Abstract

Curriculum development is an ongoing activity in higher education. Methods of evaluation and development may vary, but the goal is typically to provide students with better, more relevant academic experiences. However, as in any professional endeavor, discussion of program features and content will involve controversy and differences. One approach is frame reflection (Schön, 1983), in which professionals are made aware of problem-setting issues and contexts for those issues. Awareness of problem identification methods and framing provides explicit boundaries to the problem. Metadesign is a framework providing an interdisciplinary approach to the design process. Categories identified through the metadesign process can raise awareness about the scope of curriculum issues and reveal concerns that may otherwise go unidentified. This paper explores the use of frame reflection in concert with metadesign categories as tools to surface issues and facilitate curriculum development in academic design programs.