MAPD5300 Aesthetics of Materiality Course description

In our world of things and artefacts materiality is shaping both culture and cognition. Humans depend on things and things depend on humans, but by active consideration we can discover the way materials direct and define us. This course takes creative engagement with the designer´s sensory modalities as a starting point for explorative design-processes and materials driven design, where subjective methods and personal experience become ways for handling complexity and relating to user experience.

The course is centred around practice-based research and we will focus on working directly with materials, spatial interaction, developing model-studies and examining process. Exploration is emphasized throughout the course and the student is expected to generate a comprehensive series of model output and to develop aesthetic, reflexive skills in design.

Admission to the Master's programme.

The purpose of this course is to make the students understand concepts, challenges and possibilities of digital health related to people in need of support in everyday life, or patients with chronic illness, in homecare or rehabilitation.

Digital health services comprise a complex set of technology solutions such as wearables, apps and decision support systems to assist health experts accomplish their tasks and support patients’ needs. Digital health services can be built for example for smart-homes, mobile smartphones, ambient intelligence and social networks.

Digital solutions can generate an enormous amount of data powered by platforms, algorithms, and AI technologies, providing a potent ecosystem for new digital service co-creation. AI-enabled digital health can assist healthcare experts in making individually tailored clinical decisions, enable predictive care provision, as well as facilitate efficient personalised support and improved quality of life for patients at home.

Emphasis of this course is placed on the patient's needs and how digital health services can be developed between all stakeholders (e.g. healthcare experts, individuals / patients and company representatives) in a real-life context.

Students will learn how digital healthcare has possibilities to reduce costs and create innovative and sustainable services. Ethical and regulatory aspects will be discussed.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Students must have been admitted to the Master’s Programme in Health and Technology - Specialisation in Assistive Technology in Health. The course can be taken as an elective course by students admitted to other master’s specialisations. The course is also offered as an individual course if there are vacant places. A bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required for admission to individual courses.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• One oral-presentation of theoretical approach.
• One oral-presentation of end-product.

The course will use varied, student-active work methods. Work and teaching methods include lectures, activating workshops, independent group work, group work presentations and self-study. Two teaching periods are organised, each running over three to four consecutive days. Between the two periods, the students will work in groups on a written assignment that they will present during the final period. The students choose their assignment from a selection of topics given in the first period.

The following must be approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Oral presentation in groups, up to 30 minutes. The presentation must be given in English if there are English-speaking students on the course.

Individual written home exam over one week, maximum 3,000 words.

The paper can be written in English or a Scandinavian language.

Two internal. External examiner is used periodically.