The design process within design and technology : a stepping-stone towards architectural and engineering fields

Abstract

Design & Technology (D&T) education is based on 'learning by doing' activity, mainly featuring the 'design and make' of technological projects from inception to completion. Such activity, regardless of which area of the mentioned subject instigates it, follows a non-linear and iterative design process which is very commonly revered as being the heart of D&T education. Architectural and engineering field students, and eventually practitioners, are also exclusively required to employ an analogous model of the design process to solve design situations with regards to products and structures. The following study features two inquiries made in order to approve two separate notions on behalf of the validation of the potentially far-reaching benefits of D&T, manifested as follows: 1. The first inquiry was made through a qualitative research approach in the form of structured yet open-ended interviews set with two corresponding professionals from each field. It was shown that the D&T design process is a most ideal backdrop and starting point for students aspiring to enrol within any of the two fields in question. 2. The second inquiry was made through a quantitative research approach in the form of structured questionnaires administered to D&T students in their 4th and 5th year of secondary education; it was shown that respondents deem the subject relevant to their future choice of career and that the fields of architecture and engineering are, exclusively, major targets amongst their future career aspirations, thus in concurrence with the preliminary inquiry made.