85503 Thinking Through Design
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksThere are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
The aim of this subject is to help students develop their attitude, behaviour and thinking as designers. It aims to show them what the field of design looks like from the inside and to challenge preconceptions. Students develop their knowledge of design processes and design research techniques that are common to all design disciplines. Students learn a range of strategies for working in teams, defining design problems, researching design contexts, generating creative responses, evaluating proposals from different perspectives, and visualising the arguments for proposals. The subject also introduces students to the rigorous and self-directed learning environment of the School of Design.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Work iteratively within a series of design frameworks to produce outcomes which evidence a developing knowledge of design thinking and revision of your own work. |
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| 2. | Demonstrate participation in collaborative learning opportunities in the subject, including tutorials and group work. |
| 3. | Make connections between creativity, criticality and reflection. |
| 4. | Demonstrate the application of curiosity, experimentation and risk taking in design. |
| 5. | Manage briefs, deadlines and feedback in design projects. |
| 6. | Critically reflect on own learning demonstrating awareness of strengths and weaknesses. |
| 7. | Show cultural awareness and sensitivity towards Indigenous perspectives through project site research. |
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
The term CAPRI is used for the five Design, Architecture and Building faculty graduate attribute categories where:
C = communication and groupwork
A = attitudes and values
P = practical and professional
R = research and critique
I = innovation and creativity.
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) are linked to these categories using codes (e.g. C-1, A-3, P-4, etc.).
Teaching and learning strategies
The subject involves a 1hr lecture each week, followed by a 2hr tutorial each week, and 2 assignments. For most students, these will be face-to-face classes, though some students will complete the subject remotely.
You are expected to be an active listener to the lectures, taking notes, and raising questions that occur to you both in the lecture and in your tutorials.
Tutorials involve specific activities set by tutors to help you better understand and apply the concepts presented each week, and to learn how to be a designerly systems thinker. These working sessions include group discussion, individual discussion, and peer review. Each tutorial session involves the negotiation of a particular series of exercises. To develop a richly practical understanding of the concepts taught in this class, you will need to be an active participant in class discussions and activities. By doing so, you will be able to complete your assignments iteratively, contributing something each week.
The primary objective of this subject is for you to develop new habits as an active observer and a reflective practitioner. To do this, it is essential that you make time in your schedule to journal after class about what you learned in class. Over time, your journal should be something you do at least weekly, perhaps daily, using it to record and reflect on all your design classes and projects, and even designs and design writing you encounter outside the university.
English Literacy:
If students are concerned about English literacy skills they are encouraged to contact the UTS Higher Education Language and Presentation Support (HELPS) service as early as possible. See: http://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/about-helps
The aim of this subject is to help you develop academic and professional language and communication skills to succeed at university and in the workplace. To determine your current academic language proficiency, you are required to complete an online language screening task, OPELA (information available at https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/learning-and-teaching/enhancing/language-and-learning/about-opela-students) [or a written diagnostic task]. If you receive a Basic grade for OPELA [or the written diagnostic task], you must attend additional Language Development Tutorials (each week from week [3/4] to week [11/12] in order to pass the subject. These tutorials are designed to support you to develop your language and communication skills. Students who do not complete the OPELA and/or do not attend 80% of the Language Development Tutorials will receive a Fail X grade. During the course of this subject, you will complete a milestone assessment task that will in addition to assessing your subject-specific learning objectives, assess your English language proficiency.
Under ‘Assessment task 2’ (identified as milestone task)
This assessment will be assessed for English language proficiency. You will be directed to further language support after the completion of this subject if your language is below the required standard.
Under ‘Minimum Requirements’ (as the last sentence)
It is a requirement of this subject that all students complete OPELA [or a written diagnostic task]. Students who received a Basic grade in the OPELA [or the written diagnostic task] are required to attend 80% of the Language Development Tutorials in order to pass the subject. Students who do not complete the OPELA and/or do not attend 80% of the Language Development Tutorials will receive a Fail X grade.
Academic Literacy:
The Library has many resources to support Academic Literacy.
All students new to university are encouraged to make use of this resource. http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/headsup
Content (topics)
- Tools and strategies for idea generation and evaluation
- Different approaches to research – including textual and visual material
- Understanding and investigating the context of design including being sensitive to place and country
- Desigining in systems
- Sustainability and Transition
- Designing on UTS Campus and the precinct
- Good practice in critical reflection
- Techniques for active observation
- Techniques for creative exploration
- Understanding and participating in group processes
- Approaches to presentation and communication
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Thinking Through Systems Mapping
| Intent: | Assessment 1 is a group project. The assessment requires the systems thinking approach in combination with active observation techniques that you have developed in the studios. You will learn how to communicate in two ways: as a Designer working in a team, and as a Design team communicating to an audience. This assessment will provide students with an awareness and understanding of the importance of oral and visual communication amongst various design disciplines, between group members, and to audiences. Students will demonstrate an ability to collaborate with others, and develop the ability to synthesise and curate ideas as a team. Students will also learn how to incorporate theory into their own design practice and develop strong approaches to visualising concepts and ideas for a project. The assessment will prompt students to conduct desk research and site-visits. Students will incorporate their acquired knowledge and research skills (including site-visiting skills) from the first 5 weeks of the course to develop a set of maps that contextualise their observations and discussions within a systems-thinking approach. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Presentation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: |
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| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Visual Guide to Understand Design
| Intent: | Assessment 2 is an individual submission. Students are expected to reflect on their learnings of the design topics discussed in the lectures of the second half of the semester and incorporate their learnings into their own design discipline. Students will foster their skills as reflective practitioners using visual language, accompanied by annotations. Students will demonstrate an ability to synthesize and curate their acquired knowledge throughout the course in the form of a “Visual Guide”. Students will demonstrate an ability to design for their identified target audience. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Design/drawing/plan/sketch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Individual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 60% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 11 x A5 (or equivalent) pages designed as a multipage PDF (breakdown below). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
Students must submit all two assessments to pass the subject. 80% attendance is required in lectures, tutorials, field trips and in-class presentations. Records of lecture and tutorial attendance will be kept.
The DAB attendance policy requires students to attend no less than 80% of formal teaching sessions (lectures and tutorials) for each class they are enrolled in to remain eligible for assessment.
Required texts
Please access all required readings through the library website.
Recommended texts
See Reading List at UTS Library
Other resources
HEADS UP: Access HEADS UP through the Library website http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/headsup for a range of video assistance with:
- Academic writing
- Referencing
- Using the library
- Presentations
- Study Skills, and much much more
Academic Writing Guide: Available through the library website. It also contains a section on research writing and a short section on assessment. http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/study-skills/writing-reading-speaking
English language resources
Just a reminder that we have a wide variety of resources to support English language learning including but not limited to: Grammarly@EDU is an automated grammar tutor and revision tool for academic writing. It works one-on-one with a student to develop sentence-level writing skills, prevent plagiarism, and reinforce proper revision habits. Upload drafts of your writing assignments to Grammarly@EDU to receive immediate instructional feedback on over 100 points of grammar. See this page for the full list https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/goto?url=http://www.grammarly.com/edu/students or search for 'Grammarly' through the Library website.