Exploring Design Literacy in Socially Responsible Design Education

Abstract

Students majoring in design have the important responsibility of implementing the Chinese national rural revitalisation strategy in their future careers. The Rural Planning and Design course at Shandong University of Art & Design (SUAD) is a contributes to the cultivation of students' quality of responsibility. The design of this course adheres to the national strategy and closely focuses on the cultivation of these responsibilities, which are integrated into the course syllabus and activities. Students in this course are required to go into the countryside, conduct in-depth investigations to determine what social problems the people face and then think independently, cooperate with each other, create and propose innovative design strategies to solve the problems. Multidisciplinary theoretical knowledge is integrated into the course to promote students’ design literacy, including collaborative innovation, critical thinking, communication and research skills. This article introduces this course in detail and uses it as a practical case through which to explore what kind of design literacy is needed, how to cultivate design literacy and its impacts on various practical challenges.