Design Educator Perspectives: Ideas to bring into the next semester
Between semesters, design educators are already thinking ahead — reimagining curricula, refining how they run their classrooms, and finding new ways to connect students to industry and community.
Mark-Anthony Karam
Professor & Program Coordinator, Humber Polytechnic
This summer, I’m focused on shifting our curriculum to keep pace with a design industry in transition. Primarily, I’d like to reimagine the "Graphic Designer" role as a "Visual Strategist." I want students to move beyond being creators of artifacts and instead become the ones who build value-driven strategic outcomes. Understanding these new roles might influence how we build new curriculum, assess new knowledge and adopt new teaching & learning practices in design education.
I’d also like to build upon our current initiatives and explore opportunities for learning outside of the traditional classroom. We’ve extended design education across multiple disciplines in our school, while implementing collaborative studios & projects, workshops and field trips that have allowed students to connect with industry throughout their learning journey. Ultimately, I want to empower our students' unique human values as designers and provide them with spaces that acknowledge learning through building community, curiosity, risk and play.
Diana Varma RGD
Lecturer, Toronto Metropolitan University
There are three ideas I’m looking forward to implementing in the fall: getting back to basics, helping students manage deadlines and experiential learning in class.
Clarifying Learning Outcomes (LOs) for Every Assessment: While I have course-level LOs and objectives tied to each assessment, clarifying the 'what' and 'why' of each task will ensure strong alignment with course goals and support student buy-in. It’s important that students and I are aligned on the big picture so there is greater motivation and purpose in crafting the details.
Submission Windows: I recently attended a teaching workshop on academic accommodations and one key takeaway was the idea of “submission windows”; set periods of time (a week, for example) during which students can submit work instead of adhering to a single due date. I already encourage “soft deadlines” to improve time management, but this approach offers a more formal, boundaried structure that balances flexibility and accountability.
More Making: In Winter 2026, I taught four courses that evolved to include lots of hands-on making, both digital and analog. When students engaged in these activities, there was a palpable sense of presence; it’s something I don’t take for granted in a time of digital overwhelm. I plan to continue expanding experiential learning, with a strong emphasis on making tangible outputs.
John de Wolf RGD
Instructor, NSCAD University
As a part-time instructor, I use the summer to catch up on business work. I usually hire a graduate or junior student, and will enjoy mentoring a new summer intern. I teach Interpretive Planning and Design every second year; since the course has only run once so far, I plan to spend the summer finding guest lecturers and making improvements based on what I learned. The course mainly covers outdoor interpretive experiences, but I also want to explore ways to include augmented experiences in our discussions. This year, our school held an end-of-year show that brought together both undergraduate and graduate students. It was a big success, so I plan to work with the school to find a sponsor for a design awards component of the event and help create an exhibit materials fund for next year. Personally, I am also interested in learning more about Agentic AI practices.
