Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper discusses a cyclic theoretical learning framework for reflecting on a designer’s pathway where innovation and intuition play a major role in the design process. It will investigate the role that serendipity, intuition and reflection play in the learning process as transferable skills, undervalued in higher education (Durland, 1999). A personal cultural filter once made explicit can shape a lens through which a student becomes the main instrument of their own research and creative production. For the student to become a critical self-reflector they need some navigation and a learning environment where they can feel supported in imagining creative outcomes and attempting by trail and error how such an outcome could physically exist. The personal reward rises from making explicit the process they employ and multiple possibilities such a process generates either by mistake, intention or surprise. The experience of such then builds a creative visual vocabulary and memory from which to make future decisions. The sharing of this experience of processing ideas through materials and technologies with fellow students becomes a collective learning experience. Through a discussion of two case studies, various models of rethinking, reflecting and re-evaluation are outlined and visualised. The generalisation of this approach will be discussed in regard to teaching tertiary design students how to visualise their problem-solving of real-life issues where lessons learnt from failure are as valued as a resolved design solution.