Research experience as professional learning and a change agent for design: two examples of undergraduate participation in design research projects

This paper considers the imperatives of professional learning and research experience in design education. It reports on two research projects that included Honours students in the investigation team. Providing undergraduate students with research experience is seen as intrinsic to the pedagogical success and socio-economic value of university education. Including professional learning, where undergraduate students work in an industry context or on real-world projects, is thought to make learning more relevant and better prepare students for work. Offering Honours design students research experience as a special form of professional learning has potential benefits for graphic design. Knowledge in a vocational field like graphic design is mostly practice-driven, graphic design's status diminished by designers' lack of access to systematically produced evidence and exemplars of effective practice. The projects discussed in this paper investigated the use of participatory processes in graphic design. Today, co-creative practices and audiencecreated content are seen as important drivers of economic activity and cultural innovation, but participatory design is rarely used in graphic design since project budgets and time frames allow little scope for rigorous audience research. The nature of participatory design also challenges graphic designers' professional identity as creative and communication experts. Our paper reviews general arguments for the inclusion of professional learning and research experience in undergraduate education, considering their implications for design. The paper's discussion section builds on our findings and relevant literature to present research experience in design education as a potential change agent in graphic design.