O.Univ.Prof. MMag. Wolfgang Stifter comments on the Department of Design and Technology’s practice-oriented educational approach
Handicraft education is trendy again
Since the PISA study was published, application-oriented education is again in high demand. We are always surrounded by a variety of everyday objects, machines and equipment, containers and tools, furniture, vehicles and other objects. We look at them, handle them and use them.
We live in spaces, move in buildings, on streets and places and in the flow of traffic. We observe and comment visible changes in our environment.
Design and Technology education stems from the fact that we develop ideas, explore new options and formulate individual concepts in all these processes: a new form, better material, simpler manufacturing technique, more appropriate place. Sometimes we manage to implement these ideas: by inventing and reinventing, we learn from experience; by redesigning, we demonstrate creativity and explore our limits. We communicate with experts, opt for another alternative and arrive at a new result that corresponds to our intentions. Design and Technology education acts on the premise that, given the right training, everybody is sufficiently capable and competent to help designing the order and organisation of a more humane environment.
Since the PISA study was published, application-oriented education is again in high demand. We are always surrounded by a variety of everyday objects, machines and equipment, containers and tools, furniture, vehicles and other objects. We look at them, handle them and use them.
We live in spaces, move in buildings, on streets and places and in the flow of traffic. We observe and comment visible changes in our environment.
Design and Technology education stems from the fact that we develop ideas, explore new options and formulate individual concepts in all these processes: a new form, better material, simpler manufacturing technique, more appropriate place. Sometimes we manage to implement these ideas: by inventing and reinventing, we learn from experience; by redesigning, we demonstrate creativity and explore our limits. We communicate with experts, opt for another alternative and arrive at a new result that corresponds to our intentions. Design and Technology education acts on the premise that, given the right training, everybody is sufficiently capable and competent to help designing the order and organisation of a more humane environment.
