The Role of Writing in Undergraduate Design Education in the UK

The principal aim of this thesis was to examine the extent to which current methods of teaching in undergraduate design courses leaves the students with an awareness of the potential of the writing process in their practice. The context and position are reflected upon, and the potential of the process of writing in contemporary undergraduate design education in the UK is explored with special reference to the 3D Design course at Manchester Metropolitan University. Rather than focusing on the written outcomes that are produced, writing is explored as a process that could be considered a design process, an activity that goes through cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting (modelled on the action research spiral).