Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of the course student is able to 1 research, analyse, interpret, edit and report design and lifestyle trend information about chosen topic 2 recognise and discuss trend creation and diffusion mechanisms 3 apply qualitative research methods in foresight work 4 utilise trend information strategically in their work

Credits: 10

Schedule: 02.11.2021 - 09.12.2021

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Heidi Paavilainen

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

University lecturer Heidi Paavilainen (heidi.paavilainen@aalto.fi)

I have long academic career in the Department of Design, starting with BA+MA in Textile design and PhD in Industrial design. Already as a MA student I was interested in how products, ideas and phenomena spread and become mainstream. My MA thesis was about foresight report framed as a “knowledge creation platform” for a design team aiming at innovative product development. My PhD research was about how ideas and products enter home and become part of everyday experience, in other words, how “diffusion”, key aspect of foresight, works in the level of individual appropriation of things. These days majority of my time goes to teaching, tutoring and educational leadership, but what I can spare, I spend on research about “domestication of recycled stuff”, that is, through which processes and practices people appropriate secondhand/used products and materials, thus aiming to contribute to the general field of circular economy with a user point of view. I  speak Finnish and English.

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Course trains students to research and work with lifestyle and design trends. In the course student works with topic of their own choice, studies trends relevant to the topic, and reports their findings about the future of the topic. Working methods: lectures, assignments, workshops. Notice that this course trains student in indpendent working with a research report and thus can serve as a rehearsal for MA thesis.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Contact teaching with 80% attendance requirement, assignments

• applies in this implementation

  Student performance in DDF is evaluated based on individual work in class (40%) and independently (60%), provided that attendance requirement of 80% in zoom sessions is met.
  In class work: During the course there will be 4 short presentations by students. Each earns student maximum of 10 points, maximum total being 40 points. In addition, active participation in "literature session" discussions will have positive impact on the course final grade while passive participation may have negative impact.
  Independent work: During the course student will research for and compile foresight report on topic of their own choice. Report will earn maximum of 60 points.
  All course assignments must be submitted on time. Each beginning 24h of being late will earn penalty of -5 points to the assignment grade.
  Detailed evaluation guidelines are published in the beginning of the course.
  

  Final grade of the course is calculated as follows:
  0-50 points = course grade fail (0)
  51-60 points = course grade satisfactory (1)
  61-70 points = course grade very satisfactory (2)
  71-80 points = course grade good (3)
  81-90 points = course grade very good (4)
  91-100 points = course grade excellent (5)
  

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  • 270h
  • Contact teaching 50h
  • Independent studying 165h
  • Personal reflection and self-assessment 54h
  • Course feedback 1h

• applies in this implementation

  DDF is a 6 weeks long intensive course. Course workload is 10 cr = 270 hours = 45 hours / week
  Contact teaching 50 hours = about 8 hours a week zoom sessions. Each week we have Tuesday full day and Thursday mornings. Course follows template, with few exceptions:
  Tuesday 9:15-12 lecture
  Tuesday 13-max 16 visiting professional
  Thursday 9:15-12 literature based presentations and discussion
  Thursday 13:30-15:30 optional tutoring
  Independent studying 165 hours = working with the course assignments individually, including optional tutoring with teacher. Altogether this is 27,5 hours a week.
  Personal reflection and self-assessment 54 hours = internalisation and reflection based on course contents, roughly 9 hours a week. This crucial phase of learning and development takes place in student's own time and is not scheduled or evaluated by the teacher.
  Course feedback 1 hour = the feedback that student gives about the course via Webropol survey and directly to the teacher.
  

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Vejlgaard, H. (2013). Style eruptions. How 6 different groups of trendsetters make trends happen. Denmark: Confetti Publishing. More literature listed in course syllabus

• applies in this implementation

  Required readings (articles and chapters) during the course are published in MyCourses as PDF's during the course at latest. If student wants to familiarise themselves with foresight before the course, good introduction to forecasting is “Trendspotting. The Basics” by Alf Rehn and Magnus Lindkvist (PDF). Contents of this book are covered in class.
  

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Period:

  2020-2021 Autumn II

  2021-2022 Autumn II

  Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=MUO-E1026

  Registration for Courses: Sisu replaces Oodi on 9 August, 2021. Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-in-aalto-arts

  In WebOodi

  Minimum group: 10, maximum group: 40

  Priority order: FaCT and CoID students, Aalto master level students, Aalto exchange MA students, JOO students

   

Details on the schedule

• applies in this implementation

  Week 1
  Tue 2.11.21
  9:15-12 Intro to the course. Principles of foresight. How to start foresight process.
  13-max 16 Visiting professionals
  Thu 4.11.21
  9:15-12 Literature session
  13:30-15:30 Optional tutoring
  

  Week 2
  Tue 9.11.21
  9:15-12 Insight development in different contexts
  13-max 16 Visiting professionals: Eeva Raitio about commercial product design foresight
  Thu 11.11.21
  9:15-12 Online workshop on creating signals and industry specific insights
  

  Week 3
  Tue 6.11.21
  9:15-12 Culture and value sensitive foresight. Principles of "French", "lifestyle" and "strategic" foresight
  13-max 16 Visiting professionals
  Thu 8.11.21
  9:15-12 Literature session
  13:30-15:30 Optional tutoring
  

  Week 4
  Tue 23.11.21
  9:15-12 Foresight narratives. Different ways of communicating insights
  13- max 16 Visiting professionals
  Thu 25.11.21
  9:15-16 No joint class. Reserved for F2F tutoring
  

  Week 5
  Tue 30.11.21
  9:15-12 Foresight history and business. Foresight styles and clients. Future of foresight.
  13- max 16 Visiting professionals
  Thu 2.12.21
  9:15-12 Literature session
  13:30-15:30 Optional tutoring
  

  Week 6
  Tue 7.12.21
  9:15-16 Workshop on topic specific insight development. NOTICE THAT THIS IS IN VÄRE, but zoom participation is available for small group of students
  Thu 3.12.21
  9:15-12 Presentations and wrap-up
  

  
  

Description