(626) A COORDINATION EXPERIENCE FOR IMPROVING INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS PROFILE OF COMPETENCES

摘要

The establishment of new Degrees, in the context of the European Higher Education Area, is anexcellent chance for the application of innovative learning techniques. One important aspect is toachieve an environment which reflects the real need to integrate knowledge from different disciplinesin order to generate a better final solution similar to as it is required in a professional context.In this paper, a pilot experience involving the application of innovative educational techniques basedon transferring disciplines is presented. The experience has been implemented in the subjects ofDesign Methodologies and Ergonomics, which are taught simultaneously in the third year of thestudies leading to a Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering at theUniversitat Jaume I (Castellon, Spain).In the previous years, each subject proposed students to solve a different project, consisting inapplying the knowledge acquired in the theoretical classes in order to develop the ability to employinggeneral design methods and ergonomic characteristics of a product respectively. This is, studentsdeveloped two independent projects, each one for one of the two subjects. The selected products forthese projects were different for each subject and they also change from one year to another.However, both projects were developed in teams and presented other common characteristics. Theworks complement the traditional method of evaluation of a final exam and practices.The new initiative consists of joining both projects in a single one, thus encouraging the students todevelop a better product at the same time that they gain a deeper understanding about the realapplications of the subjects' contents. This leads to a reinforcement of the expected skills andcompetences of the new designers, such as critical and global analysis and synthesis of a product.The experience is described in the paper, and key and weak points are analysed, from both theprofessors and the students' point of view.