Selection and categorization of materials to support design education

Abstract

The complexity of the projects and the diversity of possibilities regarding the use of materials, processing methods and social, economic, environmental and cultural implications broaden the designer’s scope of activity and highlight the multidisciplinary character of the area. In order to relate these contexts to the teaching and learning opportunities in order to shorten the distance between the professional and the materiality of the object, this paper seeks to reflect on the designer’s professional practice and understand how his academic training is built, which serves as a foundation for the training of creative thinkers, capable of analyzing and proposing solutions to complex problems. To retrieve an empirical contact with the materials, we analyze the application of Project-Based Learning (ABP) in the discipline of Materials and Processes V at the State University of Minas Gerais, within a teaching internship experience. ABP was selected to engage students in the resolution of real challenges in order to develop a catalog of materials, reversing the traditional dynamics and positioning them as the curators and active producers of knowledge. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in connecting the curriculum to the interests of students, and this can be seen in the curatorship of 31 different subjects. The requirement of technical research, rigorous categorization, and indication of creative potential reinforced autonomy and critical thinking, despite initial difficulties in coordinating these elements by the students. It is concluded that the experience can be seen as a creativity motivator, and the consolidated catalog is established as a collective, authentic and valuable resource for the educational process.