Pedagogical Challenges and Innovations in Sensitizing Design Students Toward Environmental Perception Within Design Foundation Course in the Aftermath of National Design Policy

While different Design schools offer the course of Environmental Perception at Foundation level, there is, however, a need to empirically record diverse pedagogies utilized in delivery of this module within institutes which are located in different cultural environments. An archive of such diverse pedagogies will enable a rich discourse in Design Education in India for future reference. This paper aims to contribute and fill a critical lacuna in this area. The case study presented in this paper highlights challenges and innovations incorporated in the delivery of Environment Perception in remotely located institutes, inducting large cohort of students with limited outdoor excursions. Thus, presenting an unprecedented situation amid which cultural sensitization in students of Design Foundation courses is inculcated. As a methodology the paper examines National Design Policy and eminent design pedagogue Kumar Vyas’s classic Design manual “Design and Environment - A Primer”. The paper thus elucidates deviation from the process mentioned in the book, emerging from unique circumstances in delivery of this module in current context of design education in India after embracing National Design Policy. Adaptation of this course within classroom setup addressing challenges and further innovations in delivery of module are presented as a case study in collaborative process for course development, teaching strategies, activities, and assessments of outcomes.