Digital Media and the Beginning Designer

Use and creation of computer graphics can be effectively taught to beginning design students in the context of discipline-specific design projects. In particular, a case study of the pedagogy implemented by the New Jersey Institute of Technology's College of Architecture + Design provides examples of how teachers harness the students' desire to create and provide educational opportunities for undergraduates to learn about the use of digital media in the processes and products of design. Employing a carefully constructed sequence, students are exposed to (and use) computer applications for raster imaging, vector drawing, 3D modeling and rendering, and eventually building information modeling and time-based sequential representation all while producing original work through analysis and synthesis.