Industrial designers, as producers of products and services that are related to the life of each individual, have an undeniable role in maintaining the relationship between society and industry. The state employment statistics have revealed that the employment status of industrial designer graduates is not in compliance with the growth of their number. This has resulted in certain problems regarding educational system philosophy. Apparently, job applicants including those academic graduates need several skills which are not in conjunction with those of the market demands. Undoubtedly, reviewing the industrial design educational system in accordance with the cultural structure of the country and improving the educational structure will help the growth and development of this academic field and its reconciliation with industry.
The main objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of the principles and revival of the Master-apprenticeship education approach along with combining it with the positive aspects of the current industrial design education system in order to meet the demands of society and train design-pruner.
The present study is qualitative in terms of strategy or paradigm. This research has been done in three phases. In phase zero, a pilot study has been conducted by the authors on the teaching methods and weaknesses of the current system on the one hand and the observation of limited examples of the Master-apprentice method in Tehran universities. According to the observations and studies in the pilot phase, in the first phase of the research, the strengths and weaknesses of teacher-student education were examined and the available samples were determined for further study. The research method in this study was descriptive-analytical. In the present study, the sampling method was purposefully selected and a five-point Likert questionnaire was completed by 40 students and graduates of industrial design. The results were analyzed using SPSS Win 23 software.
Finally, it can be pointed out that the Master-Apprenticeship approach has many dimensions and benefits, including increasing students ‘skills, increasing the motivation of teachers and students, and increasing students’ entrepreneurship, which can be revived in the current system. Based on the aforementioned findings, it seems that another advantage of the Master-apprentice method, which can be considered as the results of the present study, is the project-driven and student involvement in the practical-workshop environment. This feature provides the teacher with the ability to evaluate his / her students not only on the basis of theoretical or mere tests but also to be able to evaluate the student from the point of view of practical work. The continuous presence of the teacher in the workshop space allows the student to receive the teacher’s opinions and views on the project at the same time, and direct modeling of his teacher occurs as a problem-solving process for the student. This is why in the teacher-student system, the individual does not view the lesson only as a fleeting project, but as an employment or an active project, not absolute classroom research.