Course Description Document

Course Title	Design Innovation and Technology
Course Code	9568
Award Title	Master of Arts (MA)
Awarding Body	University of Southampton
Teaching Institution	University of Southampton
Regulated by	Office for Students
Accreditation	None
Regulations	The Regulations of the University can be found on the University's Governance Webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations-policies
Location of study	Winchester
Length of the course
Tuition Fees	Fees for students can be located by the student fees page. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-fees/index.page

Course Overview

The MA Design Innovation and Technology at Winchester School of Art is a distinctive degree situated at the intersection of creativity, user-centred design, and technology. This programme explores how design thinking can drive transformation, equipping you with the knowledge and skills to respond to present-day challenges, anticipate emerging trends, and envision the future.
You will engage with contemporary developments, critical debates, and challenges in design, employing human-centred research methods to understand diverse contexts, and anticipate user behaviour, and needs. You will focus on innovation and making. By applying creative problem-solving strategies and ideation methods, you will respond to complex, real-world challenges to speculate and craft intelligent, connected smart products, services, and systems that are impactful, life-enhancing, and deeply engaging.
You’ll develop the skills to engage with the social and ethical responsibilities of design, while building a comprehensive understanding of speculative design, emerging technologies, and their production processes. Your learning will be informed by world-leading research in immersive and hybrid media, communication design, and generative design. Leading practitioners will share their insights and knowledge through keynote lectures, workshops, and live briefs, giving you direct exposure to the latest thinking and techniques of this exciting field of design.
Our project-based, co-creative learning environment fosters the collaborative practices that are reflective of professional settings to prepare you for the strategic challenges of this evolving sector. You will work alongside industry partners and students from diverse backgrounds. Taught in conjunction with the MA Design Innovation and Technology programme, our unique maker lab spaces bring together students from diverse creative and scientific backgrounds to work on real-world capstone projects together.
You’ll learn how to combine traditional making skills with the latest digital technology and fabrication techniques that bridge the physical and digital realms. You’ll benefit from the cutting-edge resources available at the school, including interactive media and prototyping facilities, advanced fabrication tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters, a suite of the latest design software, and access to both traditional and mixed media facilities to support creative experimentation and production across physical and digital formats.
We welcome students from a variety of creative and professional backgrounds and offer a curriculum that supports those looking to refine their existing practice, or transition into innovation-driven roles. Upon completion of your programme, you'll be equipped to excel in the rapidly evolving design and technology innovation sector, confident in your abilities to create impactful and sustainable smart solutions across industries and global communities.

Aims of the Course

The aims of the programme are:
•To develop transformative design and creative innovation skills to shape future products, services and industries.
•To foster a deep understanding of user-centred research and systems-based design.
•To enhance critical thinking and research skills.
•To encourage participatory approaches – through collaboration, co-design and co-creation.
•To encourage sustainable, inclusive, ethical, and regenerative design practices that consider the wider impact of your work.
•To equip you with technical skills for the creation of connected smart solutions.
•To provide you with the professional and leadership skills for the innovation industry, developing skills in negotiation, stakeholder management, and strategic thinking.
•To engender a paradigm-shifting mindset that enables adaptability and resilience, and continual learning in response to emerging challenges.
•To develop professional global networks across diverse industries and practices.

Course Structure

The tables below provide a list of the modules that make up your course.

Each module is worth a specified number of credits: you can take a combination of core and compulsory modules enabling you to cover key subject knowledge. Some courses have option modules which enable you to develop your own interests.

Your programme requires a certain number of credits. The number of option modules you can take depends on the number of core and compulsory modules and this is also influenced by the requirements of the regulatory requirements for professionally accredited courses. Some courses also have pre and co-requisites, and these are included in individual module information.

Your learning will be led by the latest research, and modules can change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. You can always find the most up-to-date information about your modules and who is teaching them via the information on our webpages and, post enrolment, via the Faculty hub.

If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an option module, it may not be offered. If an option module will not be run, we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

The core and compulsory modules available on your course are as follows:

Part I Core and Compulsory
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
ARTD6AAA	Design Futures	15	Compulsory
ARTD6312	Global Contexts and Systems	7.5	Compulsory
ARTD6314	Strategies for Practice and Research	7.5	Compulsory
ARTD6313	Innovation and Entrepreneurship	7.5	Compulsory
ARTD6FFF	Final Design Project	30	Core
ARTD6CCC	Design Explorations	15	Core
Part I Option modules
Code	Module Title	ECTS	Type
ARTD6219	Visual Culture	7.5	Optional
ARTD6217	Experimental Publishing	7.5	Optional
ARTD6218	Exploring the Visual Language of Display	7.5	Optional

Learning and Teaching

Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning, and assessment activity, with each ECTS credit taken equivalent to 20 hours of student effort. While your actual contact hours may depend on the option modules you select, the information available on our webpages give an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities.

When not attending lectures, seminars and other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and for other types of assessments and examinations.

Full information about contact hours is provided in individual module information.

How we'll assess you

Your course provides you with opportunities to test your understanding of the subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your module mark. Each module normally contains at least one piece of practice or formative assessment for which you receive feedback.

Formative assessments are developmental, and any results do not count towards your module mark, but they are an important part of your learning.

Summative assessments usually take place at the end of each module, although some may have interim assessments throughout. Assessment methods might include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and projects for example. The marks from summative assessments count towards your module mark.

The information available on our website gives an indication of the assessment methods used on your course.

Staff involved in delivering the different elements of the course

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on your course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.

Postgraduate research students who have undertaken appropriate training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars if their research specialism is directly related to the topic of the module and may also be involved in practical classes, project work and field trips. All contributions will be carried out under the supervision of the module leader.

Fees

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and standard exams.

Extra costs you may experience

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. There may also be extra costs for retake and professional exams.

Depending on the nature of your course, you may be able to choose modules which may have additional costs, such as field studies, travel overseas or industrial placements which will change the overall cost of your course. Details of these costs can be found in module information.

Please also ensure you read the section on additional costs in the Fees, Charges and Expenses Regulations.

The following course-related costs are not included in your fees:

Type	Details
Calculators	Where a calculator is required, all Casio Calculators are allowed but they must be Non-Programmable, Scientific models. More information is available in the Examination Regulations https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/assessment/assess-overview/exam-regulations.page
Stationery	You will be expected to provide your own day-to-day stationery items, e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc. Any specialist stationery items that you may need will be specified in the relevant module profile.
Textbooks	Where a module specifies essential texts, the Library will identify the optimal option(s) to support the module via the course Reading List. This may include e-books (ideally with unlimited concurrent usage) or a digitised chapter extract, supported by a limited number of print books (where available). You may request that the Library purchases additional print copies via 'suggest a book', borrow an additional copy via our inter-library-loans service or you may prefer to buy your own copies for high demand titles.
Printing	In most cases, written coursework such as essays and projects are submitted online. However it may be necessary to submit a hard copy of some projects, business projects and dissertations. The costs of printing a hard copy for submission of such work will be your responsibility. You will also have to cover the cost of photocopying. https://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/students/printing.
Equipment and Materials	Design Equipment and Materials: You should come to the programme with basic drawing kit, including but not limited to black and coloured pens, pencils and sketchbooks. During the course you will need to provide a range of materials for drawing, sketching, modeling and prototyping, this will vary from student to student and module to module. Recording Equipment: The school will furnish high-end camera equipment, when necessary, it is advisable for students to use their own phone cameras or alternative systems for capturing coursework and studio activities.
IT	Hardware Some of the work you produce on the course will use digital technology. Necessary equipment is provided centrally but at times you may find it advantageous to purchase you own. Should you choose to do this, the University will provide guidance in purchasing this equipment at a reasonable price.
Optional Visits (e.g. museums, galleries)	Some modules may include optional visits to a museum, galleries, etc. You will normally be expected to cover the cost of travel and admission, unless otherwise specified in the module profile.
Printing and Photocopying Costs	In the majority of cases, coursework such as essays; projects; dissertations are likely to be submitted on line. However, there are some items where it is not possible to submit online and students will be asked to provide a printed copy. Printing cost may occur where working in a physical sketchbook.
Stationery	You will be expected to provide your own day-to-day stationery items, e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, etc).
Textbooks	Where a module specifies core texts these should generally be available on the reserve list in the library. However due to demand, students may prefer to buy their own copies. These can be purchased from any source. Some modules suggest reading texts as optional background reading. The library may hold copies of such texts, or alternatively you may wish to purchase your own copies. Although not essential reading, you may benefit from the additional reading materials for the module.

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

You may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs.

If you are a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant that's linked to your chosen subject area.

Financial Support

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice regarding student finances. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course. You can find more information about financial support via our webpages: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/money-matters/student-support-fund/index.page

Academic support

The Student Support Hub is your first point of contact when it comes to seeking support. The team will answer your questions or concerns about your wellbeing, fees and funding, accommodation and visas. The team will help make sure you receive the support you need, guiding you to further support services where required. You can find more information about student support via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentservices/index.page

One of the most important people you will meet while you are a student at Southampton is your Personal Academic Tutor, who will be allocated to you for your arrival at the University and who is normally a member of academic staff in your own or a closely related subject area. Your Personal Academic Tutor will offer one-to-one support and advice throughout your time at Southampton and will support you in your studies or with other issues you may have. You can find out more via our webpages:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/studentadmin/academic-support-guidance/personal-tutor.page

Disclaimer

As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our courses to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, this course may be revised during a student's period of registration; however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student's course.