Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Develop and execute suitable designerly strategies for different design objectives, with focus on conceptual design.
  • Learn to combine design driven insightwithe creative collaboration with users and stakeholders.
  • Create representations of solution concepts, articulating the design intent and navigating the solution space in sufficiently and efficiently, and validating a chosen outcome.
  • Articulate an advanced personal metacognition as a designer, by recognizing, explaining, and applying selected concepts and principles of design emergence and activity, as drawn from design research and beyond.

Credits: 10

Schedule: 01.11.2021 - 10.12.2021

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Severi Uusitalo

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

Severi Uusitalo, Associate Professor. Course leader.

  • severi.uusitalo@aalto.fi
  • 050 486 7476
Markus Ahola (PhD); Post Doc researcher. Visiting lecturer and team tutor
  • markus.ahola@aalto.fi
Jonna Härmävaara, MA (IDBM); VOPD -project producer, tutor
  • jonna.harmavaara@aalto.fi

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:

    During the course, the students will constructively develop their understanding of design as an activity, based on, and focusing on the following concepts and skills:

    Creativity and design

    Concept creation and emergence 

    Development of design expertise

    Practical skills for creating representations of design contents in topical field

    Role of research in concept creation

    Concept validation

     

Assessment Methods and Criteria
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Personal essay 45%

    Team project 55% (end-result, process, presentation, other)

    Further information and possible bonus points in Syllabus

  • applies in this implementation

    The criteria will be further described during the first lecture. The Dubai expo presence will provide students the opportunity to achieve bonus points, which will be calculated towards the grade.

Workload
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Contact teaching (lectures, tutoring, presentations, visits) 80h

    Independent work (design work in teams or individually, reading and writing) 150h

    Reflection 40h

  • applies in this implementation

    Contact teaching

    • Mondays: 3.5 h * 6 = 21 h (lectures)
    • Wednesdays & Thursdays: 1 h * 10 = 10 h (tutoring in groups)
    • Fridays: 3 h * 2 = 6 h (lectures)
    • Fridays: 2 h * 4 = 8 h (team statuses)
    • Midterm presentations: 5 h
    • Final presentations: 5 h
    • Workshop with VOPD 3.11.2021: 6 h
    • Field visit(s) (tbd): 4 h -12 h
    Team work, project
    • 100 h
    Individual work
    • Reading materials + Essay 50 h
    Reflection
    • 40 h

DETAILS

Study Material
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    A reading package of articles and/or book chapters will be announced in the course syllabus.

  • applies in this implementation

    Materials are shared in MyCourses either as links or directly as pdfs.

    They will be divided to compulsory reading, and additional reading.

Substitutes for Courses
Prerequisites
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

    3 Good Health and Well-being

    4 Quality Education

    9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

    10 Reduced Inequality

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Attendance requirement on lectures 80%

    Teaching Period:

    2020-2021 Autumn II

    2021-2022 Autumn II

    Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=MUO-E3042

    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

    Minimum number of students: 12

    Maximum number of students: 40 (total)

    Priority in order of: CoID, CoDe, IDBM & CS, other (see also Quotas)

     

  • applies in this implementation

    The course is heavily dependent on student teamwork, in teams of preferably 3 students. The teams will be setup by the staff, to ensure multi-disciplinarity and diversity of the teams. The team-specific project outcomes will be delivered in the form of a video with additional report. The exact deliverables will be agreed with the students during the first meeting as the competences of the participating students become visible. By a mutual agreement between the students and the staff, the exact nature of deliverables can be adjusted during the course if necessary, to ensure a challenging but transparent and fair target for the work. Also, the emerging design space may provide unforeseen opportunities, ripe to be tried out.

    The individually written reflective essay will need to be delivered by the end of semester, to allow time for the students to deliver the teamwork results in time.

Details on the schedule
  • applies in this implementation

    There is a full day workshop on Wednesday on 3.11.2021. The course requires from the student approx 270 hrs (= 10 ECTS) of work during the period, so it will be difficult or impossible to participate another course.