From bachelor to multimedia doctorate, past experience and future challenges

Abstract

The multi-disciplinary approach, inherent to multimedia, requires the collaboration of people which should be separated in two wide groups: engineering of information technology and interactive - media design. In addition, each one of this group comprises a great diversity of knowledge areas. The effective collaboration of different academic and professional profiles is essential to create a genuine learning environment which brings to students a truly educational experience. Companies and market requires a specific profile with a background that adequately combines technological comprehension, interactive - media design capabilities and collaborative work management. In this multidisciplinary context it’s not easy to minimize the deep differences between technical and creative people in the way of understanding professional activity and organization of work. The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) has been deeply involved in developing and testing an integral Multimedia Curriculum which covers bachelor, post grade and doctorate studies3, with a strong connection to research in multimedia applications. An interdisciplinary model, where students follow a curriculum with a balanced combination of design, technology and management, characterizes the UPC Multimedia educational approach. At the same time, university research and innovation services to industry have a direct influence on the quality of teaching and learning, multiplying the opportunities for students to participate in real projects. Based on data collected between 1997 and 2003, the paper presents the results obtained with the UPC model, and an approach to challenges for the future in multimedia education.