DE4029 - Discovering Interior Design

Discovering Interior Design is a project-based experiential learning module. Creating a professional design environment, you will mainly learn in a design studio setting, with additional facilities such as computer labs and workshops. The module is structured around rapid learning cycles, led by multiple project briefs that shift focus across a variety of topics, activities and stages of the design process. A studio-based approach encourages you to work interactively with other students. By doing so you engage in peer learning, which is regarded as a critically important factor in the learning process. This will be supported and facilitated through staff-led group tutorials, one-to-one sessions and reviews.



We refer to this studio approach as follows;

Project brief(s) will be introduced through one or more briefing sessions where the brief will be fully explained and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. The module is delivered via a combination of studio teaching, seminars and interactive activities, tutor guided and student-led independent learning.

Formative studio-based feedback will support and guide your learning and the progress of your design work. Where appropriate, external site visits will support design briefs and your understanding of the interior design process and site enquiry. This approach will allow you to develop an understanding at both a theoretical and practical level prior to summative assessment.

You will take part in a final review presentation of your design project work where you will receive final feedback from staff, which you will be required to document and process to advance future design projects and define your own learning. Summative assessment is through the submission of a design portfolio, which will enable you to learn through an enquiry-based/problem-solving learning methodologies approach and reflect the accumulation and integration of knowledge accrued over the module.

Support and feedback will be provided by a variety of methods throughout design projects, starting at the briefing and concluding upon submission of each design project. Support includes;



Staff Contact

Module tutors who provide academic support.

Individual staff-student tutorials inform design project direction.

Group tutorials enable staff to interact with students and encourage peer learning and support.

Project briefs are normally introduced via a briefing session, where the brief is fully explained and explored by both staff and students.

The eLearning Portal will be utilised to communicate all relevant module information.



Studio Contact Time

Modules are delivered through a combination of lecture supported group tutorials and studio activity, practical demonstrations, studio teaching, guided and independent learning new skills are delivered through workshop activities.

Studio feedback takes place to facilitate students’ development in the areas being studied, to allow formative feedback and the identification of examples of good practice and development areas to be considered.

Independent study hours will be utilised to continue the development and progression of studio activity.



Peer and Independent Support

Students are encouraged and expected to maintain a personal development plan (PDP) and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning.

Studio based activity also supports the development of appreciation and evaluation of peers’ work.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:



Record and annotate design research and development through bound design development packs. (R&D)



Create a range of experimental interior design proposals in response to a given brief. (DESIGN)



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:



Learn and apply new methods of communication and complementary skills and apply to your design practice. (COMMUNICATION)



Collaborate effectively with others to help discuss, deliver or present individual and/or joint project design project outputs. (COLLABORATION)



Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):



Research and integrate contextual issues, historical movements and design perspectives to shape your formative design practice. (CONTEXTUAL)



Independently generate creative concepts as part of the design process (CONCEPTS)

A series of design projects will be carried out sequentially. At the end of the module grades will be collated to provide a final mark for the module, based on a design project portfolio comprising two components weighted at 50% each, incorporating 2D and 3D design work.



The assessment and feedback strategy is;



a. Formative Assessment

Project tutorials and staged reviews with tutors and peers will provide an opportunity for critique and formative direction. This will allow students to reflect upon their own work and act upon feedback prior to final submission. Verbal feedback is designed to help students to identify areas of success and/or further development to be considered.



b. Summative assessment

The project brief/s driving the module will identify the assessment criteria and submission requirements (deliverables) appropriate to the topic of the project. The assessable elements will consist of a project portfolio, which will enable students to demonstrate the process and technical skills developed throughout the module. In addition studio contact, observations and presentations will ensure tutors are able to assess the learners’ overall performance holistically against the learning outcomes for the module. A single grade will then be aligned to the submission based upon multiple deliverables.



c. Feedback strategy

Feedback will be delivered verbally at the point of each tutorial, where discussion will clarify future direction. Upon receiving summative assessment students will receive a grade reflecting achievement against the learning outcomes of the module. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning by recording verbal feedback in order to reflect upon it as they engage in subsequent learning.

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Discovering Interior Design will introduce you to the world of interior and spatial design through a series of projects that emphasise creativity, exploration and experimentation, all within a supportive environment that aims to encourage playful risk-taking in your work.

You will be encouraged to push boundaries and take risks in your creative approach and offer solutions to increasingly challenging interior design briefs. Design projects will be set in the context of existing or new build architecture and will ask you to engage with the exciting spatial challenges that interior design poses.

You will be introduced to the creative, generative and collaborative benefits of studio-based learning. This will be predominantly located in our industry-inspired design studios and technical facilities: CAD lab, photography studio, workshops. You will gain fundamental practical and observational skills and discipline-specific knowledge required to ground your ongoing study of interior design.