Natalie Wright

• Doctor of Philosophy; Graduate Diploma in Interior Design; Bachelor of Applied Science Built Environment
• Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture at Queensland University of Technology

Twenty-first century education needs to be re-envisioned to equip citizens for a lifetime of rapid change and complexity. Design has been proposed as a pedagogical framework that develops the required foundational literacies, competencies and character qualities citizens need to thrive in this new creative knowledge economy. However, widespread ado...

This thesis proposes a new research area and framework for Design-led Educational Innovation which, based on approaches applied from the business, design and education sectors, outlines how design thinking capabilities might be developed for twenty-first century skill development and life-long learning. The framework is validated and refined throug...

Design as an overarching pedagogical framework has been regarded by some as the avenue to re-envision general education to develop capabilities required for twenty-first century citizens. However, despite the adoption of design thinking within other domains, generic design-based education for lifelong learning remains largely unexplored. A comprehe...

Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is recognised as the latest development stage on the pathway to a highly capable future workforce, and is thus linked to a nation’s future development and prosperity. However, despite various appeals and efforts by the Australian Government, effective processes for constr...

Co-creation is a promising business strategy as it focuses on customer experience and interactive relationships. 3D printing helps achieve co-creation goals due to its capabilities of product customisation. However, few researchers have acknowledged the method of integrating the two elements for valuable services. To address this procedural knowled...

Just as universities are exploring and implementing new pedagogic strategies and extending learning networks with the aim of preparing students for future pathways and developing twenty-first century skill sets, so too are secondary schools. Mutually beneficial sharing of these strategies was the key aim of a unique, co-curricular design-led social...

The Co-Design for Curriculum Planning (CDCP) approach was developed through a 2017/18 Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) Education Horizons grant, "Scaling up Queensland teachers’ capacity to teach creativity and innovation: Piloting Design Thinking in Digital Technologies". This white paper aims to communicate the current qualit...

The recent release of the Gonski 2.0 report has done an excellent job of re-opening the conversation around how our schools could better fulfil their purpose. Much of the commentary has centred on the report’s recommendations for teaching and learning in schools. But the whole chapter focused on “creating, supporting and valuing a profession of ex...

In order to minimize the life threatening ecological impacts of human actions there is an urgent need for education to prioritize personal and societal transformation as one of its central purposes. The broad fundamental and systemic changes required are not well understood, nor is there substantial research identifying how secondary schools and te...

Consumerism is arguably one of the strongest forces affecting society today. Its affect on young people and their ability and desire to create, design, and innovate is cause for concern. It has been suggested that design, when viewed as “a fundamental category of meaning making” (Cope and Kalantzis, 2010, p.597), can be conceived as a “foundational...

This seed project ‘Design thinking frameworks as transformative cross-disciplinary pedagogy’ aimed to examine the way design thinking strategies are used across disciplines to scaffold the development of student attributes in the domain of problem solving and creativity in order to enhance the nation’s capacity for innovation. Generic graduate attr...

The shift in the last twenty years from an industrialised economy to a knowledge economy demands new modes of education in which individuals can effectively acquire 21st century competencies. This article builds on the findings and recommendations of a Knowledge Economy Market Development Mapping Study (KEMDMS), conducted in Queensland, Australia....

Education in the 21st century demands a model for understanding a new culture of learning in the face of rapid change, open access data and geographical diversity. Teachers no longer need to provide the latest information because students themselves are taking an active role in peer collectives to help create it. This paper examines, through an Aus...

With a focus on intention and motivation, this paper describes a study involving three organisational communities and their collective effort to develop and provide more inclusive housing for people with disabilities and their families. While many studies, such as that by Rocha & Miles (2009), focus on commercial organisations, and sustainability f...

This paper aims to address the knowledge gap in regards to the potential intermediary role tertiary institutions can play in developing generic design thinking/design led innovation capabilities in non-designers. Specifically, it investigates the value derived from the contribution of postgraduate design students as facilitators/educators for under...

The knowledge economy relies on the diffusion and use of knowledge as well as its creation (Houghton and Sheenan, 2000). The future success of economic activity will depend on the capacity of organisations to transform by increasing their flexibility. In particular, this transformation is dependant on a decentralised, networked and multi-skilled wo...

The knowledge economy relies on the diffusion and use of knowledge as well as its creation (Houghton and Sheenan, 2000). The future success of economic activity will depend on the capacity of organisations to transform by increasing their flexibility. In particular, this transformation is dependant on a decentralised, networked and multi-skilled wo...

he knowledge economy relies on the diffusion and use of knowledge as well as its creation (Houghton and Sheenan, 2000). The future success of economic activity will depend on the capacity of organisations to transform by increasing their flexibility. In particular, this transformation is dependant on a decentralised, networked and multi-skilled wor...

Education in the 21st century demands a model for understanding a new culture of learning in the face of rapid change, open access data and geographical diversity. Teachers no longer need to provide the latest information because students themselves are taking an active role in peer collectives to help create it. This paper examines, through an Aus...

his paper presents an Australian case study entitled “Designing Futures”. It examines a six month multidisciplinary design program offered by a large co-educational, inner-city state school in Queensland in 2011. The program extended an already successful and innovative school-based design curriculum and involved students in Philosophy, Science, Ma...

Incorporating design thinking as a generic capability at a school level is needed to ensure future generations are empowered for business innovation and active citizenship. This paper describes the methodology of an investigation into modelling design led innovation approaches from the business sector to secondary education, as part of a larger stu...

The 18th academic conference hosted by the Design Management Institute (DMI) of Boston, Mass., attracted a greater number of papers than any previous conference. The event was intended to highlight the importance of the contribution of design to organisational effectiveness and success, particularly in the ways that it can improve the new product d...

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced , stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. Notice: Changes...

In this paper we highlight how current approaches to design for disability have failed to consider the emotional needs not only of those with disabilities but their families and other carers as well. In conjunction with this, we demonstrate through a review of literature the significance of the house, the home and home in the support and growth of...

Australia's movement into Asia promises to provide challenging possibilities for our interior designers. Our identity as a force in the Asia-Pacific region means interior designers can become involved in Asian nation-building offshore and Asian investment projects in Australia, while also contributing to an Australian cultural milieu which is diver...