The research aims to map the existing innovative didactic practices in design education, considering those of the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, a leading context for design education. The innovation of instructional practices is increasingly recognised as crucial strategic objective for educational programs.

Concerning higher education, this debate proposes to move from a traditional ex-cathedra approach to a more active engagement of students in their learning process. To this extent design education, compared to other disciplinary fields, often appears to be already innovative as it historically includes activities that foster the active participation of students. 

In fact design didactics often include learning-by-doing, project-based and collaborative learning, just to mention few.

For this reason, instructional practices that are part of current design education might provide insights beyond our disciplinary border. Moreover, the goal of this project is to identify within design education at Politecnico di Milano those cutting-edge instructional practices that well represent a possible innovation with regard to our disciplinary context. Last but not least, after identifing these cutting-edge practices the project aims to disseminate them with and beyond our community as an inspiration for design educators.