Special session on design metaphors: Rethinking the vocabulary of design education

• Published in: 2015 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) pp. 1 - 2
• Main Authors: Frezza, Stephen T., Krupczak, John, Mina, Mani
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.10.2015
• Subjects: Collaboration; Computers; Conferences; Design Education; Education; Encapsulation; Engineering Design; Fires; Journeys; Lenses; Metaphors; Philosophy; Philosophy of Engineering; Testing; Vehicles; Vocabulary
• ISBN: 9781479984541; 147998454X
• DOI: 10.1109/FIE.2015.7344055

Metaphors help create realities for us, especially social realities. A metaphor influences behavior; to attract and/or divide. Metaphors for education provide symbolic representations of what we intend in education; insight into the philosophy that underlines both how we educate, and what we are trying to educate. E.g., "Education as a journey" conveys a different meaning and intention than "education as a manufacturing process." Similarly, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" encapsulates both an educational philosophy and guide for action. This special session focuses on exploring metaphors for engineering design education, and how these metaphors divide and limit engineering design. Facilitated by the session leaders, participants will share and discuss their own metaphors, and begin a process for evaluating how metaphors limit and exclude. Participants will leave with an expanded repertoire of engineering design metaphors and reinvent the vocabulary of how metaphors inform teaching and learning of engineering design. Opportunities for future collaboration will be explored.