Article,
Teaching as design
HERDSA Review of Higher Education, (2015)
Abstract
This review paper draws together some ideas emerging from recent research and
development activity in the field of ‘design for learning’. It explores the argument
that teaching in higher education will necessarily shift the balance of its efforts
towards a greater investment in design, as a way of coping with otherwise
intolerable pressures on staff and resources. It frames this argument by
expanding the core conceptions of what teaching work entails and then focuses
on some characteristic qualities of teaching as a design activity. Research relevant
to ‘teaching as design’ intertwines issues that are of practical and theoretical
significance. The scientific study of teachers’ design work can be seen as falling
into three main areas: design epistemology (or the study of ‘designerly ways of
knowing’), design phenomenology (the study of the products of the design
process), and design praxiology (the study of the practices and processes of
design). The paper introduces some examples of work in each of these areas and
identifies areas that need further research. For practical purposes, the paper
discusses ways of building design capacity within universities, through sharpening
the focus on students’ activity, and helping students to take greater control over
the design of their own learning tasks and learning environments.
