IDUS711: Contextual Research Methodology is part of the MFA in Graphic Design and Visual Experience program at SCAD. In this course, design students exercise various research methodologies, explore the research tools and processes available and develop meaningful insights through a quarter-long research project.
Students began alone, proposing topics of interest, but were then collapsed into groups where topics naturally overlapped – in our case, the COVID-19 pandemic proved a fairly large group: 6 students formed PART (Pandemic Awareness Research Team). Through research design, participant recruitment and engagement, and rigorous collaboration, we identified several key insights which could be addressed through design.