Educational aims and objectives

To embody the mission in education set forth by the University and the College of Design, DICD aims at achieving the following goals to become a top-notch department of industrial & commercial design with unique programs:

  • To develop a balanced curriculum that puts equal emphasis on student's training in design competence and skill set acquisition.
  • To strengthen student's ability to integrate interdisciplinary studies with their practice.
  • To foster student's awareness of global development in design.

Based on the goals listed above, different sets of objectives are drawn up as guidelines for curriculum design for different levels of programs in the Department.

First, the curricula of the undergraduate programs in DICD are mapped out to achieve the following five objectives:

  • To educate future professionals for various sectors of the design industry.
  • To enrich student's experience in interdisciplinary studies of design.
  • To broaden student's horizon in the global context of design innovation.
  • To cultivate student's habit of autonomous learning and independent thinking.
  • To foster student's awareness and belief in professionalism and good citizenship.

The goals specified above are put forth to nourish the following aspects of student's abilities in their educational growth so that students are:

  • capable of creative thinking in design,
  • sensitive to aesthetics and capable of incorporating aesthetics and formal concepts in design,
  • able to perform computer-aided drafting and computer-aided design professionally,
  • able to effectively communicate and coordinate among co-workers in the design community,
  • able to thrive in interactive, collaborative, and trans-disciplinary design activities,
  • able to have a good command of foreign languages and widen their global horizon,
  • aware of their responsibility towards greener environments and a better society.

In contrast, the graduate programs in DICD have the following objectives in our education:

  • To cultivate design researchers good at independent thinking.
  • To prepare graduates for leadership in interdisciplinary research and integrated team design.
  • To foster student's visionary forward thinking and their capacity to foresee new trends in design research.
  • To cultivate design practitioners who would thrive in global context.
  • To influence change in industrial development and to contribute to the enhancement of social values.

The objectives specified above are put forth to nourish the following aspects of student's abilities in their educational growth so that students are:

  • capable of delivering creative design and conducting research,
  • capable of literature review and thesis writing in design studies,
  • capable of designing and executing research projects independently,
  • capable of leading and coordinating trans-disciplinary design activities,
  • capable of foretelling new trends in global design industries,
  • capable of embracing diverse cultures and maintaining a macroscopic perspective,
  • committed to sustaining the welfare of the society.