TAD5400 Design research methods
Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
TAD5400 Design research methods is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, offered in 2025 in Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Caulfield. It has no prerequisites and unlocks 1 unit.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2025
- Semester 1, Semester 2
- Caulfield
- Assessment
- No exam
- 3 tasks
This is the 2025 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before TAD5400
Prohibitions
You can't enrol if you have passed any of these.
Corequisites
Pass these before, or take them in the same semester.
After TAD5400
1 unit list TAD5400 as a prerequisite or corequisite.
Enrolment rules
You must be enrolled in the Master of Design (F6002).
Overview
This unit examines methodological approaches to design research, from the scientifically oriented to the phenomenological, the discursive and the poetic. Attention is given to the way in which the terms of an investigation inevitably shape the material which is discovered. The range of topics may include techniques in information gathering and efficient management of bibliographic resources, postmodern theory, difference studies, post-structural writing and deconstruction. The unit ponders the relationship of studio research (i.e. designing innovative objects or spaces or interfaces) to conventional research.
Offerings in 2025
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Caulfield | On campus |
| Second semester | Caulfield | On campus |
Assessment
- Project 1Project20%
- Project 2Project40%
- Project 3Project40%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Demonstrate awareness of current discourses in a range of disciplines which bear on contemporary design;
- 2
Pursue critical arguments with a sense of their relativity;
- 3
Assess the bias of an investigative method, considering gender, class and ethnicity;
- 4
Understand methodology as a critique of method and be able to practice criticism in your chosen field;
- 5
Explain the basis of designs or art or craft objects not merely as the outcome of practical constraints but the expression of cultural values.
Workload and teaching
- Tutorials24 hours
- Teaching approachPeer assisted learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachCase-based teaching
- Teaching approachResearch activities
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
12 hours per week including 2 contact hours plus 10 hours of independent study.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Dr Vincent Dziekan
- Unit Coordinators
- Dr Vincent Dziekan
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for TAD5400?
None, but you must take OHS1000 before or alongside it.
What can I take after TAD5400?
TAD5400 is a prerequisite or corequisite for 1 unit, including TAD5500.
When is TAD5400 offered?
In 2025, TAD5400 runs in Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Caulfield.
Does TAD5400 have an exam?
No. TAD5400 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.