Group Work and the Externally-Oriented Capstone

Abstract

Professional learning, where students gain skills and attributes relevant to their future work, is currently emphasised in tertiary education. Group work is promoted here for preparing students to work with clients and colleagues. We report on two capstone projects undertaken for external clients by teams of design students. In discussing the curricula and pedagogy of professional design education, the chapter addresses the value of group projects in developing graduates' work-readiness and insight into professional practice. Variances in approach, knowledge and perspective between colleagues, combined with differing needs and expectations across the designer-client-end-user divide, make goal setting and project resolution challenging in design. Project work approached from an expanded sense of the group and which delivers implementable proposals for clients provides graduating students with authentic learning around the demands of practice, stressing collaborative problem-solving based on knowledge of the design context and the wider relational systems surrounding industry practice.