How did I end up in HAMK Design Factory as a student assistant?
My name is Daan Bakema and I’m a 3rd year Communication & Multimedia Design student at the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. As part of my exchange study at HAMK, I was invited to join the Product Development Project at HAMK Design Factory as a student-assistant to help share my own experience and support the students with design thinking. In this blogpost you’ll find my experiences.
One month changed it all
During my minor at the Future Design Factory at NHL Stenden, I’ve met Markku Mikkonen from HAMK Design Factory (DF) who was also doing his master’s program internship over there. In the short but very helpful time he was there, I’ve got the chance to learn more about this way of teaching about design thinking and also a lot about Finland in general. That period convinced me to do an exchange study in Finland and learn more about the different cultures that exist over there as well as gather new and exciting experiences.
At NHL Stenden I’ve learned to work with design thinking within my group projects while working within interdisplinary teams. This experience would be one of the reasons why I was asked to join the HAMK DF Product Development Project (PdP) as a student-assistant in HAMK DF. I’ll be supporting and helping the students with their questions within their projects and also giving feedback on the course in general.
The start of a new course
The beginning of the course was very exciting for me, as we went to Aalto University for the PdP bootcamp week. In those days I was there, I was orientating from the background and writing down notes as I wasn’t sure at first what my role was at that moment. But these days were also the moments where I can meet the students and staff a bit better and I succeeded in knowing them better.
Later on, I was involved and orientating during the coach and lecture sessions that were held for the PdP. At first it was difficult for me to bring my own opinion and ideas into the mix as I was mostly just listening to the presentations as they went by. Later I got the chance to include my own ideas and give a warm-up during a ideate lecture which felt great. Even though I was not satified on how I handled that warm-up and it would be the first and only one for the time that I was here as I had difficulties with some deadlines for my exchange minor. It felt like a huge step and confident boost as presenting is something I want to be better at and I’ve got the opportunity in doing so.
When I started the last months, the halfway gala was done, the groups are deep in their projects and making prototypes. Meanwhile, I started taking more inniative myself. There were times that I went to speak with the groups myself instead of waiting for Jali Närhi and Markku from HAMK DF. I got to tell the groups more of my own experience with design thinking and felt like I really got to help them more. My courage went up and I tried being more active within the project as a student-assistant. During this time, I also asked more feedback from the staff here at the HAMK DF about where could I improve as a student-assistant or what I can do better. The feedback I gained is that I need to be more active and speak out more. I believe I made some big steps during my time here but I also believe I can achieve more by being more active.
What have I learned during the PdP?
Based on my time here, it’s a good time for reflection on my part. Where my first weeks were very new and I wasn’t sure of my part within the PdP, are the last weeks the opposite as I found my spot within the project as a student-assistant and as someone who can help students with their problems. I got more responsibillies that I happily took and when the students asked for help, it was clear that it’s not just Jali and Markku, but now I’m also here to help the students which felt that way as I found myself being more involved than before with asking and answering questions.
At the beginning, I got tasks where I was asked if I could use my perspecive on the lecture presentation accessibility and other potential mistakes. These tasks became later that I can think of some ideas for the lectures and what do I want to see in the presentations. In the end I also got to think of questions for the presentations and be more part of the presentation it self. It is good to see that the staff are also still learning for what they want to achieve during these lectures. They try and be more innovative which is a good part of this course. Even though it’s the same material they have been teaching in the past.
They want to teach it in a different way each time and my suggestions were to support that continued change and see what could be changed at this time. I especially liked the lectures where we gave the students some tasks to do in the lectures, for example, build a construction so an egg wouldn’t break when dropped or the task where the students have to draw 8 different prototypes ideations in 8 minutes. In those tasks you let them roam for a bit and you’ll see a positive attitiude as well. So I would build on those type of lectures more often.
What does the future hold for me?
As for me, I got another opportunity in February to do my internship at the HAMK Design Factory as a teacher-design assistant and I can’t be more excited about that. I’ll be focusing on a solution for psychomotor skill learning within a digital environment. Which will continue on Markku’s master thesis as prototype model for later research But that also means, I still get to be a part of the PDP for the last month, which I’m very excited about. I’m looking forward to all the possibilities this internship will bring me for both my design skills but also my educational learning opportunities.
