a c t i v a t i n g c h a n g e
RMIT Industrial Design / DESIGN STUDIES / Semester One, 2012
______________________________________________________
Activating Change
Lecturer: Mick Douglas
Contact: mick.douglas@rmit.edu.au
When: Monday Mornings 9.30-12.30 88.5.14+14A,
Duration: 12 weeks face to face / 36 hours total contact time
Occasional Design Studies Lectures sit as an adjunct learning opportunity
Non-contact time / Learner Directed Study: 80 + hours over 12 weeks
Credit Points: 12
Course Codes: GRAP 1041,1042,1043 &1044
Design Studies Coordinator: Mick Douglas (Semester 1) mick.douglas@rmit.edu.au
Liam Fennessy (Semester 2) liam.fennessy@rmit.edu.au
Library guide: Change: http://rmit.libguides.com/ID-change
1. ABOUT THE AREA OF STUDY
Do you want to “be the change you want to see in the world?” This is a student-led course
supporting design activism aspirations in the I.D. student community, particularly as demonstrated by the students who have been participating in the ʻSummer of Social Changeʼ. http://thesummerofsocialchange.com
If you are self-motivated to explore how design activities may pursue interests in sustainability & social equity, this course aims to provide you with a flexible but focusing support structure, including establishing a dedicated working group room for the semester, self-developing stimulating work practices and creating a positive culture of working together. Itʼll include food, meeting people and social events. You will be guided to participate in and create social change networks in Melbourne around an issue of your interest, and to undertake an individual or group action that engages with a social/sustainability/design issue you are concerned about.
The course support structure will exist for the semester, however it is intended that your efforts during the semester may inspire and enable you to continue to invest your talent, time and creative energy in your ʻSummer of Social Changeʼ, or your new initiatives. Final taskwork reflecting on the semester experience will consider how you have activated change, how one might develop social change-making capabilities for oneself, and how your efforts can leave a legacy for others to inherit, make their own, and drive into the future. The course experience is intended to foster your capacity to be a proactive, passionate creative designer able to locate and understand your work existing amongst networks of stakeholders.
2. KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES
This tutorial has a range of specific learning outcomes that compliment the general learning objectives of the Design Studies course stream (see the online Design Studies Course Guides for more information on the course at your level: eg: GRAP 1041, GRAP 1042, 1043 or 1044).
On completion of this course you should be able to demonstrate the ability:
-To effectively map, research, analyze and communicate theories, projects and their
interrelationships confidently and independently
-To communicate your own findings and projects, and the understanding and development of these in written, design, spoken and multimedia presentations
-To be involved in peer critique and to be critical and reflective of individual work
-To reflect on propositions and ideas in ways that evidence informed opinions and responses to actions
-To assemble and compose an application of formal and informal knowledge in ways that creatively challenge and champion design
-To conduct ones learning in an ethical and responsible manner.RMIT Industrial Design / DESIGN STUDIES / Semester One, 2012
This ʻActivating Changeʼ tutorial specifically focuses upon enabling you, at the completion of the course, to demonstrate the ability:
• To identify and to engage in dialogue with stakeholders concerned with particular
matters of design and society that interests you.
• To participate in and to initiate social situations that share and build knowledge, knowhow, learning, understanding and ideas.
• To promote and communicate an event or activity.
• To document, reflect, analyse and share your learning from your activities.
• To develop awareness of how designers are engaged in working towards desirable
futures.
• To actively participate in and initiate ways that you can take action toward exploring and
making the kind of engagement in the world that you wish to have as a critical and
creative designer.
• To develop new insights and ideas based upon your learning.
• To position your work amongst networks of stakeholders.
3. ASSESSMENT TASKS
A combination of participation in tutorials, three tasks, and a peer review process need to be engaged to an acceptable academic standard to successfully complete the course. (See Online Course Guides for assessment policy). Project work will be appraised through peer review during the semester and resubmitted as a single document for final assessment at the end of semester.
The course is comprised of 3 assessment tasks:
1. Social Development Activity – 30% due week 6
2. Taking Action on a Social Issue – major project 30% due week 10
3. Activating Change document – 30% due week 12
+ Peer review and tutorial participation – 10%
INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT TASKS FOR SUBMISSION
NOTE ON A FORMAT FOR DOCUMENTING YOUR WORK: You will be working on the following tasks simultaneously, however they will be completed in sequence. Task 3 includes work carried out over the duration of the entire semester, commencing in week 1. Decide on a format to document all your work into, as collected documentation will be a large component of your Task 3 submission. The format must include being easily transferable to digital presentations projected in classes.
Task 1: Social Development Activity
You are to identify a design/social/sustainability issue of your interest that you would like to engage in. Identify existing individuals and networks of stakeholders that are engaging in this issue. Plan and implement a way to participate in these networks and/or create a social change network around the issue.
The learning objective of this task is to develop your capability:
• To identify and to engage in dialogue with stakeholders concerned with particular
matters of design and society that interests you.
• To participate in and to initiate social situations that share and build knowledge, knowhow, learning, understanding and ideas.
• To promote and communicate an event or activity.
• To document, reflect, analyse and share your learning from your activities.
This Task may be undertaken in groups or as an individual. It will involve three parts:
Part a) Issue-based event/activities
Engage in social networking to organise social activities or an event that assists people
(including yourself) to learn about issues of your interest. Events and activities that engage
your student peer community are encouraged. Consider hosting or joining a reading group, a participatory workshop, an invited speakers forum, a working party or a collaborative public event that engages in an issue of your interest.
Part b) Promotions/communications materials inviting community engagement
Produce one or more communications/promotions items that activate other peopleʼs
awareness of, and engagement in what you are doing. The media item(s) should
particularly invite participation in the event/activities above. Consider digital social media
(mobile messaging, blogging…) print media forms (flyers, posters…) and city space
communication activities (chalking pavement, stenciling, guerrilla media tactics, promotion
stunts, placards, performances …)
Part c) Documentation
Produce appropriately formatted documentation of your event/activity, that includes:
• communicating itʼs merit to people who could not participate
• your reflections (500words) on what you learnt from your involvement in the
event/activity
Format: to contribute toward your Activating Change final submission document
Submission requirements:
Present your documentation uploaded to the class wiki before class, plus a 5-minute presentation to peers.
DUE: 2nd April (week 6) in class for Peer Review
Worth 30% of overall grading
Task 2: Taking Action on a social issue
With the benefit of having developed social dialogues on issues through work on Task 1, this second task has you convert your concerns into action.
The learning objective of this task is to develop your capability:
• To develop awareness of how designers are engaged in working towards desirable
futures.
• To actively participate in and initiate ways that you can take action toward exploring and
making the kind of engagement in the world that you wish to have as a critical and
creative designer.
• To promote and communicate an event or activity.
• To document, reflect, analyse and share your learning from your activities.
This Task may be undertaken in groups or as an individual. This Task is intended to be
collaborative. You are work out how to collaborate with your peers. The task involves three parts:
Part a) Exemplary Actions Activating Change
Research past and current good examples of actions, activities, events and/or projects that are attempting to activate change in social/sustainability/design issues.
Present: 2 unique examples per student, one-two images + 150-200 word review of the
strengths and weaknesses of each example.
Presentations: in groups, projected on screen, allocated to weeks 2, 4, or 5.
Part b) Implemented Action Activating Change
Undertake an individual or group ʻactionʼ in response to a social/sustainability/design issue
that concerns you. This may be a single ʻactʼ on one occasion, a series of efforts/activities
or project that you have undertaken that are attempting to activate change. The ʻactionʼ
may be an expanded contribution toward what you have already started (for eg, a project
initiated during ʻsummer of social changeʼ), or a new initiative. It is encouraged that you
relate your action to the social network you have encountered through Task 1.RMIT
Part c) Documentation
Produce appropriately formatted documentation of your ʻactionʼ that includes:
• communicating the quality of the action, and its impact
• your reflections (500words) on what you learnt from your involvement in the
ʻactionʼ.
Format: to contribute toward your Activating Change final submission document
Submission requirements:
Part A to be presented by groups in allocated weeks: either in week 2, 4, or 5, and uploaded to the class wiki before class, plus make a 3-minute presentation to peers.
Part C
DUE: 7 th May (week 10) in class for Peer Review
Task Worth 30% of overall grading
Task 3: Activating Change document
You are to undertake an individual practice of documenting your reflections during the course experience, and to clarify and build upon these reflections towards the end of the course.
The learning objective of this task is to develop your capability:
• To document, reflect, analyse and share your learning from your activities.
• To develop new insights and ideas based upon your learning.
• To position your work amongst networks of stakeholders.
This task is to be undertaken individually. It is comprised of two parts, or sections to the document:
Part A) Personal Experiencing of Change:
Decide upon a format for generating and collecting documentation of your work throughout
the semester. This may be a blog, a journal, or a creative format of your initiative. You
should expect to make at least one valuable entry per week. The format needs to be
transferable for making digital presentations to the group during the course.
This section is to include:
• working evidence (notes, diagrams, thoughts, sketches, info collected, meeting notes
etc) of your progressing through the tasks during the semester, akin to a diary, journal,
sketchbook or blog.
• an edited and refined compilation of the documentation of your core work done in
Tasks 1 and 2, including more advanced reflections and analysis of your task-work.
• 1000words personal reflections on:
o your aspirations for change in design, society and the world, referencing the
ideas, arguments and examples of others.
o the strengths and weaknesses of how your tasks did or did not contribute to
activating the changes you aspired to.
o your aspirations for personal change, learning and development.
o the strengths and weaknesses of how you practiced and attempted to develop
your own capabilities, and new opportunities you identify for yourself.
o how your efforts have (or have not) left a legacy for others to inherit, make their
own, and drive into the future.
• 300words learning testimonial summarizing the value of your personal learning
experience during the course, with emphasis on how you have engaged in creating
social change-making capabilities for yourself.
Part B) Further Change:
Propose an ongoing activity that can continue to activate further change. The proposition
should be made with the clear purpose of stimulating a target audience to undertake the
activity. This may be done with weighty seriousness, or with humour, but do it confidently
with your personality shining!RMIT Industrial Design / DESIGN STUDIES / Semester One, 2012
This section will be a common format to be decided by the class group, so that all
contributions can be joined into one large document (for eg, A3 size posters, or 6 page A5
zines). The section should be written and presented so that it communicates appropriately
to its identified target audience, using style, image, language and tactics that are relevant.
Use a simple and clear communication approach. It may be something like a manifesto, or
a policy document, an instruction manual, user guide, a course outline, a business plan, a
grant application, a script, a game-plan, a set of placards, a comic book scene, or a mock
advertisement. It may take any existing or new propositional form that is relevant to
inspiring your desired ʻfurther changeʼ.
This propositional section is to be clear about:
• WHAT the ongoing activity is that can continue to activate further change.
• WHY the activity is worth undertaking, and how it may contribute to desired
change.
• WHO could be involved, who is a stakeholder, and who will care about it.
• HOW the activity could be undertaken, including anything necessary to work
toward the desired change (people, tools, equipment, resources, venues)
• WHEN and WHERE the activity could be best undertaken.
Submission requirements:
Part A and Part B uploaded to the course wiki or group online platform.
5-minute class presentation in week 12
DUE: 21 May (week 12 in class for Peer Review)
30 % of overall grading
PEER REVIEW
Participation 10%
It is vital to your course that you initiate and join in practices that stimulate enthusiasm, energy, and a high quality of engagement in your individual and collective group interests. For example, this may involve food sharing, movie screenings, topical discussion forums over drinks, online communication, sharing and hosting readings, developing publicity etc.
All students will be required to do peer appraisals of the various assessment tasks. Here you will have to read and make recommendations to peers regarding the demonstration of their learning. Peer review is an important part of your professional development.
DUE: Throughout the course 10 % of overall grading RMIT Industrial Design / DESIGN STUDIES / Semester One, 2012
4. RESOURCES
Design Studies has an online resource for students where tutorial guides, weekly course notes, study resources, news items, and associated materials for assisting your studies will be available. You can access course resources online through the Design Studies resources via MyRMIT. This site will give you up-to-date information on the class schedule, links to on-line resources, and examples of previous student projects. You will be expected to contribute to this site through the course of the semester.
Please add / bookmark these URLs on your computer.
SPECIFIC READING
A number of handouts and references will be given during the semester. A comprehensive list of references can be found on the Industrial Design Library Subject Guide at:
http://rmit.libguides.com/Industrial-Design
And for this course, especially at
http://rmit.libguides.com/ID-change
As a student-led course, you are expected to source additional texts as your work tasks require.
Some starters are:
Robert Klanten and Matthias Hübner (edʼs), Urban interventions: personal projects in public spaces: Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2010.
Robert Klanten et al (edʼs), Art and Agenda: Political art and activism, Gestalten Verlag,
Berlin 2011.
Nato Thompson (ed) The interventionists: users’ manual for the creative disruption of
everyday life, MASS MoCA, 2004
Alastair Fuad-Luke, Design activism : beautiful strangeness for a sustainable world,
Earthscan, London 2009.
Tony Fry, Design as Politics, Berg, Oxford / New Yord, 2011.
Bruce Mao Massive Change http://www.massivechange.com
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED AND OTHER INFORMATION
You need to be prepared to contribute toward your own Tasks and the group project as best as possible. You should expect to purchase printing and materials to around $100.
