Bachelor's Degree Programme in Product Design Programme description

Introduction

The product design programme is a three-year profession-oriented programme. Candidates who complete the programme in accordance with the programme description will be awarded the degree Bachelor of Product Design.

The programme’s profile is characterised by interaction between materiality and concept development. The programme will prepare students for work on material-related, process-related and aesthetic issues from a global, cultural, user-oriented and market-oriented perspective.

We live in a time where the aesthetics of everyday physical and immaterial design is crucial. This makes design an increasingly important profession in more areas than previously. On the programme, the traditions of the design discipline are characterised by specific workshop-based testing of materials and processes relating to the development of products for a sustainable environment. Sensory experience also plays an important part in this context.

Product design is a field that has long emphasised both tradition and history, user orientation and functionality in relation to the present, demands in the market, sustainability and trends. The changes that have taken place in the discipline in the past years allow for the possibility to use the knowledge acquired in more immaterial fields of design such as service design and systems design.

The course is adapted to the premises of the profession while at the same time creating room for the students’ individual development and reflection on their own progress.

The programme is research-based; research and artistic development work form the basis for continuous development of the programme’s content and structure, involving both research fellows and students.

The programme qualifies students for admission to the master’s degree programme in product design.

The programme is aimed at applicants who want to work as product designers or use their design skills for similar work in the private and public sectors.

Applicants must have achieved the Higher Education Entrance Qualification and passed the admission test, cf. the current Regulations on Admission to Universities and University Colleges, adopted by the Ministry on the basis of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Section 3-6.

Applicants older than 25 years who cannot document the Higher Education Entrance Qualification can be assessed on the basis of prior learning and work experience. Separate criteria have been defined for assessing prior learning and work experience. See OsloMet’s website.

Applicants are ranked on the basis of the admission test; see the applicable guidelines for the admission test to the three-year Product Design programme at OsloMet.

The Norwegian Qualifications Framework for Higher Education, which was adopted by the Ministry of Education and Research in March 2009, provides an overview of the overall learning outcomes defined in terms of the knowledge, skills and competence students are expected to have achieved after completing the education. The descriptions of learning outcomes in the programme and course descriptions are prepared in accordance with the Qualifications Framework.

The students are expected to acquire information literacy and knowledge of the use of sources that enable them to find relevant literature and information. They should be capable of searching for specialist literature and compiling reference lists in accordance with the applicable template. They should also know the basic rules governing citations and the use of sources and know what is defined as plagiarism and cheating in student work.

The programme is designed to ensure that students acquire knowledge, skills and competence that qualify them to lead design projects in the private and public sectors. OsloMet is actively working to ensure that its study and working environment promotes the best possible learning for all students.

The programme description’s learning outcomes aim to address the programme’s consistency and continuity. The goals of the programme description reflect the labour market’s needs, demands and expectations of candidates, but also aim to encourage development in and add new expertise to the labour market. The students and OsloMet have a common responsibility for achieving these goals.

The students will progress throughout the course of the programme to become:

• independent
• responsible
• open to change
• innovative
• reflective

After completing and passing the three-year bachelor’s degree programme in Product Design, the candidate is expected to have achieved the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The candidate:

• has knowledge of different design methods and strategies and is capable of considering the contexts in which these can be applied as useful tools in the design process
• has knowledge of different materials and about the materials’ potential and qualities in a production context
• is familiar with and capable of applying theories and principles of sustainable design
• is familiar with and capable of applying theories and practice relating to branding
• possesses cultural and adaptive knowledge

Skills

The candidate is capable of:

• using different methods, tools (manual and digital) and machinery in creative processes
• using creativity and innovation in his/her own field through conscious use of aesthetic effects and materialisation of concepts
• applying theory as part of the design process
• documenting his/her work (2D and 3D) in a way that communicates
• communicating and cooperating with other practitioners of the profession both at an interdisciplinary level and in his/her own field
• mastering project management
• exhibiting cultural and social flexibility when faced with other cultures – local and global, as well as ethnic

Competence

The candidate

• understands the relationship between the profession, the business sector and society (the designer’s role) by being capable of:
  • mastering the design process
  • applying a user perspective in the analysis and development of design
  • using methods, research results and theories
• gathering and using relevant sources, literature and other information, including basic referencing
• understanding material culture and the complete life cycle of products
• understanding value-based approaches to product design
• understanding society’s need for sustainable design

The programme is a profession-oriented three-year education, and candidates who complete and pass the programme are awarded the degree Bachelor of Product Design. The programme has a scope of 180 credits, meaning that students take 60 credits in each of the three years. All the courses are compulsory. Each course concludes with a final assessment.

Although the bachelor’s programme is generally taught in Norwegian, it is a precondition that the students have good English skills. There will be lectures and literature in English already in the first year. In the fourth semester, which is the international semester, teaching will be conducted almost solely in English. In the fifth semester, which is facilitated for student exchanges, a large part of the teaching and syllabus will be in English.

Theory and practice

The programme is designed to include close interaction between theory, application and workshop-based practice. It has a successive structure, where students gain broader and deeper expertise to take on product design assignments throughout the programme.

The programme’s content helps students to acquire knowledge that contributes to an understanding and development of multicultural competence, respect and tolerance. See the course descriptions for more detailed information about the content of the various courses.

The department’s focus on material-oriented product design is reflected in the organisation of activities, with specialised workshops for work with:

• Wood
• Metal
• Textiles
• Plastic materials
  • Ceramics
  • Concrete
  • Plastic
  • Glass

The programme consists of practical and theoretical elements that are introduced in the different courses, with progress throughout the programme. There are therefore special requirements for study progress. Students are offered supervision in the workshops in the second and third years of the programme.

Cooperation across year groups

The students will participate in several workshops throughout the course where there will be interaction across the year groups. This includes joint lectures. Each year, the three classes will complete a four-week project where they carry out a group project in cooperation with external parties.

Progress in the programme

First year of the programme:Basic design skills

• Understanding of materials
• Processing techniques
• 2D and 3D drawing (manually and digitally)
• Aesthetics
• Understanding of form

Second year of the programme: Methodology and user orientation

• Functionality and user participation
• Aesthetics
• Communication
• International competence
• Cultural understanding

Third year of the programme: Project management and specialisation

• Innovation
• Positioning
• Project management
• Critical reflection
• Individual specialisation

The department prioritises work methods that stimulate integration of the knowledge areas on the programme. The programme uses methods that promote the students’ development and own activity, which encourages study both individually and in groups. The work methods have been selected with a view to helping the students to achieve the learning outcomes. Each student plays a part in and influences their own and fellow students’ study and learning situation. This entails active participation throughout the programme with discussion of the academic and educational aspects of the programme, and is conditional on a learning environment that welcomes reflection, analysis and critical thinking. Evaluations can comprise verbal as well as written feedback and are intended to provide guidance.

The processes and practical exercises in each course are unique to product design. The programme allows for and encourages individual approaches to the subject. Common teaching and work methods in the various courses are:

Problem-based learning

This is a method where the students are given a challenge related to a material, a request from a customer, a social need or similar. Students are to find a solution and there is no set answer to the challenge. This form of learning takes place through various methods such as:

Practical exercises

The students carry out exercises and practise techniques in groups or individually to obtain the learning outcomes of each course.

Project work

Project work is the most important work method for professional designers and is therefore used in most courses on the programme. Various issues are selected and explored in groups or individually, and any investigations are related to relevant challenges. Assignments and projects are presented to fellow students, lecturers and guests in different ways to receive general feedback and encourage discussion.

Workshops

A methodological approach to the subject where both students and course coordinators take equal part via systematic processes. The work is immediately evaluated before the process is concluded.

Workshop practice

Students must be certified to use the workshops and various machinery. They use the department’s many workshops to work on a topic or parts of a course.

Presentations

In all courses and topics, the students will present subject matter and/or models, both physical and abstract, to fellow students and lecturers.

Individual or group supervision

An important educational method to ensure that students complete their assignments and obtain the learning outcomes.

Lectures

Lectures are organised in periods on each course. The purpose of lectures is to introduce a topic for further work, stimulate interest, summarise topics, ease student work in particularly difficult areas of a topic and present relevant research on a topic.

Self-study

Students are expected to acquire knowledge about topics in the syllabus that are not covered by lectures or other scheduled teaching, including literature studies and referencing techniques.

Organised group work

From the first year of study, students are organised into groups in order to learn cooperation skills. Students work in teams on solutions to various design-related questions and share experiences and reflections.

Excursions

In some courses, students are given an opportunity to visit a business or organisation relevant to the topic of study.

Meeting students from different cultures can result in added know-how for later professional practice in our multicultural society. By actively including cultural knowledge in the programme, the students are prepared for the new reality – that globalisation of the labour market makes international experience, language skills and cultural knowledge and change competence increasingly important.

The department has an active exchange practice and facilitates internationalisation in that:

• students can take part of their bachelor’s degree studies at one of the department’s partner institutions abroad
• incoming exchange students can take part of their education at the department
• the fourth semester is an international semester where teaching and literature are primarily in English
• the fifth semester is adapted to student exchanges by both teaching and literature being mostly in English
• internationalisation at home is emphasised through e.g. integration of foreign exchange students in class
• cultural knowledge is an important part of the teaching.

Exchange procedures

The university has an international section that works on student exchanges. See OsloMet’s website. The department is responsible for granting students advance approval before they visit an institution abroad.

For an up-to-date overview of partnership agreements, see OsloMet’s website.

Required coursework means compulsory work that must be approved in order for students to take the exam. Required coursework is assessed as approved/not approved. Coursework requirements in this programme include:

• participation in compulsory teaching activities
• certification in machinery use and HSE
• practical assignments
• completed exercises
• written assignments for submission
• exhibitions
• oral presentations
• approved project description

Not approved coursework

Valid absence documented by e.g. a medical certificate does not exempt students from meeting the coursework requirements. Students who fail to complete required coursework within the deadline due to illness or for other documented valid reasons should as far as possible be given a new chance before the exam. This must be agreed with the lecturer in question on a case-to-case basis. If another attempt at meeting a coursework requirement is not possible because of the nature of the subject/course, the student must be prepared to meet the coursework requirements on the next possible occasion. This may result in delayed progress in the programme.

The examination provisions are specified in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges and the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet. See OsloMet’s website.

Oral and practical exams are assessed by two examiners, as these forms of assessment cannot be appealed. Formal errors can nonetheless be appealed.

Exams that are assessed by internal examiners only are regularly selected for external assessment.

The grades pass/fail or a grade scale with grades from A to E for pass and F for fail are used for exam assessment.

Study progress

See the individual course descriptions for prior knowledge requirements. Students must have passed all other courses in the programme before they can submit their bachelor’s thesis.

Bachelor’s thesis

In BAPD3910, students complete and document a design project where they take responsibility for their own choices and use all the expertise they have acquired throughout the programme. They must show further development, that they master the design process and demonstrate their level of competence as product designers.

The purpose of OsloMet’s quality assurance system is to improve the students’ learning outcomes and development by raising quality at all levels. OsloMet wishes to cooperate with the students, and their participation in the quality assurance work is crucial. The overriding goals for the quality assurance system include:

• to ensure a high level of quality in educational activities, including practical training and the learning and study environment
• to ensure that the study programmes are relevant to the professional fields
• to ensure that the quality continues to improve

For the students, this entails, among other things, student evaluations:

• course evaluations
• annual student surveys for all of OsloMet

More information about the quality assurance system is available here: https://student.oslomet.no/regelverk#etablering-studium-evaluering-kvalitetssystem