Professional development module presentation

Design - Basic Principles 1Tracey Dalton 4th September 2013 Course Leader: Roisin Donnelly

Professional Development ModuleMSc Applied eLearning


Stage 1: “ Learning” since graduation

Identify some significant learning opportunities you have undertaken since you graduated:I graduated with a BA Hons. in Environmental/Spatial Design in 1996, from DIT – COMAD………..

Aug. 1996 – Sept. 1997: Graphic Designer - Prospect Design ltd.This was my first design job since graduation. I designed flags, banners, leaflets and brochures using various software, including Corel Draw. I learned how to deal with clients personally and over the phone and it set me on the road in the design world, which led me to return to college to pursue a Post Grad in Graphic Design.

Sept. 1997 – May 1998: Post Graduate Diploma Graphic Reproduction Technology, DIT Bolton St.I learned about the field of graphic design, using software such as quarkxpress, adobe illustrator, adobe photoshop, aswell as print process, print finishing, design administration and typography.

Aug. 1998 to Nov. 2005: Senior Interior Designer at McNally Design GroupI developed projects from a client’s brief, onto presentation stage and frequently to finish, which involved preparation of tender drawings/packages for all trades involved and site visits. My skills/learning gained from this position included presentation skills, liaising with clients and suppliers within the building and fit-out trade; technical drawing, autoCAD, perspective drawing, directing a design team, from builders to quantity surveyors, purchasers, sales and marketing staff, working to strict deadlines and budgets. My key learning was the ability to communicate visually to enable others to enact my designs to completion. I had to learn a lot about the technical and construction aspects of design projects – which were areas not covered as much in college. I also attended a Safe Pass course during my time here.



Dec. 2005 to July 2008: Senior Interior Designer at Oppermann Associates – architectural firm.I gained a much greater knowledge of statutory issues, doing two planning permissions and dealing with county councils. I managed junior designers on various projects and on other projects, I worked solely with the client and my senior director. I also worked with architects on public and private sector work, mainly at presentation stage. My key learning in this position was doing planning permission and dealing with the financial aspects of projects such as the tender process – which was new to me since my last working appointment. I was made redundant from this position due to the economic downturn which led me to gain work in third level education, through a former work colleague.

Jan. 2007 – May 2007: Construction Studies Module, DIT Bolton St.This was a night course in construction studies involving all areas of the construction industry, including building, plumbing, joinery etc. through written theory and detail drawing. I pursued this course to learn more about the construction aspects of projects, to help with my dealings with contractors on site.

Sept. 2008 to present: Title: Senior Lecturer/Interior Design Course Co-ordinator at Dublin Institute of DesignI have been teaching at third level for five academic years. This role involves lecturing, studio time, mentoring students and administrative work through preparation of lectures, grading and course co-ordination – adhering to quality assurance. For the last two academic years I have been Interior Design course co-ordinator of the HND in 3D Design and the BA Honours Degree in Interior Design, in co-operation with University of Glamorgan, Wales. My key learning in this role is that I came into teaching fresh from industry with no teaching experience. I have had to learn every aspect of the job as the years have passed. Every year brings a new challenge and new learning experience.



2010 – 2011: Post Graduate Diploma in Third Level Teaching & Learning at DIT Mount St.I decided to pursue a Post Grad in the field of third level education as I felt that if I was to continue in the field of education I should have a suitable qualification. I learned so much in this course which has helped my teaching – in areas such as reflection, learning theories, research, peer learning, student centred learning etc.

June/July 2012: Cert.in Web Design (FETAC) I completed a 6 week course in web design as part of staff training at Dublin Institute of Design, during which I learned to produce my own website with Notepad++, CSS and Java Script. It gave me ground work knowledge of web design.

Jan. 2013 to present: Assistant Lecturer at DIT – BA Hons.Interior Design & FurnitureI taught on the second semester, as an assistant lecturer in AutoCAD and Construction Studies, to first year BA Honours in Interior Design & Furniture students. The construction studies module involved three projects – two of which were design and construction based; and a third project which was a ‘DIT Students learning with Communities’ live group project with St.Michael’s Youth Project, Inchicore. This involved designing the brief, assessing the site, administration for risk assessment and health & safety, creating and assessing group work and hosting clients in DIT at briefing and presentation stage. My key learning was working on a SLWC project which I had not done before.

Also, I find myself back in the same studios I did my own degree in 20 years ago! Dealing with this evolution in my professional life is a learning curve in itself. I have come full circle and now I am embarking on my masters degree. I have evolved from learner to lecturer.



Professional judgements made in my work:

My chosen profession, in the construction industry, involved professional judgement throughout the design process, project management and on site work.

The designer has to have the ability to direct, guide and manage other colleagues and trades in order to get the required end product. Difficult professional judgements are made which involve firm resolve and compromise in equal measures.

Ongoing obstacles and challenges occur throughout the design and build process, requiring problem solving to be applied constantly, with many professional judgements made.

I made a professional judgement to move in to third level education after the economic downturn forced a career change in my professional development.

I made a professional judgement to pursue a post grad in graphic design in 1997, then later to pursue a post grad in third level teaching and learning in 2010.

I am making a professional judgement to pursue a masters degree to further my career in third level education.

All professional judgements made are done in order to further my professional career path.



My Chosen Artefact: A scaled furniture template

I have chosen this object as my artefact as it represents the transition from technical drawing by hand on the drawing board – at the beginning of my design career – to a transition to working on AutoCAD on the computer, almost making the drawing tool obsolete.

However, now that I am teaching I find myself re-introducing this tool to my students again. I urge them to begin designing without the computer as it makes them better thinkers, problem solvers and in turn, better designers and space planners.

It gives students a better awareness of scale and space, making them much more aware of what size everyday objects are and how they will appear when scaled down to a fraction of their size eg. 1:50. The student can relate one object to another when space planning.


Stage 2: Professional DevelopmentThe article that ‘speaks to me’:

Article Name: ‘An Avalanche is Coming – Higher Education and the Revolution Ahead’by Barber, Donnelly and Rizvi

• This is the article that I found most interesting I think it poses the most important questions about the future of third level education today and the redundancy of the typical university model.

• It brings to light the importance of a ‘student centred, ‘market place’ type learning and that theory and practice must be linked together.

• It gives case studies of universities who have diversified to attract the prospective student consumer by changing, for example, curriculum, facilities and academic year structure.

• It speaks about the link between college and industry – stating that industry must become involved in education in order to get the most suitably trained candidates.

• It speaks of the implications for government, universities, business, entrepreneurs and students in this revolution ahead in third level education and the responsibilities on each in order for change and progress to be made.

• It speaks of the emergence of MOOC’s and their implications, whether positive or negative.

• The article merely looks at the ‘bigger picture rather than the detail’.


Stage 2: Professional DevelopmentThe reason the other three did not have as much of an impact:

Article Name: ‘Net generation or Digital natives: Is there a distinct new generation entering university?’ by Jones, Ramanu, Cross and Healing

• I found this article to be the second most interesting of the four prescribed.

• I feel it begins with the same argument as ‘An Avalanche is Coming’ but comes to the conclusion that there are far too many large minorities who do not fit the definition of being a product of the ‘net generation’ to encourage lecturers and academics to change their teaching methods.

• The only reason I preferred ‘An Avalanche is Coming’ over this article is because it is very simply written and is far more extensive.

• The use graphs and bar charts is easy to read for collection of data.

• I agree with a lot of the conclusions in the article as I have experienced them through my students.

• Exposure to technology, or lack of it, is not always age related.

• In my experience, students do use technologies more than they are required to.

• Also, we see that use of technology for education and for leisure are two entirely different things.



Article Name: ‘New technology trends in education: Seven years of forecasts and convergence’ by Martin, Diaz, Sancristobal, Gil, Castro and Peire

• I found this article to be the least interesting of the four prescribed.

• It is written with a scientific and mathematical tone which I do not find easy to relate to. The use of complicated graphs and the spelling out of information from these graphs is quite long winded, albeit necessary.

• I find the use of bibliometrics as a method of showing how popular a technology is/will become a bit confusing as I would have thought that other less academic methods could be used, such as market research.

• I was surprised at the discussion referring to augmented reality in education as not having enough maturity as it is part of my profession for approx. 30 years.

• In the end, the article concludes that a more detailed analysis, which focuses on technology trends in specific education fields needs to be carried out as this research project is too broad. I think this why the article is quite difficult to read.



Article Name: ‘Making mobile learning work: case studies of practice’Edited by Traxler and Wishart

• I found this article to be the third most interesting of the four prescribed.

• I found some of the case studies interesting and agree that mobile learning is useful in certain scenarios such as those mentioned in the article eg. when visiting a gallery.

• I also agree with comments in the article that case studies tend to emphasize the positive outcomes but not the failed outcomes.

• I think there is definitely a place for mobile learning in education, but there are technical issues and I see problems with getting all students on board at all times.

• The article on teacher trainees stated at the end that the PDA’s were mostly used for the calender, e-mail and camera. These functions could be found on a PC/laptop or mobile phone.

• There is a cost involved and there are privacy issues to be considered.


Stage 3: Discussion of Resources

Resource 1: ‘www.lynda.com’

Brief Description: This is a website which gives tutorial videos on many different topics. I used it to increase my Photoshop skills in order to help students to use Photoshop for rendering of presentation drawings.

Why I have chosen it: I have chosen it because I think it is an example of how teaching and learning is evolving in third level education. I needed to update my own skills in order to teach students and I thought this would be the easiest and most economical way to do it.

Influences on my work: It has been useful in influencing my own work as it has given me a personal experience of learning on-line with video tutorials. I did find that it takes a lot longer than the length of each video to learn each tool. Learning by doing is still most important. It is time consuming to download the tutorials and the transcripts provided but the site does provide excellent notes and course material. I think that learning in person is still the best way to learn, for most learners, as it provides quick answers to problems. However, this depends on the teacher and student involved. It is also very much time dependant.

The greatest benefit of learning with websites such as this one is that you can learn as much as you want in one session and return again for a repeat view, or to move on to another lesson.



Resource 1: ‘www.lynda.com’

How it has affected or influenced my work as a professional:

• By watching these videos it introduced me to this type of teaching.

• Since then, I use this method of teaching for AutoCAD and perspective drawing.

• I downloaded a free software called ‘HyperCam’ and I record myself teaching on screen.

• Students have a video to look back on when working alone and it also means I am not repeating a long demonstration in class every year eg. Perspective drawing by hand.

• I have had very positive feedback from students with this method of teaching.

• It must be timed correctly in order that students will not miss classes. It does not substitute for person to person guidance. Both methods of teaching must work together.

• It puts the responsibility on the students to watch and learn, with a definite record that they have been given the lesson, rather than saying they have not received notes.

• Sometimes there are technical issues but they are rare and are resolved.



Resource 2: Ching, F.D.K. (1995). ‘A Visual Dictionary of Architecture’. J.Wiley & Sons, New York.

Brief Description: Francis D.K. Ching (born 1943) is a widely recognized author of books addressing architectural and design graphics. Ching's books have been widely influential and continue to shape the visual language of all fields of design. He is a Professor at the University of Washington. This particular book gives accurate definitions for thousands of architectural and design related words, using hand drawn illustrations.

Why I have chosen it:I have chosen this book because it is extremely useful to students as a resource because the drawings are so accurate and easy to read. Every aspect of design and architecture is covered in the dictionary and it is good to see excellent hand drawings, which encourage students to use research and development through sketching as well as on computer software.

Influences on my work:It has influenced my work though the years as it acts as a great point of reference when working on projects and detailing. It covers some aspects of construction which I would not need to have in-depth knowledge of - such as foundations - but it gives me a very good basic knowledge of the topic. This helps when addressing queries from students also.



Resource 2: Ching, F.D.K. (1995). ‘A Visual Dictionary of Architecture’ J.Wiley & Sons, New York.

How it has affected or influenced my work as a professional:

• It encourages me to retain hand drawing skills and to pass this message on to students.

• It acts as a great starting reference point when developing my own lectures.

• It is a reference book which has helped me work with architects, fellow lecturers with architectural backgrounds, clients and students alike.

• It is important to have a basic knowledge of construction aspects of projects, even if designers mainly concentrate aesthetics and concept.


Stage 4: Course of study – Professional Aspirations

1. Why I decided to apply for this Masters:

i) I decided to apply for this Masters mainly because it is the next stepping stone in my career as a lecturer in third level education. It was the obvious choice for me because I have completed the pg dip in third level teaching and learning. It will help me to continue in the same vein of learning with the pg dip as a good grounding for the course.

ii) I have worked in DIT in the last academic year and wish to gain a more permanent position. In the current economic climate a Masters has become

somewhat essential in obtaining certain positions, especially when I am competing with graduates who will have Masters under their belt by their mid-twenties,

due to lack of work in industry.



2. How I see this Masters programme assisting in my professional and/or career development:

i) This particular Masters programme interests me because it will help me to gain new teaching skills and methods which are similar to technology I am already starting to use in my teaching, such as the use of video.

ii) It is important to keep in line with current trends in education and this Masters seems to be the best choice to enable me to do that.

iii) With the way universities and education is evolving, becoming more universal, the traditional teaching methods may not be enough to survive on in the world of education.

iv) There are various methods of teaching and communicating which I am not that familiar with such as whiteboards, wiki’s, blogs, Skype, VLE’s etc. I have used some of them but would need to gain a greater knowledge of them in the future.



3. How I see this Masters programme helping me become a more effective professional in the future:

i) This Masters programme will equip me with technical skills which I can use in my teaching.

ii) It will encourage me to get focussed on academic research in my field of expertise, which will widen my pool of knowledge in the area.

iii) It will enable me to focus on more efficient ways of communicating with students. I have found that the use of video demonstrations eg. for AutoCAD lessons and perspective drawing tutorials has helped myself and students to teach and learn in a more efficient manner.

iv) It may broaden my ability to teach and communicate remotely, in settings which are not the typical classroom environment.

Design - Basic Principles 1