness of objects.
The research outcomes are a body of knowledge around the meaning-driven material education, formalized in a methodological framework to material education in design. It contributes to informing and updating the current theoretical and methodological knowledge for materials design. In the end part, the thesis discussed the future of material education in design for cultivating future material designers and enhancing design education’s responsibility nowadays.
Keywords: Material education, Materials experience, Material in design, Design education, Material designers.
A reference research publication:
Zhou, Z. (2021). Engaging Material Education in Design. The Design Journal, 24(1), 149-159.
