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Interior design training in chennai - Aleesha Institute
http://www.aleeshainstitute.com/interior-designing-course.php
The tools for carving patterns have been a matter of experimentation. Everything from power jigsaws, rotary cutting tools, woodcarving and ceramic hand tools have been utilized with varying degrees of success. The pliability of the pumpkin permits simple and fast manipulation, however this presents the challenge of removing parts that were not meant to be. The fragility of working with pumpkins emphasizes the need for care, planning and fine motor skills while stressing special consideration of the material. A successfully carved pumpkin requires three dramatic “value changes”—highlights, mid-tones, and dark values. Achieving these three with the pumpkin makes a strong threedimensional sculpture. Detail is important along with value change and depth of carving, however there is a limit to how much detail can be successfully included. Each student must consider how lighting and shadow will play a role in their carving when lit. Making decisions about executing these elements of design, and experiencing the subsequent successes and failures is an important part of learning the design process. The exercise is designed to provide a service-learning component by enabling students to interact with their local communities while developing their design talents. Once their pumpkins are carved, students donate them to the local zoos’ annual Halloween event. A. Pumpkin Carving for Engineering Technologists Students in the CMST course hone their computer and design skills over a three-week process. During this time, they explore digital photography, creating vector graphics, positive and negative space, and creating and executing a design from start to finish. The basic process steps are as follows: 1. Take photographs of animals at the zoo 2. Select a photograph to use for developing the carving design 3. Import the photo into Adobe Illustrator vector drawing software 4. Using the photo as a reference, make a three-value drawing that shows light, medium and dark areas. The light value areas will be completely removed from the pumpkin, the media values will be partially removed, and the dark values the pumpkin will be left intact. 5. Print the drawing for use as a carving pattern. 6. Cut an opening and scoop out the seeds and innards of the pumpkin in the traditional manner. 7. Transfer the pattern design to the pumpkin for carving by poking holes with a tack or other sharp object along the edges of each shape to be carved. 8. Using wood carving tools, completely remove the light value areas of pumpkin, and partially shave away the skin, but leave some of the pumpkin flesh in the medium value areas. 9. Light the pumpkin with a candle or flashlight. View the pumpkin in a dark room to inspect the image appearing on the pumpkin. 10. Make adjustments to the carving as necessary. 11. Photograph and admire the handiwork.
When students do a reasonable job of drawing and then carving the light and medium values, a high quality image appears as the pumpkin is lit up in the dark. Students are often disconcerted as they carve their pumpkins, because the work in progress does not resemble what the finished design will look like. To some students, it simply looks more like a cut up piece of fruit than the image that they are supposed to be creating. Students are encouraged to trust the process. The carving becomes a negative of what the final image will be, much like the negatives used in film photography. With this project, students gain first-hand experience using the design elements of line, shape, space, and value. As long as they have identified the correct areas of light and medium values, the image will turn out as a delightful surprise in the end. The CMST students have partnered with the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas to complete this project. Students visit the zoo in mid-September to make animal photographs, then return again in mid-October to do a carving demonstration during the zoo’s annual Pumpkin Pazoola event. This is an event that is well attended by the public, and affords students an opportunity to interact with onlookers, explaining the design process they are using. CMST students are required to speak with three zoo patrons about their pumpkin-carving project. Students are charged with explaining the design process used from obtaining the original digital photograph through the making of the carved pumpkin that they were working on at the zoo that day. B. Pumpkin Carving for Interior Architects The IAPD students work with different types of drawing styles, rendering, tools, and carving techniques to communicate the students’ design on a pumpkin. Students in the IAPD studio transform a two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional pumpkin in a one-day exercise. The basic process steps are as follows: 1. Sketch an animal at Sunset Zoo, Manhattan, Kansas. 2. Study the zoo animal via a negative line drawing. 3. Apply three values to the negative line drawing. 4. Tape negative line template to the pumpkin. 5. Carve the pumpkin as a studio in Seaton Court on the Kansas State University Campus. 6. Photograph the final design. 7. Enjoy the pumpkins at Sunset Zoo. The focus of the field trip for the IAPD students is to observe, sketch, and photograph a selected animal at the Manhattan Sunset Zoo for use in their design. Once back at studio, students begin by studying negative line drawings. This is a contour drawing focusing on the voids of negative spaces as an alternative way to develop concentration and hand-eye coordination. The objective is to take the eye’s attention off an object as a whole and concentrate on its shape and size. Lewis encourages students to try sketching a variety of subjects – stacked chairs, utensils, and plants. As a studio, Lewis has students recall and review the following lessons learned: • Characteristics: shape/form, size, number, position, direction, color, texture. For example, shapes, contrasting curves, straight edges and lines. • Elements: point, line, plane, volume (mass and void), space. • Relationships: harmony/contrast/polarity, unity/variety, dominance/accent, balance, movement/rhythm, proportion/scale, articulation. A successful pumpkin needs to have value changes, meaning a three-value design with highlights, midtones, and dark values. Achieving these three distinct values through the carving makes extraordinary three-dimensional pumpkins. Detail is important along with contrasting values and depth of carving. Students learn to balance large, medium, and small, detailed areas. The detailed areas are more difficult to carve.
ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENT LEARNING A. IAPD Assessment of Learning During the several years of developing and improving this project, assessment of student learning has been accomplished through a variety of methods. For example, during the fall semesters of 2012 and 2013, the IAPD students were invited to give their written comments about the project in response to the prompt “What did you learn about design from carving a pumpkin?” When viewed in alignment with Dym et al.’s skills, 14 these comments reveal a definite development of design thinking: THINK AS PART OF A TEAM IN A SOCIAL PROCESS • Design can be for anything! The project led me to think about design in a new way to design for a new demographic BIG PICTURE, SYSTEMS THINKING & SYSTEMS DESIGN • To think about the overall view and how it will look all completed • Think about the space available and use it to the best capability • I learned how to work backwards and to think about the end result first HANDLING UNCERTAINTY, MAKING DECISIONS, AND TOLERATING AMBIGUITY • Be prepared for a plan B! Your design doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to. • To be able to think quickly about how to modify a design that may not have turned out how you planned. • Consider available tools. How you will carve when designing. • Every material works differently – preparation is key • Designs don’t always go or turn out as expected. Therefore change is necessary, change is good, and change is part of the design process, which changes constantly • Remember to make ‘bridges’ large/thick enough that they won’t break apart • Use only 1 side vs. in the round • It was much harder to do detailing than I had anticipated. I definitely had to change things last minute, so thinking on your feet is important. • Carving pumpkins taught me that in design you might have to make instant, quick decisions. Your design might not always stay the same. I have a tendency to get an idea in my mind and not stray away from it. It encouraged me to change my mindset quickly. • Finding a balance in the details so you still have the image you desire but can accomplish the carving in the amount of time you have. • Take your time – do not rush. Use shadow to enhance 3D. THINK AND COMMUNICATE IN THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN • To come up with great design you have to approach the design from an angle no one else has • To think in layers. Different layers can impact the readability and impact of a design. • Using the whole canvas. Fill the space given. “Utilize the space guys!” – Katrina quote • Designing w/negative spaces & 3d carving, how to convey an idea without using a ton of detail or every single line • Learned how to see design in the negative of the image • It was a lot different working with positive and negative space in this medium. It was difficult to transfer from drawing to 3D pumpkin. • When carving, thinking of the three-dimensionality of your image must be enforced or even exaggerated in order for your image to be clearly seen. • When carving pumpkins you had to think differently about how colors work because you only have the rind and the inside color of the pumpkin to work with. So I learned how to use depth to be in place of color. • Using the different layers of the pumpkin to show depth. Same principle could be applied to a lot of different exercises. Instead of depth though could be a single color with different amounts of tone & shade. B. CMST Assessment of Learning During the Fall 2012 semester, CMST students were each required to speak with three different zoo patrons about their pumpkin-carving project, and to obtain feedback about their presentation and their work. To assess the ability to think and communicate in the language of design14 students were charged with explaining the design process used from obtaining the original digital photograph through the making of the carved pumpkin that they were working on at the zoo that day. To record the completed designs for assessment, a photograph of each pumpkin was made at the zoo on the day it was carved. Because they were completed in daylight hours, the lit jack-o-lanterns were darkened by simply covering them with a cardboard box that had an opening for viewing and photographing. An anonymous survey form was used to obtain rating data from each zoo patron about the particular student with whom they interacted. Patrons provided separate ratings for two distinct areas: college level verbal skills and college level design quality. Each of these ratings use a five point Likert scale: 1 – Unacceptable, 2 – Needs improvement, 3 – Average, 4 – Above Average, 5 – Outstanding. Zoo patron survey results are shown below: Table 1 – Zoo Patron Survey According to the survey results obtained, the zoo patrons felt that the CMST students possess above average verbal communication skills and visual design skills. However, the average rating for the design quality was higher than the verbal communication average rating. This could be an indication that the perception of design quality was more impressive than was the perceived quality of verbal communication skills. If the literature on civic engagement and peer-group-only association tendencies among young adults is accurate, college students having technical skills superior to communication skills, particularly when communicating with strangers outside of a peer age demographic is to be expected. To provide additional data on design quality, the CMST course instructor scored the completed pumpkin designs on the use of two specific elements of design – value and positive/negative space using the same 5 point Likert scale previously mentioned. Student understanding of these design elements was demonstrated through this assessment. The average score for the class was a 3.80 (n=10) for both Number of student participants N=10 Number of zoo patrons providing survey feedback N=22 Zoo patron average rating – verbal skills 4.59 Zoo patron average rating – design quality 4.82 elements, indicating an above average understanding of these elements. Standard deviation was slightly higher for positive/negative space (SD=1.033) than the value (SD=0.919) category. Additionally, three students scored 4s or 5s (above average or outstanding) on both elements and two students scored 3s or 2s (average or needs improvement) for both elements. Details of this instructor evaluation are found below in the table below: Table 2 - Design Quality Assessment Some additional benefits of this project were noted by simply observing the students in action. For example, one zoo patron remarked that he had purchased some commercially available patterns for his grandkids, but did not understand how to use them for pumpkin carving until learning how from our students. This is precisely the sort of interaction with the community we were hoping for by sharing our design expertise outside of the classroom. In another example, students demonstrated the value of persistence through adversity. CMST students in the fall of 2012 encountered an unexpected thunderstorm that drenched their carving work. They pressed on until they finished, working for about three hours despite being cold and damp. Though they were uncomfortable, no one complained and everyone skillfully completed their projects. This special day is mentioned in the CMST class syllabus, as well as during the first day of class. Students are advised many weeks in advance that attendance at the zoo is mandatory and any schedule conflicts should be resolved early. That students appear at the zoo on a Saturday to complete their original pumpkin carvings in exhibition style with onlookers watching, and even sometimes interrupting with questions, speaks volumes about their learning. Through this project, students experience design as a community affair that affects others, instead of simply as a solitary experience that involves only themselves. These kind of direct observations show the development of desired professional skills and authentic learning that could not be orchestrated inside the classroom. V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK Pumpkin carving, if presented as such, can be a serious and challenging design project that affords many benefits to student learning in the area of design thinking. The activity requires patience and flexibility, two traits that will need ongoing emphasis in a world that increasingly tends to focus on instant solutions and answers to problems. It emphasizes design and communication skills through an interative process that encourages both divergent and convergent creative thinking. It draws attention to the limits of the carving material and highlights creative problem solving while teaching the use of basic design elements such as value, color, line, shape and space. Because of these benefits, future exercises in pumpkin carving might be useful in other areas of engineering education, such as mechanical or construction, as well as in any other fields of study that include elements of design. For example, after seeing photographs of the computer students’ pumpkin designs on display in the engineering technology department, the mechanical engineering technology lab technician from Genereux’s department commented that the carving designs drawn in Adobe Illustrator would also work well in mechanical applications such as CNC plasma cutting. A future version of this project will therefore likely include an additional challenge of cutting the design into metal. For Genereux, the computer technology professor, this collaborative process with Lewis has been extremely validating and reassuring. His design background comes largely through self-teaching, on-the-job training in industry, along with a few undergraduate courses in art. To Genereux, design is something that has been explored because of his deep interest, not something approached by way of having an extensive formal design education experience. When he visited Lewis’ design studio in Manhattan, Kansas and saw his ideas for the pumpkin project printed out from his blog and prominently displayed for her students to see, it immediately provided a sense that this is not just a gimmick for his personal enjoyment, but something that could be a part of a valuable design education experience. The pumpkin carving project had taken on a life that extended beyond his classroom. For Lewis, the interior architecture and product design professor, the collaboration has offered extra encouragement as she worked through the process of receiving promotion. She demonstrated her expertise as a design professional educator and curriculum developer through sharing of her assignments and assessment rubrics with Genereux. There has been a bit of a friendly competition between the two instructors and their students. The first year, both groups produced videos of their process and published them on YouTube. The next year, the IAPD students partnered with the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas carved pumpkins with images of animals, and donated the finished pumpkins for display at a zoo event. The following year, the CMST students also partnered with the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas but Student Design # Value Pos/Neg Space 1 5 5 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 2 2 6 4 3 7 4 4 8 4 3 9 4 5 10 3 3 Avg. score 3.80 3.80 Std. Dev 0.919 1.033 also carved their pumpkin designs at the zoo as an exhibition for the many visitors that attended its fall event. This back and forth process of trying new approaches, sharing ideas between the two classes and professors, and making regular revisions has been a source of continuous improvement for the pumpkin carving activity; it has itself been an example of following a process of design. Moreover, the students are pleasantly surprised at what they can learn about the design process through this seemingly simple but actually challenging activity. As the IAPD student previously noted, “Design can be for anything!” Through the unlikely act of carving pumpkins, students have a unique opportunity to express themselves through visual communication while at the same time contributing to their community. It may be that other unlikely design opportunities similar to pumpkin carving exist as well, if we will only begin to look for them.
The tools for carving patterns have been a matter of experimentation. Everything from power jigsaws, rotary cutting tools, woodcarving and ceramic hand tools have been utilized with varying degrees of success. The pliability of the pumpkin permits simple and fast manipulation, however this presents the challenge of removing parts that were not meant to be. The fragility of working with pumpkins emphasizes the need for care, planning and fine motor skills while stressing special consideration of the material. A successfully carved pumpkin requires three dramatic “value changes”—highlights, mid-tones, and dark values. Achieving these three with the pumpkin makes a strong threedimensional sculpture. Detail is important along with value change and depth of carving, however there is a limit to how much detail can be successfully included. Each student must consider how lighting and shadow will play a role in their carving when lit. Making decisions about executing these elements of design, and experiencing the subsequent successes and failures is an important part of learning the design process. The exercise is designed to provide a service-learning component by enabling students to interact with their local communities while developing their design talents. Once their pumpkins are carved, students donate them to the local zoos’ annual Halloween event. A. Pumpkin Carving for Engineering Technologists Students in the CMST course hone their computer and design skills over a three-week process. During this time, they explore digital photography, creating vector graphics, positive and negative space, and creating and executing a design from start to finish. The basic process steps are as follows: 1. Take photographs of animals at the zoo 2. Select a photograph to use for developing the carving design 3. Import the photo into Adobe Illustrator vector drawing software 4. Using the photo as a reference, make a three-value drawing that shows light, medium and dark areas. The light value areas will be completely removed from the pumpkin, the media values will be partially removed, and the dark values the pumpkin will be left intact. 5. Print the drawing for use as a carving pattern. 6. Cut an opening and scoop out the seeds and innards of the pumpkin in the traditional manner. 7. Transfer the pattern design to the pumpkin for carving by poking holes with a tack or other sharp object along the edges of each shape to be carved. 8. Using wood carving tools, completely remove the light value areas of pumpkin, and partially shave away the skin, but leave some of the pumpkin flesh in the medium value areas. 9. Light the pumpkin with a candle or flashlight. View the pumpkin in a dark room to inspect the image appearing on the pumpkin. 10. Make adjustments to the carving as necessary. 11. Photograph and admire the handiwork.
When students do a reasonable job of drawing and then carving the light and medium values, a high quality image appears as the pumpkin is lit up in the dark. Students are often disconcerted as they carve their pumpkins, because the work in progress does not resemble what the finished design will look like. To some students, it simply looks more like a cut up piece of fruit than the image that they are supposed to be creating. Students are encouraged to trust the process. The carving becomes a negative of what the final image will be, much like the negatives used in film photography. With this project, students gain first-hand experience using the design elements of line, shape, space, and value. As long as they have identified the correct areas of light and medium values, the image will turn out as a delightful surprise in the end. The CMST students have partnered with the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas to complete this project. Students visit the zoo in mid-September to make animal photographs, then return again in mid-October to do a carving demonstration during the zoo’s annual Pumpkin Pazoola event. This is an event that is well attended by the public, and affords students an opportunity to interact with onlookers, explaining the design process they are using. CMST students are required to speak with three zoo patrons about their pumpkin-carving project. Students are charged with explaining the design process used from obtaining the original digital photograph through the making of the carved pumpkin that they were working on at the zoo that day. B. Pumpkin Carving for Interior Architects The IAPD students work with different types of drawing styles, rendering, tools, and carving techniques to communicate the students’ design on a pumpkin. Students in the IAPD studio transform a two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional pumpkin in a one-day exercise. The basic process steps are as follows: 1. Sketch an animal at Sunset Zoo, Manhattan, Kansas. 2. Study the zoo animal via a negative line drawing. 3. Apply three values to the negative line drawing. 4. Tape negative line template to the pumpkin. 5. Carve the pumpkin as a studio in Seaton Court on the Kansas State University Campus. 6. Photograph the final design. 7. Enjoy the pumpkins at Sunset Zoo. The focus of the field trip for the IAPD students is to observe, sketch, and photograph a selected animal at the Manhattan Sunset Zoo for use in their design. Once back at studio, students begin by studying negative line drawings. This is a contour drawing focusing on the voids of negative spaces as an alternative way to develop concentration and hand-eye coordination. The objective is to take the eye’s attention off an object as a whole and concentrate on its shape and size. Lewis encourages students to try sketching a variety of subjects – stacked chairs, utensils, and plants. As a studio, Lewis has students recall and review the following lessons learned: • Characteristics: shape/form, size, number, position, direction, color, texture. For example, shapes, contrasting curves, straight edges and lines. • Elements: point, line, plane, volume (mass and void), space. • Relationships: harmony/contrast/polarity, unity/variety, dominance/accent, balance, movement/rhythm, proportion/scale, articulation. A successful pumpkin needs to have value changes, meaning a three-value design with highlights, midtones, and dark values. Achieving these three distinct values through the carving makes extraordinary three-dimensional pumpkins. Detail is important along with contrasting values and depth of carving. Students learn to balance large, medium, and small, detailed areas. The detailed areas are more difficult to carve.
ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENT LEARNING A. IAPD Assessment of Learning During the several years of developing and improving this project, assessment of student learning has been accomplished through a variety of methods. For example, during the fall semesters of 2012 and 2013, the IAPD students were invited to give their written comments about the project in response to the prompt “What did you learn about design from carving a pumpkin?” When viewed in alignment with Dym et al.’s skills, 14 these comments reveal a definite development of design thinking: THINK AS PART OF A TEAM IN A SOCIAL PROCESS • Design can be for anything! The project led me to think about design in a new way to design for a new demographic BIG PICTURE, SYSTEMS THINKING & SYSTEMS DESIGN • To think about the overall view and how it will look all completed • Think about the space available and use it to the best capability • I learned how to work backwards and to think about the end result first HANDLING UNCERTAINTY, MAKING DECISIONS, AND TOLERATING AMBIGUITY • Be prepared for a plan B! Your design doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to. • To be able to think quickly about how to modify a design that may not have turned out how you planned. • Consider available tools. How you will carve when designing. • Every material works differently – preparation is key • Designs don’t always go or turn out as expected. Therefore change is necessary, change is good, and change is part of the design process, which changes constantly • Remember to make ‘bridges’ large/thick enough that they won’t break apart • Use only 1 side vs. in the round • It was much harder to do detailing than I had anticipated. I definitely had to change things last minute, so thinking on your feet is important. • Carving pumpkins taught me that in design you might have to make instant, quick decisions. Your design might not always stay the same. I have a tendency to get an idea in my mind and not stray away from it. It encouraged me to change my mindset quickly. • Finding a balance in the details so you still have the image you desire but can accomplish the carving in the amount of time you have. • Take your time – do not rush. Use shadow to enhance 3D. THINK AND COMMUNICATE IN THE LANGUAGE OF DESIGN • To come up with great design you have to approach the design from an angle no one else has • To think in layers. Different layers can impact the readability and impact of a design. • Using the whole canvas. Fill the space given. “Utilize the space guys!” – Katrina quote • Designing w/negative spaces & 3d carving, how to convey an idea without using a ton of detail or every single line • Learned how to see design in the negative of the image • It was a lot different working with positive and negative space in this medium. It was difficult to transfer from drawing to 3D pumpkin. • When carving, thinking of the three-dimensionality of your image must be enforced or even exaggerated in order for your image to be clearly seen. • When carving pumpkins you had to think differently about how colors work because you only have the rind and the inside color of the pumpkin to work with. So I learned how to use depth to be in place of color. • Using the different layers of the pumpkin to show depth. Same principle could be applied to a lot of different exercises. Instead of depth though could be a single color with different amounts of tone & shade. B. CMST Assessment of Learning During the Fall 2012 semester, CMST students were each required to speak with three different zoo patrons about their pumpkin-carving project, and to obtain feedback about their presentation and their work. To assess the ability to think and communicate in the language of design14 students were charged with explaining the design process used from obtaining the original digital photograph through the making of the carved pumpkin that they were working on at the zoo that day. To record the completed designs for assessment, a photograph of each pumpkin was made at the zoo on the day it was carved. Because they were completed in daylight hours, the lit jack-o-lanterns were darkened by simply covering them with a cardboard box that had an opening for viewing and photographing. An anonymous survey form was used to obtain rating data from each zoo patron about the particular student with whom they interacted. Patrons provided separate ratings for two distinct areas: college level verbal skills and college level design quality. Each of these ratings use a five point Likert scale: 1 – Unacceptable, 2 – Needs improvement, 3 – Average, 4 – Above Average, 5 – Outstanding. Zoo patron survey results are shown below: Table 1 – Zoo Patron Survey According to the survey results obtained, the zoo patrons felt that the CMST students possess above average verbal communication skills and visual design skills. However, the average rating for the design quality was higher than the verbal communication average rating. This could be an indication that the perception of design quality was more impressive than was the perceived quality of verbal communication skills. If the literature on civic engagement and peer-group-only association tendencies among young adults is accurate, college students having technical skills superior to communication skills, particularly when communicating with strangers outside of a peer age demographic is to be expected. To provide additional data on design quality, the CMST course instructor scored the completed pumpkin designs on the use of two specific elements of design – value and positive/negative space using the same 5 point Likert scale previously mentioned. Student understanding of these design elements was demonstrated through this assessment. The average score for the class was a 3.80 (n=10) for both Number of student participants N=10 Number of zoo patrons providing survey feedback N=22 Zoo patron average rating – verbal skills 4.59 Zoo patron average rating – design quality 4.82 elements, indicating an above average understanding of these elements. Standard deviation was slightly higher for positive/negative space (SD=1.033) than the value (SD=0.919) category. Additionally, three students scored 4s or 5s (above average or outstanding) on both elements and two students scored 3s or 2s (average or needs improvement) for both elements. Details of this instructor evaluation are found below in the table below: Table 2 - Design Quality Assessment Some additional benefits of this project were noted by simply observing the students in action. For example, one zoo patron remarked that he had purchased some commercially available patterns for his grandkids, but did not understand how to use them for pumpkin carving until learning how from our students. This is precisely the sort of interaction with the community we were hoping for by sharing our design expertise outside of the classroom. In another example, students demonstrated the value of persistence through adversity. CMST students in the fall of 2012 encountered an unexpected thunderstorm that drenched their carving work. They pressed on until they finished, working for about three hours despite being cold and damp. Though they were uncomfortable, no one complained and everyone skillfully completed their projects. This special day is mentioned in the CMST class syllabus, as well as during the first day of class. Students are advised many weeks in advance that attendance at the zoo is mandatory and any schedule conflicts should be resolved early. That students appear at the zoo on a Saturday to complete their original pumpkin carvings in exhibition style with onlookers watching, and even sometimes interrupting with questions, speaks volumes about their learning. Through this project, students experience design as a community affair that affects others, instead of simply as a solitary experience that involves only themselves. These kind of direct observations show the development of desired professional skills and authentic learning that could not be orchestrated inside the classroom. V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK Pumpkin carving, if presented as such, can be a serious and challenging design project that affords many benefits to student learning in the area of design thinking. The activity requires patience and flexibility, two traits that will need ongoing emphasis in a world that increasingly tends to focus on instant solutions and answers to problems. It emphasizes design and communication skills through an interative process that encourages both divergent and convergent creative thinking. It draws attention to the limits of the carving material and highlights creative problem solving while teaching the use of basic design elements such as value, color, line, shape and space. Because of these benefits, future exercises in pumpkin carving might be useful in other areas of engineering education, such as mechanical or construction, as well as in any other fields of study that include elements of design. For example, after seeing photographs of the computer students’ pumpkin designs on display in the engineering technology department, the mechanical engineering technology lab technician from Genereux’s department commented that the carving designs drawn in Adobe Illustrator would also work well in mechanical applications such as CNC plasma cutting. A future version of this project will therefore likely include an additional challenge of cutting the design into metal. For Genereux, the computer technology professor, this collaborative process with Lewis has been extremely validating and reassuring. His design background comes largely through self-teaching, on-the-job training in industry, along with a few undergraduate courses in art. To Genereux, design is something that has been explored because of his deep interest, not something approached by way of having an extensive formal design education experience. When he visited Lewis’ design studio in Manhattan, Kansas and saw his ideas for the pumpkin project printed out from his blog and prominently displayed for her students to see, it immediately provided a sense that this is not just a gimmick for his personal enjoyment, but something that could be a part of a valuable design education experience. The pumpkin carving project had taken on a life that extended beyond his classroom. For Lewis, the interior architecture and product design professor, the collaboration has offered extra encouragement as she worked through the process of receiving promotion. She demonstrated her expertise as a design professional educator and curriculum developer through sharing of her assignments and assessment rubrics with Genereux. There has been a bit of a friendly competition between the two instructors and their students. The first year, both groups produced videos of their process and published them on YouTube. The next year, the IAPD students partnered with the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas carved pumpkins with images of animals, and donated the finished pumpkins for display at a zoo event. The following year, the CMST students also partnered with the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas but Student Design # Value Pos/Neg Space 1 5 5 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 2 2 6 4 3 7 4 4 8 4 3 9 4 5 10 3 3 Avg. score 3.80 3.80 Std. Dev 0.919 1.033 also carved their pumpkin designs at the zoo as an exhibition for the many visitors that attended its fall event. This back and forth process of trying new approaches, sharing ideas between the two classes and professors, and making regular revisions has been a source of continuous improvement for the pumpkin carving activity; it has itself been an example of following a process of design. Moreover, the students are pleasantly surprised at what they can learn about the design process through this seemingly simple but actually challenging activity. As the IAPD student previously noted, “Design can be for anything!” Through the unlikely act of carving pumpkins, students have a unique opportunity to express themselves through visual communication while at the same time contributing to their community. It may be that other unlikely design opportunities similar to pumpkin carving exist as well, if we will only begin to look for them.
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