Ways Of Design Education Improvement In Higher Educational Institutions

Abstract

The development of the creative economy has influenced educational programs in which the concept of creativity is actively integrated. Digital technologies contribute to the formation of students’ creative abilities. However, some problems associated with the application of approaches and methods of teaching in the digital creative space are observed in educational processes. The goal of the article is to make suggestions for improving design education in higher educational institutions. The methodology of the research is based on the analysis of design education disciplines, employers' requirements for designers' skills, comparative analysis of students' skills and the skills in demand in the design market. The results demonstrate that design education provides the formation of technical, digital skills, creativity and visualization, while the labour market needs soft skills within the framework of the problem-oriented thinking concept (design thinking). The design thinking paradigm and methodology are actively used in practice but students do not have the necessary skills to implement it. The main method of teaching students is a conceptual design study the ultimate goal of which is to create a digital product. Within the framework of the project, students cooperate with teachers and ordering customers involved in various industries (fashion, music, restaurant business, literature, etc.). At the same time, teamwork and collaboration, which can develop flexibility, the skills of analytical and problem-oriented thinking, taking responsibility for decision making and taking into account the opinions of various participants, are little integrated into educational processes. To bridge this gap, the article covers three main learning strategies: a strategy for choosing learning methods to form responsibility and collaboration by a student; a strategy for building confidence and communication skills through teamwork; and a strategy for stimulating flexibility, problemoriented and analytical thinking through teamwork. The practical significance of the research results lies in the formation of two main directions for improving design education in higher educational institutions: 1) development of soft skills: flexibility, ability to work in a team, communication and dialogue, responsibility for individually made decisions, taking into account collective opinion; 2) development of analytical thinking, problem-oriented thinking for the formulation of a set of work tasks, seeking the ways of their execution.