OLC CreaTe HMI; 15 February 2011;
Agenda item 5c (CreaTe Curriculum)
Curriculum changes CreaTe
The enclosure with this item describes a rather drastic change in the Creative Technology curriculum.
The proposed change does not so much influence the contents of the first year as a whole, but it reorganizes the way subjects are grouped into units of study. At the same time it makes tutoring and portfolio activities count as units of study.
The OLC is asked for comments and advice.
Proposal for a new first year programme for CreaTe
The CreaTe programme’s first year
The current first year’s programme for CreaTe is depicted in the table below.
There are three reasons to reconsider the scheme.
Firstly, it has 17 courses for a single year, where the university is moving towards 8 or maybe even 4 units per year in its new bachelor’s programmes.
Secondly, the time scheduling is difficult, due to the large number of courses and their diffenerence in study load.
Thirdly, Creative Technology is moving towards a structure where tutoring and portfolio building become important ingredients (of self controlled learning)
As an example of a design curriculum with similar objectives as CreaTe we can look at the TU/e programme. It is extreme in its structure. There are four blocks a year, and students pass from one block to another on the basis of an integral “assessment” of their portfolio, and especially the development in that portfolio over the last block.
My proposal has limited scope. I want to reduce the number of course units to 12 (3 units per block), and to make space for portfolio and development assessment.
The second table shows the curriculum as I envisage it for next year.
Table 1, the current first year
block 1A / block1B / block2A / block2B(3 EC, block 1A)
We create identity / (3 EC, block 1B)
Smart environments / (6 EC, block 2A)
Living and working tomorrow / (6 EC, block 2B)
Have fun and play
(3 EC, block 1A)
Web technology / (5 EC, block 2A)
Interactive visualization
(2 EC, block 1A)
Graphic design / (2 EC, block 1B)
Sketching for CreaTe / (2 EC, block 2A)
Designing in Context / (3 EC, block 2B)
Human factors
(3 EC, block 1A)
Introduction to Computer Science / (5 EC, block 1B)
Programming for CreaTe / (3 EC, block 2A)`
Signals and systems / (2 EC, block 2B)
Creative exploration of structures
(3 EC, sem 1)
Motion and modelling / (6 EC, block 1B-2A)
Dynamical systems / (3 EC, block 2B)
Statistics and probability
Table 2, the proposed first year
block 1A / block1B / block2A / block2B(5 EC, block 1A)
Web and Identity (project) / (5 EC, block 1B)
Smart environments (project) / (5 EC, block 2A)
Living and working tomorrow (project) / (5 EC, block 2B)
Have fun and play (project)
(5 EC, block 1A)
Visual communication 1 / (5 EC, block 1B)
Physical Computing / (5 EC, block 2A)
Web and interaction design / (5 EC, block 2B)
Human factors and designing in context
(4 EC, block 1A)
Computer Science and Programming / (4 EC, block 1B)
Motion and Modelling / (4 EC, block 2A)
Dynamical Systems / (4 EC, block 2B)
Systems and Signals
(1 EC)
Portfolio 1 / (1 EC)
Portfolio 2 / (1 EC)
Portfolio 3 / (1 EC)
Portfolio 3
In Web and Identity the contents of Web Technology and we Create Identity should be compined.
In Visual Communication 1 the contents of Graphic Design and Sketching should be combined
In Computer Science and Programming onde should find some of the contents of IProgramming, and the contents of Introduction to Computer Science
Smart Environments should take some of the contents of Dynamical Systems
Physical Computing is an extension of the old Programming course
Motion and Modelling is essentially Motion and Modelling (but with a bit more space).
Web and interaction design should combine interactive visualization and web design (web design is in the Industrial Design Curriculuj, but not in CreaTe)
Dynamical Systems is essentially Dynamical Systems (but partly builds upon things that were done in the Smart Environments project).
Human Factors and designing in context combine the existing courses.
Systems and signals is essentially Systems and Signals (but with a bit more space).
Courses may consist of two rather separate parts, with two partial exams, but with a single final result.
The four portfolio items are assessed on the basis of the following:
- They show products of projects and assignments of the current block
- They show personal development along relevant development lines (from the tutoring floorplan):
- As an artist
- As an entrepreneur
- As an engineer
- As an inventor
- As an academic
- As a “communicator”
- As a mathematical modeller
Etc.
Problematic: what happens to Creative Exploration of structures, and to Statistics and probability (move to second year?)
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