A GRADUATE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN EDUCATION FOR THAILAND: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF CURRICULUM PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

The study involves a descriptive analysis of the national development need to establish a desirable structure for graduate instruction in industrial design education which is particular to the Thai culture and to Chulalongkorn University's specific interests.; The fact that education, now conceived as an instrument for national development in terms of increasing economic productivity and cultural enrichment, has made it imperative for the proposed program to accord its priorities in developing individuals to be more productive designers, responsible social beings, and cultured persons. The problem of the study is not only to identify the functions assumed by these individuals for the social and economic restructuring of society, but also to ensure the balance of educational experiences among the above priorities.; The program's combined task is to make both quantitative and qualitative assessments of the planned development and to surface the roles and functions of these cultural designers. A critical analysis of the National Social and Economic Development Plans of Thailand makes it possible to arrive at the conclusion that the economy calls for a spectrum of qualifications and the various categories of qualified personnel is identified. A rationale is used to structure this proposed program which is not to produce designers of the type trained formerly by the Department of Industrial Design, but rather to determine the functions and responsibilities of designers who will have to assume new directions in their career. This new and more appropriate training will develop in them the qualities they most require for the diversified demands of social and technological change occurring in that specific region.; It becomes evident that the training must be based on a certain amount of knowledge. Such knowledge of a relatively new discipline as industrial design is considered as a pretext for the subsequent task undertaking. The study has devoted a considerable amount of research in establishing a rationale and structure for the field and profession of industrial design. The content of this section proposes a structured body of knowledge, a discipline-centered based, and an instructional program for a graduate industrial design education at Chulalongkorn University.