Abstract:

The study of Ergonomics in Fashion Design education is essential for the design of clothing and other fashion products can be comfortable and functional. Considering this, and the substantial difficulty that students have in understanding concepts of this area and its application in the moment they are developing clothes, a non-lecture-based classroom was elaborated to facilitate such an understanding. The present article shows the results of this class in two different institutions in Brazil. The first institution is Centro Universitário Toledo (UNITOLEDO), located in Araçatuba, state of São Paulo and the second is Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) located in Apucarana, state of Paraná. The class was elaborated jointly by the teachers of Ergonomics classes of the institutions previously mentioned and was applied in the first semester of 2016. The class was divided in four stages, in the first one was exposed the documentary "Fora do Figurino - As Medidas do Jeitinho Brasileiro", by Paulo Pélico, which addresses Brazilian industry difficulties in the making of garments due to the lack measures standardization in the apparel industry in Brazil. After watch the documentary, students were directed to retail stores, to prove pieces of clothing and to perceive, in practice, what difficulties were encountered in relation to the wearable and functionality of them, being that the students were straighten out to maintain the activity focus in garments molding. After the field experience, the third stage consisted in opening a discussion in the classroom to exchange experiences and compare these difficulties through teacher’s mediation, each in their work place. From standpoints made by students, a chart was elaborated, in which molding failures in several brands were pointed out. Finally, in the fourth stage, students were asked to make an essay with comments about the classroom experience and compare learning with the market view. Through this lesson, we can see awake unrealized perceptions through theoretical classes and development of the critical eye for a market that presents flaws and difficulties for the manufacturer, retailer as well as for the final consumer. In addition to providing greater student interaction with market problems. Finally, a comparison between the results obtained by the teachers in this two different institutions using students feedback and evaluative results, is also displayed a discussion about effectiveness of this different approach in mostly theoretical subjects.

Keywords:

Ergonomics, Fashion Design Education, Measurement Chart, Modeling, Undergraduate Experience.