An interdisciplinary education model for design education at the Salzburg university of applied sciences

The design courses at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences focus on the development of interdisciplinary education to prepare students for professional life and to enrich their curriculum with a wider knowledge of methods than is found in traditional design education. The concept described is based on the educational theories of Jerome Brunner. His concept of learning is based on representative steps. These steps are: enactive, iconic, and symbolic. When an issue relating to design is worked out with these steps, the design tasks can be defined, analysed, discussed and finally solved on different levels. As different fields of knowledge are involved in these processes, interdisciplinary working knowledge is taught.