DSI 415: Multidisciplinary Design for Social Impact

Welcome to DSI 415: Multidisciplinary Design for Social Impact, a unique course offering at Oregon State University, Corvallis. This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world societal problems.

Course Credits

DSI 415 is a 4-credit hour, project-oriented course. Students are expected to dedicate approximately 12 hours per week to various activities including classroom lectures, design reviews, presentations, project team meetings, and project work outside of class.

Prerequisites

This course utilizes design thinking and methodologies through project-based and multidisciplinary team learning activities. Students will work in collaborative teams across various disciplines, along with partnering sponsors/clients, to develop and realize their designs. This course is a requirement for the Design for Social Impact Certificate.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will gain proficiency in the following areas:

  1. Collect Information: Ability to evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources.
  2. Collaborate: Demonstrate effective collaboration skills within a multidisciplinary team.
  3. Produce/Solve: Ability to design and propose holistic solutions to problems, considering diverse issues such as sustainability, marketability, and aesthetics.
  4. Test: Ability to develop testing procedures to evaluate and validate the success of the design approach.
  5. Document: Ability to present written and oral reports that effectively communicate project information to target audiences.

Course Content

Throughout this course, students will:

  • Collaborate with sponsors/clients, faculty advisors, and teammates to define project problems and develop design project requirements.
  • Identify and consider appropriate design considerations.
  • Consider alternative project problem solutions and identify a lead solution strategy.
  • Create and evaluate a prototype according to the design requirements.
  • Manage and document all project phases.

We invite you to join us in DSI 415 and contribute to making a social impact through design. Enrollment for the Summer term is now open, and registration for the Fall term begins on May 19th. You can register here. We look forward to your participation.

 

DSI 415 Poster