Material-led creative processes in the context of design education: Tarja-Kaarina Laamanen, Maarit Mäkelä, & Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen — Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education
Laamanen, Tarja-Kaarina; Mäkelä, Maarit; & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Pirita (2023). Material-led creative processes in the context of design education.
Laamanen, Tarja-Kaarina; Mäkelä, Maarit; & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Pirita (2023). . Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 22(1), 33–54.
This article discusses research from the Design Experimentation and Exploration (DEE) course in the higher education context. The DEE course was designed to support MA design students’ understanding of their creativity in an explorative course. The data were drawn from the students’ weekly and final reflections, as well as from the notes by one of the researchers. We were interested in how material-led processes developed through repeated material explorations and experimentation during the DEE course. We found that, in this context, the material process was related to identity building, overcoming challenges in idea development, and conceptual inquiry. The results highlight how materials and making can intertwine with personal goals. They thus provide an example for educators in other contexts to support students in bravely following uncertain processes, letting go, and experimenting freely.
Read more news
Researchers make micromanipulation more accessible
FilMBot aims to lower the barrier to high-precision work in education, research, and micro-assembly
Positive communication and improvisation help build students’ communication skills to meet employer needs
The School of Business redesigned its mandatory first-year communication course
Learning Environments Research Group — 2025 in Review
2025 recap: three doctoral theses on context-aware interaction design, AI as creative learning partner, and telerobotic puppetry for peacebuilding.