Education guide 'Eindhoven designs' - Technische Universiteit ...

Eindhoven designs / volume two 41
from reflecting on all ‘stages’, not only from
reflection on concrete experiencing.
From Kolb’s learning cycle it becomes clear that
learning from a particular experience is often
not a goal in itself: abstract conceptualisation
enables students to create a new and different
experience, in which they build on and
expand their knowledge. In order to do so,
they de-contextualise the knowledge they
have acquired, strip it from the context of
the activity during which they achieved this
knowledge, so they can expand or redefine it in
a different context or activity. This anticipatory
perspective of reflection, which links current
learning to future learning, is called reflectionfor-action.
Schön (1983) also distinguishes reflection-inaction,
which is part of the activity. It occurs
when something unexpected or surprising
happens. Moon (2004) identifies such a
learning moment as one of the instances of
transformative learning, which is the most
sophisticated and deepest stage of learning
in her five-stage model. It is a moment “when
things fall into place, a substantial new view
emerges and there is a sense of intellectual
excitement”.
In our approach to learning we have adopted
the notions of reflection in, on and for action
as described above. We also adopt Moon’s
view that reflection is part of learning itself.
The scope of reflection on and for action,
however, can vary from a single activity to a
whole design process or even students’ overall
competence of designing, which represents
their learning outcomes of a semester as a
whole. In the ‘Facilitating learning and growth’
section of the current chapter, these reflections
are more concretised. In chapters five and six
the reflections are integrated in the specific
context of our learning environment and our
competence framework: they are linked to
the various elements in the learning activity
perspective and the competence of designing
perspective.
Context-related
learning
What students learn is influenced or mediated
by the tools and signs of their socio-cultural
environment, as well as the established
communities of practice which their academic
discipline represents (Birenbaum, 2003). This
implies that learning is context-related. It also
implies that learning includes enculturation
into and participation in these communities
of practice, and adoption of the principles
and standards shared by members of these
communities.
If we want to facilitate students’ learning we
should create opportunities for them to learn
in an authentic context. That is why we have
designed different types of learning activities,
varying in the degree of authenticity. Projects,
for example, and students’ showcase reflect
professional practice quite strongly. In their
project, students have the opportunity to
experience and perform various activities
and roles, to deal with a real client and to be
coached by professional design practitioners
(about 35% of the coaches).