Design Innovation Practice School: The Experiential Learning Platform

This article describes the ongoing study of designing and developing the undergraduate

program in Design Innovation of King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. The

design-based research methodology has been applied to investigate the attempt in curricular

transformation in addition to routinized curriculum revision practices. The concerns related to

career readiness of graduates or competency gap are widely addressed from employers’

perspectives in various business sectors with their expectations toward academia. Meanwhile,

several national higher-education policies are likely to react to this qualitative dilemma as for

instance by introducing the outcome-based education rationale into action. Correspondingly,

Design Innovation Program has aimed for transforming not only theoretical aspect but also to

the new paradigm of the curricular ecosystem, then carried out design-based research with a

series of approaches including stakeholder’s feedback collection for program analysis,

pedagogical prototype testing, and formative evaluation to design curriculum structure

including program learning outcomes, teaching and learning approach, student assessment. In

conjunction with professional and academic partners internationally, work-integrated learning

with cross-cultural learning could play major roles to create efficient learning experiences. As

a result, the program has launched Design Innovation Practice School, the experiential

learning platform, in which partner’s workplace shall be arranged more academic than typical

internship or apprenticeship approach to bridge the gaps of industry’s demands, and to

challenge the status quo in higher education administration. However, the academia-industry

consortium model is to be created to sustain long-term relationships with mutual benefits.