DE7054 - Responsible Design Experimentation 

In Responsible Design Experimentation (DE7054) you will learn through a bricolage of teaching methods including lectures, tutorials and tutor-guided independent learning. Acting as design researchers, you will work closely with academics and peers in their subject area to build a co-operative partnership in driving forward knowledge innovation. Situated within a postgraduate design research community, you will push the boundaries in approach, process and execution of design to make a positive difference to both people and the environment globally.

Furthering the theoretical knowledge developed in semester 1, you will draw on the skills being developed in their Fashion Context and Relevance (DE7053) lectures to help inform and guide the development of responsible design strategies and alternative innovative approaches suitable for the fashion industry. Leading on from the framing of a relevant problem space in block 1, you will begin to learn-through-doing in the implementation of theory in application. This will facilitate experimentation and development in preparation for block 3 Sustainability in Action (DE7056) and semester 4 in Project Thesis and Portfolio (DE7057).

Throughout this module, you will continue to develop your design manifesto, reflecting on your personal values in the generation of their ideas. This will concentrate on experimentation and the use of appropriate design strategies and tools. This process will continue to be recorded in your year-long Personal Development Plan (PDP), continuing on from your PDP in block 1, to evidence the knowledge, skills and understanding attained from the learning in this module. 

Working within a design community, research excellence is positioned at the forefront of the support available, enabling you to work alongside academic leaders within their field who will disrupt thinking and facilitate debate amongst the postgraduate community. You will be encouraged to pose questions and challenge norms to drive forward academic quality and aid in the development of innovative propositions.

During this module, you will be inducted into relevant technical spaces, and if you choose to explore practice-based research avenues, you will be supported by the technical team.

During discussions in both one-to-one tutorials and group critiques, you will be provided with verbal formative feedback providing the opportunity for improvement and revision prior to submission. Written summative feedback will be provided along with the opportunity for further verbal discussion to facilitate reflection and evaluation.

Where appropriate, you will be supported in developing relationships with external communities to further which may include fashion brands, consumer groups, non-governmental organisations and charities.

Further formal academic support is provided via information posted on E-Learning Portal. Where appropriate, you may also be directed to engage with Study Skills +, or other resources offered through the University Student Support Services such as Dyslexia Support. The Library is open 24 hours a day and E-Learning Portal houses all your module documents including your timetable. These services can be accessed on a range of devices.

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:

• Articulate and apply to practice an understanding of the process through which knowledge is created within your discipline

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities (IPSA):

• Present a research file or creative journal of professional practice capabilities and articulate the experimental application, focus and detail of design value in a variety of situations to both specialist and non-specialist audiences

• Create real commercial/social value in the organisational context of your work

Personal Values Attributes (PVA):

• Demonstrate reflection and judgment in taking calculated risks and developing new design strategies when confronted with complex or unfamiliar challenges.

Summative Assessment 80%:

Two options:   

A: Creative Practice Journal demonstrating practice experimentation and research, plus a single illustrated report identifying project focus through experimentation and building project case.  

The focus on this project will be practice based.  

OR

B: Research experimentation file (e.g. plan of workshops / interviews etc). Plus a single illustrated report identifying project focus through experimentation and building project case.  

The focus on this project will be theoretical, with a greater focus on writing.  

Summative Assessment 20%:

Leading on from the work developed in Fashion Context and Relevance  (DE7053), your year long Personal Development Plan will be revised and updated, providing detail for the area of inquiry for the final semester. This will evidence personal reflection and begin to map the implementation of personal values as a creative change-maker.  

 Verbal formative assessment will be given throughout the semester through peer and tutor feedback in seminars and tutorial support. 

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Responsible Design Experimentation (DE7054) allows you to consider the value of design as a key-tool for change through the experimentation and innovation of fashion systems. Diverse approaches to design will enable this change, with principles of ethics and sustainability guiding the problem-solving process. Moving away from the negative environmental and social impact, fashion requires disruption in the way products are made, consumed and disposed, this module enables you to think differently, utilising design tools to create innovative system solutions for a more responsible future.

Working cross-disciplinary, this module utilises creative design strategies, underpinned with robust theory reflective of responsible values appropriate to the fashion industry. With a focus on future employability, advanced research and design thinking tools will enable you to become a future change-maker, developing new approaches and exciting solutions appropriate for the contemporary fashion industry.