Mapping design skills

During a university major restructure it was decided that Industrial Design, a four year degree taught at Penrith campus, and Design and Technology, a three year degree taught at Campbelltown campus, would be delivered and taught across campuses by a combined group of academics. This was a catalyst for an in-depth examination of assessment tasks over the two programs. The extended exercise aimed to identify the skills which students require in order to successfully complete their fmal year project, and to review how and where the requisite skills were taught and assessed in core units over the preceding three years. The exercise also aimed to identify any gaps where students' skills were not being progressively built up to the requisite levels. The assessment and skills analysis was undertaken within a series of workshops where all academic staff from the two design programs engaged in collaborative processes, supported by an industry representative and university teaching development and learning development staff. The process of mapping skills adopted a proactive approach which recognised the benefits of embedding academic skills across the curriculum in order to achieve long-term, sustainable learning outcomes. The process enabled staff to gain a more detailed understanding of skills assessed and taught over the course of the programs, and to identify improvements for both programs. The paper describes the processes used and tools developed by the team in undertaking this project. Outcomes of the process include the implementation and embedding of academic literacy skills in first and fourth-year units, and a restructure of the fourth year and implementation of two fourth-year parallel streams