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.