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DESIGN 701 : Design Practices
Creative Arts and Industries
2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
This course introduces students to design contexts, resources and networks, and their application. Design practices are highly dependent on context and 'problem space'. Therefore, successfully applying design resources (tools, methods, processes and practices) requires a broad skill set of interpersonal and contextual understandings and a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. The course's theoretical and reflective elements encourage students to deepen their understanding, actively engage in testing, and establish their stance, fostering critical perspectives on design methods, tools, processes, and practices. This course forms a bridge between the design research and project development introduced in DESIGN 700 and the prototyping and testing introduced in DESIGN 702 toward preparing students for their supervised research portfolio or thesis work.
Students will create a series of reflections to document and assess their iterations, leading to an in-class progress report. Reflections will be evaluated individually and through peer review. Lessons in reflexive practice will aid in building student autonomy, self-assessment, and reporting skills.
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 2: | Sustainability |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 7: | Collaboration |
| Capability 8: | Ethics and Professionalism |
Learning Outcomes
- Develop a critical awareness of current design methods and their relationship to the current field. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4)
- Develop the material, conceptual and contextual aspects of design practices. (Capability 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3)
- Develop advanced design skills that include a range of material, conceptual and contextual methodologies and understand how to apply these to design production. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 4.1, 5.2, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.3 and 8.4)
- Understand how aspects of Tikanga relate to contemporary design practices (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4)
- Apply reflective practices to critically evaluate personal practices and frame a project. (Capability 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 6.2, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory project | 5% | Group Coursework |
| Practices report | 40% | Group & Individual Coursework |
| Reflections | 30% | Individual Coursework |
| Peer-review | 10% | Peer Coursework |
| Workshops | 15% | Group & Individual Coursework |
| 5 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Introductory project | ||||||||||
| Practices report | ||||||||||
| Reflections | ||||||||||
| Peer-review | ||||||||||
| Workshops | ||||||||||
Teaching & Learning Methods
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15-point course and students are expected to spend 12.5 hours per week involved in each 15-point course that they are enrolled in.
Each week you can expect 3 hours of classroom contact time, 2 hours of reading and thinking about the content, and 7.5 hours of work on assignments.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Attendance is required at scheduled activities including tutorials and studios to complete components of the course. Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities will not be available as recordings. The course will not include live online events. The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.
Extensions of time to submit work will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the instructor.
Students are required to pass this course to continue in the MDes in Semesters 2 and 3.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas, which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Part of this course may require additional resources. This may include specialised materials, tooling, hardware, or software. Where possible the programme will supply these items to students at cost price through the CAI shop, however, students also need to be prepared to source these items at their own expense.
Health & Safety
If necessary students will be inducted on safe practices in the Design Lab workshop, and complete specific safe use training for relevant machinery and tools.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Other Information
Students will be contacted via their student email addresses. You are welcome to redirect these to a private email, but it is the responsibility of students to check these messages. Please note all communications from Canvas are automatically sent to student's university emails. Students must check Canvas regularly for updated information.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Where a student faces unavoidable personal circumstances (e.g. illness or a death in the family) that mean the student is unable to submit a component of coursework, they may apply for an extension. Requests for extensions of time must be submitted and approved using the online Extension of Time Application form available on Canvas:
https://www.forms.auckland.ac.nz/en/student/creative-arts-and-industries/design-programme-extension-of-time-application-form.html
Students should notify the Course Director/Course Coordinator of their situation as soon as practicable, and preferably before any due date. Notifications received after an assessment due date will be accepted, where this is reasonable, within the context of the course. If possible, students are encouraged to seek medical, counselling or other support from the most appropriate sources.
No extensions will be granted for problems such as accidentally erased computer files, which should always be prevented by keeping backup copies.
Learning Continuity
We undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions, the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. In the event of a disruption, the University and your course coordinators will make every effort to provide you with up to date information via Canvas and the University website.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.