Abstract

Portfolio development is becoming more difficult for undergraduate students especially in apparel design programs where curricula does not support design process education nor provide opportunities for the development and refinement of design thinking or critical making strategies. In today's competitive and limited job market, employers are looking for individuals with essential skill sets, who know how to use the design process. This paper reports on a learning experience developed to engage apparel design students in the process of design while using their skills for execution, at an accelerated pace, during the first weeks of the course. The results find that students, when challenged at a high-level, are able to work with and through processes, apply knowledge, synthesize information, and evaluate quality while utilizing their skill sets to produce superior level work. In addition, when skills and processes were lacking, students were better able to recognize this in their own body of work and could articulate these deficiencies. The paper explores the development and implementation of this learning experience, accomplished within twenty days, and its impact on the students and their overall body of work in the class.