Project 2.
>> Breaking the Catch22 of Experience / My First Client / Einstein “Demo Rigs”.
Hello again, my name’s Jude Pullen, and I’m a creative technologist, working with The Design
and Technology Association to explore new learning contexts for D&T in Schools.
Having been an undergraduate, there is often a Catch22 in getting experience - you’ll
struggle to get internships unless you already have experience, but how do you get
experience in the first place?
Granted, at the younger ages of KS3 through to GCSE, you are never expected to get a ‘real
life’ client...but what if this was disrupted...
The Irony is - their First Client is right in front of them
- Teachers - can be their First Design Client!
The task is for D&T students to seek out a school lesson that needs a ‘Demo Rig’.
Schools are often short of budget for resources, and this is also an interesting way for D&T
to ‘be of service’ to other lessons and make the point that most school Demo’s were indeed
‘Designed’ by a Designer - working with educators - to inspire kids.
This project turns the tables and entrusts the D&T kids with the responsibility of educating
others.
To give an example, I built a Wind Tunnel for only £20-£30, which can be used either by
Physics Tutors - to teach Aerodynamics of Aerofoils,
or perhaps History Tutors to teach the history of Aviation... and why we stopped at Tri
Planes, and didn’t just keep adding wings!
Even Sport Science might want to test Aerodrome Cycling Helmets in it?
To drive home the point about ‘active learning’ vs ‘rote learning’, is that by making the
students have to really learn the subject matter, they are really compounding their learning.
It is not enough to just know the facts; they have to master and embody them in the Demo
Rig.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” is a quote I love from
Einstein. I try to apply it to check myself, as much as I do to others when in a jargon-heavy or
‘elite’ group of experts.
Indeed, like teachers, the best are able to take an idea and make it accessible to all - but of
course, students will find out that it’s harder than you think!
The point is that D&T students have to understand a subject more deeply than the level
they build the Demo Rig for. In Industry, the designer will have to not only know the
particulars of a given device, but the holistic space around it.
Building on the lessons from the previous learning unit of seeing a squirrel’s wanton
destruction of your Bird Feeder, the likely irony is that fellow students may abuse and
misuse these Demo Rigs, and this will naturally prompt a design discussion on if to
vandal/idiot-proof a design, or explore more psychological prompts to nudge behaviour
away from such destruction.
These are hard knocks, but vital for any budding Designer.
Lastly, Industry feedback also liked the notion of ‘finding opportunities within the
organisation’, as this is a key trait in many innovators from Design through to
Entrepreneurs.
Secondly, the practice of ‘turning tables’ raised many a knowing smile - as this is a great
practice to start young. The very act of ‘seeing things from the other perspective’ will be
cohesive to the school, but also a life skill that can be applied in studies, work and of course
life in general - and indeed, in the next project on Inclusive Design
This again, reasserts the uniqueness of Design’s value in Education - how many other
subjects would encourage the students to be the Teacher, and to see their peers in a
different light also?
Thanks for watching, and please take a look at the guide below - and do leave comments and
questions, we’re excited to hear back from you.