Jalali, A., Londoño Davalos, L., and van Amstel, F. M. C. (accepted). Now we know: Findings from a critical pedagogy experiment on the nature of codesign knowledge, in Pombo, F., Moreira da Silva, F., Nielsen, L. M., and Börekçi, N. (eds.), DRS Learn X Design Conference 2025, 22-24 September 2025, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Abstract: When learning codesign, design students often find themselves in the anxious position of notknowing whether they know codesign. Codesign’ emphasis on shared knowledge and facilitation stands incontrast to the individual knowledge and mastery cultivated by expert design, with which students are morefamiliar. Critical pedagogy, an emergent approach in design education that emphasizes developing criticalconsciousness of the contradictions behind design, is a promising candidate for learning the shared nature ofcodesign knowledge. To verify this possibility, this research conducted a critical pedagogy experiment withgraduate design students in the United States supported by the Blind Side gamestorming technique. Theevidence presented here consists of speech, gestures, and actions performed by the participants, capturedon video, and analyzed through the interaction analysis method. The analysis of this evidence suggests thatonce students develop critical consciousness on the contradiction of knowledge co-creation, they becomemore confident to explore the unknown unknowns and create new knowledge.
