Covid -19 and MDes BASEcamp
Massart Master of Design | Design Innovation
As a yearly component of the Master of Design | Design Innovation (MDes) graduate program at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, we hold an offsite three-day retreat known as “MDes Bootcamp,” now called “BASEcamp.”
This short article will discuss three BASECamps we have held since the beginning of the Global Pandemic. Beginning in 2016, we have examined everything from the “conference experience” to the implications of legalized marijuana. These retreats are designed to build teamwork and trust and set expectations for the incoming student in the program. Before the global Pandemic, we would travel to Vermont or New Hampshire for this immersive experience. We designed the three-day experience with peer-to-peer learning by entrusting the 2nd year master candidate to lead the incoming class through ice-breaking and team-building exercises before the three-day project was assigned. This process broke during the Pandemic as we went online. Students’ paths through the program changed due to events set in motion due to Covid 19, varying national and international, state, and college policies. We are working towards returning to this peer-to-peer learning practice and the original intent and goals of the MDes BASEcamp.
March 2021 — BASEcamp
The Covid-19 Pandemic required us to postpone our fall 2020 BASEcamp until March 2021, disrupting some of the designed intent of the retreat. Lars Fischer and I attempted a hybrid learning model for this BASECamp, hosting some students in the dorms with strict covid protocols. This hybrid BASECamp was stressful, with some students in-person and some remote via Zoom. There was a noticeable learning and responsibility divide between the in-person and remote students, fueled by the unknown, the anxiety around the newly developed vaccine, and the information voids surrounding the Pandemic. Regardless, the students produced excellent results, and its outcome culminated in an event for Boston Design Week 2021 on the future of social media.
SPRING 2022 — BASEcamp
Last Spring, still dealing with issues around the Covid-19 Pandemic and having been overwhelmed with the complexity of the hybrid model, we held BASECamp entirely online. Amy Heymans and I co-taught this BASEcamp with our focus on Design Ethics. We designed the three days with synchronous and asynchronous content, which we found to be the most effective with online instruction. The three-day ethics examination in Design Innovation reinforces our goal of greater clarity in our communication skills.
On day one, we began with small groups examining design Ethics resources and assigned independent readings. The students reported back to the group as a whole, generating a lively discussion, which became the framework for a discussion guide for day two Ethics in Research & Design Panel discussion.
On day two, the students built a panel discussion guide to take a leadership role in our online panel discussion. Three students moderated and led the conversation on Ethics in Research & Design Panel with Guest Speakers from the Healthcare industry, Design consulting groups, and from many different cultural perspectives. We all gain new insights into our potential bias and the importance of Design leading and setting an example for the whole organization.
That evening we assigned the Saturday work in small groups to stage a Debate, arguing both sides of the issues surrounding 1. Ethics Issues on Social Media 2. Debate Ethics Issues on Data Privacy & Surveillance 3.
Debate Ethics Issues on Robots.
In this debate series, our goal was to examine and understand the ethical issues and potential areas of reflection as the students consider their active role as design leaders.
The debate reflected and demonstrated students’ examination of design ethics. The discussion engaged all students in the conversation, helping to formulate individual perspectives on the responsibility of the design leader.
The student teams of three members worked together to examine specific ethical issues. With two members representing opposing opinions and one member moderating the debate. Students worked together to choose the side they argued during the debate, not necessarily representative of the individual’s point of view but an examination of both sides to further discussion among the class. We deliberately place students in situations where they argue against their preferred position to assist in developing high-level critical thinking skills.
Fall 2022 — BASEcamp Returns In-person
In the fall of 2022, we returned to an in-person three-day retreat to The Wolfville Mountain Retreat Bartlett, NH, during the height of leaf changing and some restriction easing around covid -19. We rented cars and for the ride from Boston, MA we assigned the Audible book Hooked By Nir Eyal.
Our Project Brief was to consider Digital / Internet Addiction through the designer’s lens. The students researched how and to whom it affects andthen developed an awareness campaign focused on the designer’s responsibilities in creating digital products: habit-forming by Design — rendering transparent methods and ethics, challenging habits, and addiction in the designer’s digital landscape.
The students looked into Net Compulsions, Cyber (Online) Relationship Addiction, Compulsive Information Seeking, and Computer / Gaming Addiction and rendered the “Hooked” process transparent.
This three-day in-person BASEcamp brought back much of the bonding and peer-to-peer learning, sharing, and support forged around hard work, sharing of meals, and ghost stories around the fire pit.
