Show me the way : teaching design research integrated with professional practice

This paper introduces the use of work integrated learning (WIL) for the teaching of design research, where students contribute findings and visual outcomes for a professional design project. As researchers, students work in collaboration with a graphic design agency, and a not-for-profit Indigenous media client/audience. This approach to teaching design research methods is based on an understanding the inherently collaborative nature of design practice. This is a new direction for teaching design research, where the research activity around the given project brief provides a rich interface for learning linked to practice. This participatory WIL context offers an opportunity to explore collective conversations about 'real' world problems in the context of learning both for, and through the design research being developed through teaching and learning. This is a collaboration which recognises contributions being made by all involved - the professional designers, the client, the audience, the academic teaching staff and the student researchers, in a co-design collaborative context