Programme guidelines

General observations

Mandatory and optional units of study of the curriculum of the first two years are classified in types and areas. The areas are:

1. Design (DE)

2. Business (BI)

3. Smart Technology (ST)

4. New Media (NM)

5. Computer Science (CS)

6. Mathematics (MA)

The types are

Besides the mandatory and optional units of study, the curriculum has in year 3:

In the tables and lists under ‘programme’ you find the units of study of the CreaTe curriculum. Note that the list of year 2 shows units with a total study load of 75 EC. This is due to the fact that each student opts for either the 15 EC in the Smart Technology category, or the 15 EC in the New Media category, but not both.

Curriculum construction

The Creative Technology curriculum is taught in English and consists of various types of units of study. Firstly, there is a distinction between explorative and directive units.

Explorative units

In explorative units students work in groups on the exploration of a design process. Their exploration leads to a prototype of a product or service. Various aspects of the design process are explored: idea and concept generation, evaluation of concepts, presentation, defence and justification of a product or service, the planning of the process of turning an idea into a prototype, the organization of the actual process of prototype development, etc. The learning goals of the explorative units cover (aspects) of all final qualifications. The explorative units support the learning by doing approach towards teaching. There are five explorative units, three in the first year, and two in the second.

Directive units

In the directive units students are guided towards learning goals by lectures, tutorials and assignments. The learning goals of directive units generally cover only parts of specific qualifications, like skills and knowledge in technology, skills and knowledge in graphic design, or skills and knowledge in concept and idea evaluation from a user perspective.

Six areas

The directive units are classified by the area of their learning goals. We distinguish six areas. They are Design, Business, Smart Technology, New Media, Computer Science and Mathematics and Modelling.

The five DE-units (DE for Design), four in the first year and one in the second year, are devoted to design knowledge and skills.

The two BI-units (BI for Business), both in the second year, develop knowledge about bringing design to market, and about “running a business.”

The six ST-units (ST for Smart Technology), two in the first year and four in the second year, are devoted to engineering skills and knowledge (and their integration) in the fields of dynamical and control systems, sensors, (wireless) communication systems and electronics. The two ST items of the first year are compulsory for all students. The four ST items of the second year can be chosen by students who want to specialize in experience, communication and products by “smart technology”.

The five NM units (NM for New Media), two in the first year and three in the second year, are devoted to engineering skills and knowledge in the area of new media, web technology and games. The two NM-items of the first year are compulsory for all students. The three NM-items of the second year can be chosen by students who want to specialize in experience, communication and products by “new media”.

The four CS-units (CS for Computer Science), two in both years, serve to develop the basic skills and knowledge to understand and build systems of cooperating programmable components. These skills and knowledge support the teaching and learning in the Smart Technology and New Media areas.

Portfolio

The explorative and directive units cover almost the entire curriculum. There are two units which are neither explorative nor directive. These are the portfolio units. They support another aspect of the learning approach of Creative Technology: self-directed learning. Students are supposed to monitor their own progress along the relevant development lines, to collect proofs of this progress in their portfolio, and to take action to improve and/or to excel along the development lines. In portfolio units student take control, they do not wait for someone to tell them what to do in a directive unit. In this pro-active and self-directed learning part of the Creative Technology curriculum, each student is assisted by a tutor, who monitors and assesses the individual actions. There are two portfolio units, one in the first and one in the second year.