Abstract:

Traditional short-cycle degrees, such as the Diploma in Industrial Design Engineering (DIDE), currently face a fresh challenge in the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA) which could possibly improve students’ education in the future. The new Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering will be more complete from the student’s learning perspective as it will last four academic years instead of the three of the present format. Furthermore, the contents of this new degree will be similar to those of the diploma, but more focused on competences.

However, the various pilot projects carried out in recent years within the DIDE suggest that students’ dedication is below teachers’ foreseen ideal planning. This disparity may come about by teachers’ planning and by the way students organise the time they set aside for studying. All in all, this is the first problem to overcome when it comes to designing and planning this new degree. The present article intends to study and analyse this situation with the data obtained from the several European harmonisation pilot projects.

Keywords:

industrial design, pilot experience, planning, competence.