Design sketching: a lost skill

摘要

Using the design sketching instruction techniques presented here became the intervention on the SLED research project with fifth grade students. The result of the study indicated some success in advancing students' design sketching abilities (Kelley & Sung, 2016). It is not enough to have students know how to create design sketches but to also know the purpose of sketching in design. One way to implement the ideas presented here could be to create a class presentation using Edison's design sketches located at the Rutgers website and lead a class discussion on which elements of the design sketch communicate most effectiv-ity to us today, even though they are a century old. Next, the author would suggest providing some examples of Rube Goldberg sketches and leading a class discussion on how the cartoonist illustrated his crazy devices in such a way that cartoons communicated functionality. Engineering/technology educators might provide opportunities to play Pictionary or similar games that require students to communicate through sketching. Each of these exercises can help students learn the role of sketching in design and improve these skills. When first implementing the five sketching conversation prompts (see above) in the classroom, it is helpful to copy these prompts on a card for teacher reference as he or she monitors students' sketching work. Teachers can also create a presentation slide to share with the class to use as a form of self-evaluation of their sketches before sharing them with the design team, class, or their teacher. These approaches to teaching sketching may provide students enough practice to be nimble in sketching and improve their ability to brainstorm in groups more effectively. Brainstorming strategies usually seek to generate ideas as quickly as possible to purge all ideas; becoming skilled in sketching may very well help improve brainstorming abilities. In closing, it is important to have students understand that sketching is a design skill used by engineers, inventors, and today's innovators and is one of the most authentic approaches to teach novice designers.