The Perceptions of the Students and Prospective Proposals in the Department of Industrial Product Design of the Technical Courses: Gazi University Case

ABSTRACT In recent years several Industrial Product Design departments have been opened and are in action in Turkey. As a result of this, the number of graduate designers is increasing every day. The universities are expecting the eligibility of their graduates to be high and accordingly they are continuously undergoing improvements regarding their teaching staff and curricula. One fundamental problem here is the fact that some technical courses are implemented as part of a pool of courses, which are called ‘pool courses’. This study investigated the students’ perceptions of the technical courses offered in Gazi University Faculty of Architecture, The Department of Industrial Product Design based on a survey consisting of multiple-choice and open ended questionnaire method. The data collected from the survey was analyzed through interpretations of the students’ opinions of the courses and the way the courses are implemented and suggestions were made regarding how the technical courses offered in the department in general should be implemented. These suggestions are that the unnecessary formulas should be eliminated from the technical courses, that the technical courses should be complemented by application-based activities, that the calculations should be done based on the designed products, and that the professors should have the necessary knowledge about the details of design processes.