Shifting design literacy practices in mechanical engineering: Multimodal social semiotic analysis of first and final year design reports

Design is an important part of any mechanical engineering programme, as can be seen in the number of such programmes that culminate in a capstone design project and achievement of an exit-level design outcome. This paper interrogates the extent to which a particular mechanical engineering programme develops students' mastery of design practice. This is undertaken through a framework that positions literacy as a multimodal social semiotic practice. First and fourth year design reports were collected from students who gave consent for their reports to be used, and over 500 pages of data was analysed. The analysis compares the first and final year students' design practices as made evident in the reports they submitted. The findings suggest that fourth year students have overcome most challenges encountered by the first years, but that curricular efforts have not ensured that all final years display mastery of the conventional demands associated with design literacy. The implications of this are discussed.