THE PROJECT DESIGN EDUCATION COLLABORATING WITH CITY GOVERNMENTS AND COMMUNITIES
Year: 2016
Editor: Erik Bohemia, Ahmed Kovacevic, Lyndon Buck, Christian Tollestrup, Kaare Eriksen, Nis Ovesen
Author: Ito, Takao; Shin, Masako; Miyazaki, Keisuke; Iwata, Setsuo; Sentoku, Eiichi
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Nonoichi, 921-8501, Japan
Section: External Collaboration
Page(s): 400-405
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9
Abstract
Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT) applies Project-Based Learning (PBL) as a backbone of the
curriculum and names it Project Design Program. The program combines its curriculum and extracurricular
activities to obtain innovation skills. Knowledge and skills are learned repeatedly, and used
in order to tackle project problems. Although students usually solve their own familiar problems, a
new approach to collaborate with city governments is suggested. Some of the city departments brought
up their issues and students tackled these problems in teams. Some students continued their proposed
projects as extra-curricular activities with the local community even after the curriculum course. In
2015, nine issues were identified from two cities and seventy-three projects were formed to work on
those problems.. Project members were from 10 KIT departments. This paper presented three design
projects, namely: “preserving historical cultural sites,” “promoting tourism,” and “supplying
temporary housing.” Students designed room arrangements, guidebooks and 3D CAD models of
temporary housing. Level 1 and Level 2 evaluation of Kirkpatrick’s four-level model was used to
measure pedagogical effects of the collaboration approach. The growth degree of required skills and
knowledge of 1,609 students was investigated using a survey questionnaire. The results of 1,447
respondents show statistical improvements of the students’ innovation skills, including presentation
skills, leadership, and idea creation.
Keywords: PBL, project design, collaboration, extra-curriculum, government.