Blog 12: What I have learned in this Class

In this course , ID 3311, we have covered information over many topics including: fibers, weaves, dying, elements and principles of design, printing, unusual materials, flooring, countertops, wallcoverings, and many many more. On  top of the topics covered in class, we have taken many field trips which have included field trips to: the Texas Tech Fiber and Biopolymer Research Center, All About Looks, Design Expo, Leftwich Chapman, Collins Tile and Stone, Jeff Seal Homes of Distinction, and Parkhill, Smith, and Cooper.  All of these field trips provided valuable learning information and also first hand experience. All of the information covered in class as well as the information covered on field trips has made for a very learning filled semester.

All of the topics covered in this course have proved invaluable to the process of interior design. It was proven to be very important to attend class every day as all of the information covered was information we would need to use now for current projects or information we would have to use in the future to be a successful interior designer. For example,  the swatch kit seemed like a nagging task to learn each weave and the name of each fabric and then have to pick fifty fabrics and identify their weaves on top of that. However, learning each of those fabrics and the weaves will help each and every one of us in the future when it comes to fabric selection. While we only had one test that covered the information in this class, there will be many more test in the future with projects and also when we have graduated and become interior designers. That is when the true test will be for the topics and information from this class.

This class was very unique in the perspective that we actually took field trips to many different places to get first hand experience of the topics we actually covered. The information covered in class was much more interesting and a lot easier to grasp after visiting these various places and seeing how things actually work. For example, visiting All About Looks was a ton of fun on top of being a valuable learning experience. After the three women explained how they identify weaves in fabrics, it suddenly was a lot easier to do the same. Also, being there and seeing how designers in the real world actually select and order fabrics will be very valuable to me in the future when I actually have to do the same. The field trips taken for this course proved to be a very important part of learning the information covered in this class while also showing how different firms and companies work within and with interior designers.

This course used information taught in the classroom as well as information taught by firsthand experience during field trips to teach each topic covered in this class. Without the information introduced in the classroom, the field trips information would have not made sense. Also, without the information learned during the field trips, the information taught in the classroom would have not been grasped so thoroughly.  The classroom and the field trips worked together in this course to teach invaluable information that will be used throughout our careers as interior designers.