Ensino e Aprendizagem

This distinctive Bachelor of Arts programme in Design pursues an international standard and echoes the unique cultural heritage of Macao. It offers students an exciting forum for developing critical skills in interpreting and creating arts and understanding the significance of design in a variety of cultures, especially the uniqueness mingled from Chinese and Western art and culture. The programmes trains students in foundational methods of interpretation and creation as well as the newest approaches in the field. Specialization in this program may lead to works in creative industry making the metamorphosis of Macao a new city and a better community in terms of culture, environment and spirit.

The programme aims to nurture high-calibre design professionals via a curriculum accentuating multidisciplinary learning across design, humanities and aesthetics. In this programme, students will develop their communication skills, international vision, intercultural understanding and innovative thinking while acquiring design knowledge and skills. They are given internship opportunities to further cultivate their creativity and keep in pace with the latest developments of the cultural and creative industries in different regions. Students are prepared via the programme to be innovative professionals who embrace theoretical foundations and academic exploration, respect the balance between commercial and cultural values of design, and capitalise on creative and innovative abilities for both the design profession and social services.

Upon completion of this programme, students are expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes in terms of academic contents, disciplinary skills, and attributes.

Academic contents 學術內容

Disciplinary skills‐ able to 學科技能

Attributes 特質

Mapping of Graduate Attributes to Programme Intended Learning Outcomes & Learning Modules 
畢業生理想特質與課程預期學習成效及學科單元之關聯表

Through lectures, demonstrations, individual tutorials, study trips, and other learning opportunities, students will acquire the learning outcomes expected from individual learning modules. In one-on-one tutorials, students are encouraged to think creatively and work independently, applying their creative thinking skills in different subject matters and developing their individual design styles. Students will work in groups to develop team spirit and collaborative skills. They will take up summer internships when moving from the second to the third year to acquire practical experience in workplace. Students are to demonstrate sound technical skills and digital literacy, especially in graphic design, as a step towards advanced design training.

The volume, diversity and range of assessment tasks will be designed according to the learning outcomes and teaching activities of the learning modules and the programe intended learning outcomes. Students will be informed of the assessment methods and criteria through module outlines and teaching outlines. An annual examination board reviews programme students' academic profiles including the marking schemes and progression routes. Each learning module is assessed by formative assessment and summative assessment including but not limited to written examinations, written reports, projects and participation. The students will be provided with timely and constructive feedback on their work. It may come from self-evaluation, peer review and feedback by the instructors. Examination papers will be reviewed by internal moderators and then by external examiners. All examination papers go through a moderation marking procedure. Samples of three groups of examination answer sheets (high, medium and low grades) are sent to the external examiners for quality control. Resit exam opportunities will be given to students who fail their first attempt at the end of each semester. Marks of resit exams are capped at 50%. Students who fail in both exams or fail to meet basic attendance requirement will be required to repeat the module.

This is a 4-year bachelor's degree programme. Students are required to acquire 129 credits in order to graduate. The first year of study focuses on design foundation, strengthening students’ basic design skills and knowledge in design. In the second and third years, students will complete required electives related to their preferred design specialties (i.e. cultural creativity, conceptual innovation, and technology and applications) in addition to learning modules for developing design support skills, general education and the English language. Students are to complete specialty-required electives to achieve 24 credits, of which 15 credits must be from the same specialty. Students will have a summer internship opportunity to acquire practical experience in the workplace. In the final year, the programme emphasises integrated design capability building. Students will translate their learning to a capstone design project and exhibition, engaging in design research and practicality for a full year.

According to Article 3 of Academic Regulations Governing Bachelor's Degree Programmes of MPU,

1. An applicant shall be considered for admission to a bachelor’s degree programme of the University if s/he 
   a) holds a qualification not lower than Grade 12 or the equivalent, and
   b) fulfils other admission criteria prescribed by the programme of study concerned.
    
2. An applicant of age 23 or above, proven to possess relevant capabilities (especially in the entrance examination(s) of MPU), shall be considered for admission to a bachelor’s degree programme with a waiver on the requirement in item a) of above point.

Each student is allocated a year tutor who provides general academic and pastoral support throughout the four years of study. Year tutors are the first point of contact in matters stated above. Various communication channels are available for students to express their opinions and suggestions, such as via their respective year tutors, student representatives, programme coordinators and assistant programme coordinators, and dialogue meetings on different levels. The dialogue meetings serve as platforms for consultation and discussion between students and respective personnel ranging from the programme, the faculty, the academic support and administrative units, to the university management. Feedback is made by respective personnel to every issue raised by the students during the meeting with follow-up actions tracked. Student surveys are conducted in every learning module on a semesterly basis to collect students' opinions regarding the delivery of the modules. User satisfaction surveys are conducted annually on central student services. Feedback collected via these surveys will be followed up by the faculty or respective departments.

Students will receive an orientation about their four years of study at the beginning of the first year. Year tutors are appointed to individual students upon admission to provide academic and pastoral support throughout the period of study in the programme. Students may seek academic advices from their year tutors or programme coordinators regarding their learning path/plan and registration of learning modules. In individual learning modules, the instructors' office hours and contact information are made accessible to students for any questions regarding their study. Students' learning engagement and performance will be reviewed on a regular basis by year tutors and programme coordinators to identify learning needs and provide relevant support. Students' learning performance and progression will also be reviewed by the programme examination board to ensure their learning is adequately supported and their progress is on track. In addition, counselling services, careers services and student support services are accessible to all students through the Student Affairs Office. A wide variety of extracurricular activities (e.g. seminars, workshops, exchange opportunities, fieldtrips etc.) are available via the Student Affairs Office. Students may make full use of the variety of learning oppportunities, both curricular and extracurricular, to develop their academic and holistic capabilities for their future careers or further studies.

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Macao Polytechnic University has in place a university-wide policy to ensure that all student needs are taken care of and a supportive and accessible learning environment is maintained. When cases of special needs are notified or identified, special arrangements are made on a case-by-case basis with the joint effort of the programme and various student support services of the University, such as the Registry, the Student Affairs Office, the Information Technology Department and the Campus Management and Development Department, etc. to provide the necessary support.

Students develop a range of practical design skills which is applicable to different contexts beyond academia. To provide students with practical experience, Design Programme provides job shadowing and internship opportunities in the cultural and creative industry. Throughout the academic year, Design Programme invites international scholars and local designers as external speakers to share their experience with our students, by giving seminars, workshops or teaching practical modules. Design programme holds graduation exhibition as the platform to connect potential graduates with the professions in the industry. Advisory Board Meeting is held annually to provide valuable industrial advices and feedbacks on teaching and learning of the programme. Graduates are able to work in a variety of design fields, such as graphic design, advertising design, multimedia design, 3D animation design, and exhibition design. They can serve as designers, illustrators, media producers, creative directors and other design-related professions. Graduates may also pursue postgraduate studies at MPI or other universities at home and abroad.