Integrating Electronic Circuit Design and Fabrication in a Design Studio: Discussing hands-on learning approach to engage undergraduate students ecologically relevant design

This paper examines the experience of integrating electronic circuit design and fabrication to support the creation of ecologically relevant design propositions in an undergraduate design studio. The authors describe the implementation of a new curriculum for a nine weeks course, developed as a collaboration between Fablab Shanghai and the Ecology and Cultures Innovation Lab of the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University. They explain how they used hands-on tutorials and experiential learning activities as instructional methods to teach electronic circuit design to students with no prior knowledge of the subject. The structure of the course is outlined detailing the adoption of short challenges and practical activities that covered the entire process of creating an integrated electronic product, including design, fabrication, programming and debugging. Additionally, the paper details how the technical knowledge was used to support the design research for the studio's brief, which aimed at contributing to new forms of connection between citizens and Nature, fostering the creation of ecological knowledge. In this respect, the authors emphasise the importance of maintaining a continuous interconnection between technical and ecological topics throughout the design process and highlight how the experiences and motivations enabled by this interplay influenced the design decisions of students. Lastly, the paper discusses the outcomes of the studio according to their ecological relevance and the completeness of the integrated product, suggesting that experiential learning could be a methodological asset in projects developing more-than-human design scenarios.