Product Design as an academic discipline is a relative newcomer to higher education. As a result it has had to adapt to the teaching practices and organisation already in place in Universities. However, with the viability of the current business model of higher education under threat from economic pressures, the dominance of established practice could conceivably be challenged, suggesting the time is right for a review of Product Design education as it operates within academia. Product Design educators need to focus on developing an innovative, practical approach to the organisation of learning based on sound design practice-based principles and provide leadership in pedagogy rather than adapting to the pedagogy of others. Design is a unique discipline that can impact on other disciplines as it is necessarily predicated on ideas of leadership and innovation. The role of Product Design in higher education should not deviate from that. Product Design has a real world heritage that is characterised by realistic, considered, innovative thinking. This paper is a reflective opinion piece, suggesting how that thinking could be applied to redress an imbalance in teaching design process to facilitate a more real world experience for the benefit of students and confidence in the discipline as a whole.
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