Professional identity and personal interest play pivotal roles in professional learning and creative practice. Contemporary industrial design programs emphasize the cultivation of students’ practical skills and theoretical knowledge, thereby establishing a critical link between academic education and societal production. This study investigates the impact of School-Enterprise Cooperation Courses (SECCs) on the professional identity of industrial design students and explores course design strategies informed by embodied teaching theory. During the empirical research stage, participants included undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, and industry mentors from the Department of Design. The study was conducted in two phases: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted with thirty undergraduate and graduate students across different cohorts, along with twelve design faculty members. The interview transcripts were analyzed using NVivo 14 to code keywords and instructional elements of SECCs. These elements were subsequently refined through expert review, resulting in the final SECCs framework. In the quantitative phase, 82 valid responses were collected from design students who participated in SECCs using the College Students’ Professional Identity Questionnaire and the School-Enterprise Cooperation Courses Evaluation Questionnaire. Of these, 60 responses formed the experimental group, while an additional 60 responses from non-SECC participants were collected as the control group. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to assess the effect of SECCs on students’ professional identity, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the 82 responses from the SECC Evaluation Questionnaire. The results indicated that SECCs positively influence the strengthening of professional identity among design students. Specifically, SECCs significantly enhance the affective dimension (p < 0.05) and behavioral dimension (p < 0.01) of professional identity, thereby reinforcing students’ commitment to the discipline and increasing their intention to engage in professional practice. However, SECCs demonstrate limited effects on the cognitive and adaptive dimensions of professional identity. Notably, some undergraduate students reported lower scores in both course evaluation and professional identity. Therefore, tailoring practical courses to the characteristics and developmental needs of students at different academic levels is recommended. This study provides evidence-based insights for educational institutions by underscoring the role of SECCs in strengthening students’ professional identity and identifying key evaluative factors. These findings offer valuable guidance for optimizing professional course setting strategy in higher design education.

The impact of school-enterprise cooperative courses on the professional identity of young designers

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发表日期：

2026年1月12日

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Wenyu Yuan,
Danni Chang

摘要

Professional identity and personal interest play pivotal roles in professional learning and creative practice. Contemporary industrial design programs emphasize the cultivation of students’ practical skills and theoretical knowledge, thereby establishing a critical link between academic education and societal production. This study investigates the impact of School-Enterprise Cooperation Courses (SECCs) on the professional identity of industrial design students and explores course design strategies informed by embodied teaching theory. During the empirical research stage, participants included undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, and industry mentors from the Department of Design. The study was conducted in two phases: qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted with thirty undergraduate and graduate students across different cohorts, along with twelve design faculty members. The interview transcripts were analyzed using NVivo 14 to code keywords and instructional elements of SECCs. These elements were subsequently refined through expert review, resulting in the final SECCs framework. In the quantitative phase, 82 valid responses were collected from design students who participated in SECCs using the College Students’ Professional Identity Questionnaire and the School-Enterprise Cooperation Courses Evaluation Questionnaire. Of these, 60 responses formed the experimental group, while an additional 60 responses from non-SECC participants were collected as the control group. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to assess the effect of SECCs on students’ professional identity, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the 82 responses from the SECC Evaluation Questionnaire. The results indicated that SECCs positively influence the strengthening of professional identity among design students. Specifically, SECCs significantly enhance the affective dimension (p < 0.05) and behavioral dimension (p < 0.01) of professional identity, thereby reinforcing students’ commitment to the discipline and increasing their intention to engage in professional practice. However, SECCs demonstrate limited effects on the cognitive and adaptive dimensions of professional identity. Notably, some undergraduate students reported lower scores in both course evaluation and professional identity. Therefore, tailoring practical courses to the characteristics and developmental needs of students at different academic levels is recommended. This study provides evidence-based insights for educational institutions by underscoring the role of SECCs in strengthening students’ professional identity and identifying key evaluative factors. These findings offer valuable guidance for optimizing professional course setting strategy in higher design education.