ABOUT
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE
“A co-design approach can allow stakeholders to act as agents of change in the transformation process, rather than being subjected to changes imposed from the outside, aligning the transformation outcomes with the community’s interest and benefit” – (Bell & Morse, 2013, p.30).
One of the rationales withing the scope of VCE Product Design & Technology is that students develop interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary natures of design which are achieved through collaboration (shared work) and teamwork (working on own tasks with a common goal to others) (VCAA,2023). In Unit 1: Design Practices, students should explore how designers collaborate and work in teams (VCAA,2023) with the aim of real-world application and towards personal development.
Co-designing can have the potential to enhance sustainability practices by fostering stakeholder engagement and encouraging collaboration and discussion among participants, leading to innovative sustainable solutions. The primary benefits of co-design include:
(1) the development of valuable product concepts;
(2) an enriched user experience through active participant involvement in the design process;
(3) improved management and communication strategies with consumers;
(4) enhanced social value by boosting users' quality of life
(5) increased commercial value through strengthened brand loyalty over time (Hur & Beverley, 2023).
The criteria for Area of Study 2 encourage an active learning approach, evident in the practical task component and reflective tasks afterwards. Implementing a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach to collaborative classroom practice can be an effective pedagogical tool through a coordinated effort to solve a problem as a collective (Lai, 2011). Choi (2018) suggests that students brainstorm about a problem in teams and work together to identify resources and use existing shared knowledge to develop a solution to the problem. In this way, students can immerse themselves in the process of solving practical and real-world issues in innovative, autonomous ways, with the teacher is seen as the facilitator rather than the authoritative figure.
This PBL approach could be applied to the key criteria of Unit 1, AOS 2, Outcome 2 which states:
“On completion of this unit the student should be able to work collaboratively and in teams to trial and test, evaluate and use materials, tools and processes to determine their chosen product concept and produce a product through implementing a scheduled production plan, as well as reflect on and make suggestions for future improvements when working collaboratively and as a team.” (VCAA, 2023)
Below is a suggested sequence using the PBL framework to explore sustainability through collaborative practice and monitored as part of the students’ formative and summative assessment criteria, adapted from the collaborative design process referenced in Choi (2018, Figure 1):
From a pedagogical perspective, a typical constructivist classroom environment is tasks oriented and focusses on real life examples coherent to the purpose and functional aspects of product design (Akpan & Beard, 2016). Considering this, time and project management is crucial in task-focussed learning, and translatable to the real-life design industry, therefore the students should be encouraged to come up with a production plan and timeline as part of their planning phase. Possible planning tools could involve...
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GANT CHART
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PRODUCTION TIMELINE
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KANBAN BOARD
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PERT CHART
Simoes & Silva (2016) detail the experience from the learners’ perspectives after taking part in a fashion design collaborative project that may provide teachers some insights on what to consider:
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Hard for students to adjust their own creative and technical skills to a shared project (teacher may need to incorporate inclusive learning approaches and team building exercises)
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Skillsets and learning styles varied so differentiated learning supports had to be put in place (teacher may need to put in differentiated learning strategies to address this)
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Students became aware of the advantages of collaborative learning and developed a sense of accomplishment upon solving a problem together
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Some students were able to see the creative process as ‘period of discovery’ which would never be fully finished due to the evolving nature of design and collaborative practice-Students felt they grew as designers and individuals and became more open-minded to others’ ideas (teachers to encourage critical, reflective thinking in summative assessment)
tools to use for collaboration
