Rapid development of materials experience through active learning

DRS LearnXdesign 2019 5th International Conference for Design Education Researchers, Ankara, Türkiye, 9 - 12 Temmuz 2019, ss.521-530

In recent years, initiatives have been made to transition materials and design teaching from a

predominantly lecture-based and engineering-dominated subject to one that is more practical and

nurturing of experiential knowledge. These initiatives have been sparked by the ever-growing body of

research into materials experience and the characterization of materials as an influencer of user

experiences. This paper contributes to the dissemination of tools and techniques that can bring teaching

and learning of materials experience alive within a design curriculum. It presents the rationale and

description of a structured activity entitled Material Love-Hate, specifically developed as a means for

students to rapidly develop their materials experience in a classroom or design studio environment. The

activity requires students to probe classmates’ appraisals of two owned products: one with product

materials that they love and one with product materials that they hate. Quantitative and qualitative data

are generated and analysed through the activity. On completion of Material Love-Hate, students

demonstrate the expansion of their materials experience by preparing a coursework assignment that

relates the appraisal of their two products to sensorial-affective and interpretative categories of materials

experience. The paper focuses on activity development and reflection of instructor and student didactic

experiences, not on the material appraisal datasets that were generated.