Design ideas, reflection, and professional identity: how graduate students explore the idea generation process

Abstract

Within design thinking, designers are responsible for generating, testing, and refining design ideas as a means to refine the design problem and arrive at an effective solution. Thus, understanding one's individual idea generation experiences and processes can be seen as a component of professional identity for designers, which involves the integration of knowledge, action, and being in support of the professional self. Using written journal responses from graduate students in an introductory course in instructional design, this study explored how students used reflection to reconstruct experiences relating to the emergence of design ideas.Findings indicate that students were able to use reflection in support of professional identity development concerning design ideas, although attention to emotional aspects was lacking and many struggled to move from descriptive writing to meaning-making. Implications for professional identity development for designers and for future research are discussed.

Coaching in design-based learning: a grounded theory approach to create a theoretical model and practical propositions

“…It is often the designer who generates, selects, tests, and refines ideas in order to better understand the problem and to develop solutions. Thus, it is important for designers to understand how they influence this process via their personal experiences, beliefs and actions, particularly as they relate to the affective aspects of the design process (Hutchinson and Tracey 2015).…”

Conceptual Approaches and Their Inspiration Sources in Landscape Architecture Design Studio

“…16,17 Coyne 18 belirsizlik içeren bu problemlerin formüle edilmesinin, bunu ele alan kişinin bakış açısına bağlı olduğunu ve bunun geçerliliğinin kesin bir şekilde test edilemeyeceğini belirtir. Hutchinson ve Tracey 19 tasarım düşüncesinin tasarımcıyı, problemin daha iyi anlaşılabilmesi için, deneme yoluyla fikirleri kavramsallaştırma, seçim yapma, sınama ve gözden geçirme süreci içinde merkezi güç olarak konumlandırdığını ileri sürer. Her tasarımcı, tasarım problemine ilişkin olarak kendi yaklaşımını inşa eder ve aynı problemi ele alan farklı tasarımcılar farklı fikirler geliştirip farklı çözümlere ulaşırlar.…”

An Examination of Student Development Theory in the Context of Writing Instruction

“…In the sciences, Klein and Carney (2014), Larkin (2015), and Otfinowski and Silva-Opps (2015) identified writing as a major program outcome and noted improving skills through curriculum writing exercises. In the social/service professions, social workers (Grise-Owens & Crum, 2012), nurses (Levette-Jones, 2006), counselors (Blimling, 2013), and educators (Hutchinson & Tracey, 2015) developed similar skill development, especially through the reflective writing process. When students seek to create something original (Moffett, 1979), they develop their authorial voice (Hyland, 2002).…”