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

Prosjekter er en sentral arbeidsform innen kunst- og kultursektoren. Da er det viktig å kunne lede, styre og jobbe med prosjekter i samspill med andre aktører. Emnet tar for seg ledelse, organisering, styring og gjennomføring av prosjekter, og gruppeprosesser og teamarbeid knyttet til prosjekter, samt hjelpemidler til bruk innen prosjektstyring. Emnet gir en solid innsikt i teoretiske forhold knyttet til prosjekt som fenomen, og kombinerer det med praktiske øvelser for å utvikle kompetanse i prosjektledelse.

Undervisningsspråk er norsk.

Ingen forkunnskapskrav.

Studenten skal etter å ha fullført emnet ha følgende totale læringsutbytte definert i kunnskap, ferdigheter og generell kompetanse:

Kunnskap

Studenten

• har avansert kunnskap om anvendelse av prosjekt som format innenfor de komplekse, konfliktfylte og usikre rammer som preger kunst- og kulturfeltet.
• har inngående kunnskap om sentrale teorier innen prosjektarbeid og prosjektledelse.
• har avansert kunnskap om sentrale forhold knyttet til prosjektteam og gruppeprosesser.
• kan anvende kunnskap om prosjekt som grunnlag for å kunne skape verdi for de som er involvert i prosjekter.
• har innsikt i å kunne identifisere og forstå usikkerhets- og interessenthåndtering i prosjektledelse.
• har analytiske ferdigheter som setter studenten i stand til å vurdere ulike prosjektkonsepter og strategier for prosjektgjennomføring.

Ferdigheter

Studenten

• kan konseptualisere særegne forhold for prosjekter innen kunst- og kulturfeltet, for derigjennom å identifisere og anerkjenne betingelsene og rammene for anvendelse av prosjekter på en egnet måte.
• kan reflektere over egne og andres bidrag i prosesser i et prosjektteam, og er i stand til å styre og lede prosjekter innen kunst- og kulturfeltet.
• kan anvende metodiske hjelpemidler innen prosjektstyring.

Generell kompetanse

Studenten

• har gode samarbeidsevner og kan løse problemstillinger på en kreativ måte.
• har evne til å vurdere hvilke prosjektformater som kan anvendes under ulike betingelser.

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