Advancing industry
Developed by British higher education expertise.
‘Making and doing’ remain the signature method of practice–iteration that’s founded in craft skills.
DSA was founded in 2020 to bridge the widening gap between higher education and the professional practice of design in Asia-Pacific. We differentiate ourselves by leveraging an internationally recognised professional standard of higher education learning, accreditation and regulation.
Because non-degree education is the future of learning and development. All of the learning materials are DSA’s intellectual property. Developed from the 30 years hands on experience we have in Asia-Pacific, by people who are passionate about the future of Asia Pacific.
Our programs are scaffolded around a common basic framework of learning. This is something we’ve built from scratch reflecting the challenges of the design ecosystem and how it should be fit for purposes in the region.
Our perspective of the current and future challenges of design are expressed in three tenet’s that represent what we do and how we do it. This helps companies scale and fast track our creative talent.
DSA Core Values:
Purpose
Social, cultural and economic value.
Innovation
Invention x commercialisation. Something that generates value for the world.
Learning and development
Our primary objective.
A pedagogical framework to teaching design, innovation and leadership by DSA. Adapted from: Future of Higher Education in the Digital World (Laurillard, 2019).
Excellence in learning and development
DSA programs are backed by UK Higher Education standards. Assurance Governance about the student academic experience, student outcomes and award standards are overseen by the Advance HE Reviewing Academic Governance in Higher Education Framework. Advance HE is the UKs professional membership scheme promoting excellence in Higher Education. Our programs are externally audited by a SFHEA (Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy) from Advance HE annually. More information regarding Advance HE’s Academic Governance can be found here: https://bit.ly/38kMAvC
Learning by making
Studio based learning in art and design schools builds knowledge through figuring out the perceptions and aesthetics of design through processes in drawing and making. This develops hand, eye and brain co-ordination to produce research, sketches and drawings, materials and technical exploration; all of which finds new possibilities–we learn the rules, then learn how to break them.
Learning by doing
Design expertise and leadership should not be prescriptive, it should be flexible enough to encourage making and doing iteration, modelling and prototyping using tacit knowledge–knowhow that’s transferred by doing something first, and understanding why by reflecting on the activity later. Learning how to ride a bicycle is a good example of tacit learning.
Making and doing nurtures imagination through creative experience. Part intuition, part theory, part practice. If the future of design is about how these experiences can transition to offering solutions for systematic and contextual challenges, perhaps practice as a skill (making) to practice following principle (doing) will continue to be fit for purpose in the 21st century.