Future Skills Case Study: DSGN 221

Teaching team

Dr. Ricardo Moya-Barbera, PhD
Gabriela Hoehn, student partner

Cohort

First-year design in city innovation students (> 200 students)

Module

Communication skills align with core content within design education. The module was selected to support students’ ability to clearly articulate ideas, actively listen, provide and receive constructive feedback, and navigate communication challenges within academic and creative environments.

Given the course’s emphasis on visual analysis, historical precedent, and translating past innovations into future design practice, strong communication skills were identified as essential to student success. The module was integrated as part of a broader program-level initiative within the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape to embed future skills modules across the Bachelor of Design in City Innovation curriculum.

The instructor aimed to ensure that students not only understood historical innovations, but could also clearly communicate their interpretations, insights, and design reasoning in both academic and professional contexts.

Focus

Developing students’ communication skills within design education, with particular emphasis on articulating ideas clearly, engaging in active listening, providing and receiving constructive feedback, and navigating communication challenges in academic and creative settings.

Applied learning

Students reflected on their learning in school, work, and personal contexts.

Assessment

Student learning was assessed on a pass/fail basis, with a focus on completion and ongoing engagement rather than evaluative grading. Weekly quizzes incorporated four student workbook questions ensured students completed workbook components progressively rather than deferring work until the end of the term.

Assessment emphasized students’ ability to:

• Engage with weekly communication module content
• Apply key concepts through structured workbook questions
• Demonstrate consistent progress through incremental submissions

Grading

5% of final grade

Pacing

• The module was delivered incrementally across the first six weeks of the course
• Students completed communication content on a weekly basis
• Workbook questions were submitted through weekly quizzes or checkpoints
• The consolidated workbook was submitted in week seven

In-class integration

The module was implemented virtually and integrated directly into the course structure. Integration included:

• Short, pre-recorded videos presented weekly at the beginning of class introducing key concepts and explaining the relevance of communication in design. Videos were created by a more student partner and connected the content to the real-experiences and work of Design students.
• Clear guidance on which workbook questions students were expected to complete each week.
• In-class discussion focused on weekly reflection questions.
• Professor shared reflections on communication skills in the design profession.

Observed impact

The module contributed to a noticeable improvement in students’ ability to articulate ideas, engage in dialogue, and provide thoughtful feedback.

Insights

• Weekly checkpoints were highly effective in encouraging continuous engagement and preventing last-minute completion of the workbook.
• First year students can overcomplicate the task, short, focused video content supported accessibility and reduced cognitive overload in a demanding first-year course.
• Managing assessment and monitoring progress across a large cohort remained challenging, highlighting the importance of streamlined grading mechanisms. The submission of the full workbook was not necessary, as the quizzes replaced the workbook. 

“The Communication Module proved to be highly beneficial for students. It supported them in developing more effective ways to communicate their ideas, practice active listening, give and receive constructive feedback, and navigate communication challenges and potential conflicts. I observed a clear and consistent progression throughout the term, and I can confidently state that students are now significantly stronger communicators than they were at the beginning of the course.” – Moya-Barbera

“[With first year students], some challenges that I noticed were students over-complicating the modules and workbook. This could have been due to general stress, or maybe my introduction to the module was not in depth enough. … I would make sure that my plan for implementing the information is precise and clearer, for example doing a FAQ section on D2l for students.” – Hoehn