Curriculum Development for University-Industry Collaborations with a Comparative Analysis on Master of Industrial Product Design Education in Izmir Institute of Technology and Linnaeus University

Abstract

University-industry collaboration (UIC) provides not only effective training for students but also knowledge production in universities for industry to contribute economy (Bektaş, Tayauova, 2013). The paper purpose to analyze reasons of deficiencies in UIC with comparative analysis of curriculum of industrial design (ID) department of Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH) and Linnaeus University (LNU), and taking feedback from industry. As a comparative analysis of curriculum, ID programs in IZTECH and LNU were examined to understand differences and similarities. To develop UIC for IZTECH, LNU was accepted as an example, and then they were compared according to their curriculum. For comparison of ID courses, taxonomy method in the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) Handbook 2014-2015 was used. There are three categories for design courses which are professional design practice (PDP), design studies (DS), and design thinking (DT). Within the scope of curriculum development for university-industry collaboration, feedback was taken from companies which have design department or employer of new ID graduates. For this purpose, surveys were sent to different companies. As a result of curriculum analysis and survey with industry, courses, which need to be developed, belong to PDP and DT groups which are more practice and teamwork based. A solution can be adding new courses to curriculum which contain more teamwork, innovative and collaborative activities, also, content of existing courses can be developed on DT characteristics.