Shawchiang Wong
Raffles University, Art and Design, Faculty Member
- I am a passionate and experienced graphic design practitioner who believes that designers should use their expertise ... moreI am a passionate and experienced graphic design practitioner who believes that designers should use their expertise to deal with a different range of issues and stand at the forefront of making the world a better place for all. Apart from handling commercially projects, I actively participate in various community projects such as TEDxSungaiSegget, Ihsan Johor Humanitarian Project, RUN Volunteer Network, Good Earth Project, and TLC Arty Party series to promote a sustainable and inclusive development of his community.
I hold a PhD degree in Creative Studies, a Master degree in Education with a specialisation in Curriculum and Instruction, and a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design. I am a lecturer who have vast experience in teaching and supervision at diploma and undergraduate levels. I conduct design thinking workshops for university students and sharing about his teaching experience with his colleagues regularly. I am a Certified Trainer under the Human Resources Development Fund Malaysia.
I am also actively involved in research and development in pedagogical methods for design-centric learning and competency models for future graphic design graduates in Malaysia. I have published more than 10 papers in related areas.edit
The participation of external stakeholders in pedagogical activities in higher education has increased in recent years, and this is because such involvement can potentially improve student learning outcomes. However, the strategies and... more
The participation of external stakeholders in pedagogical activities in higher education has increased in recent years, and this is because such involvement can potentially improve student learning outcomes. However, the strategies and processes have yet to be adequately explored and documented, especially in the context of the Malaysian university. This paper presents a case regarding how the external stakeholders were involved in the design and implementation of an experiential learning project for an elective module in Diploma programmes of Raffles University, Malaysia based on a pedagogical model. This model consists of three major phases: (1.) initiation and design; (2.) execution; and (3.) evaluation and review. The roles of external stakeholders and the responsibilities of lecturers in each phase were discussed. In addition, students’ learning experiences and their reflections on the experiences were also described along with the discussion. This paper concludes that the deve...
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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Traditionally, graphic design (GD) education focuses on the training of technical production skills to prepare graduates for entry-level employment. However, due to the new challenges and the expanding opportunities of emerging practices,... more
Traditionally, graphic design (GD) education focuses on the training of technical production skills to prepare graduates for entry-level employment. However, due to the new challenges and the expanding opportunities of emerging practices, GD graduates are expected to master a wide range of additional competencies beyond traditional scope. The study aims to identify the competencies required by future GD graduates in the context of Malaysia. A two-round modified Delphi technique was used to gain consensus from a panel of experts consisted of design educators and industry practitioners regarding the competencies needed by the graduates for effective work performance. A total of 108 competencies were generated. All accepted competencies were ranked ‘very important’ and ‘extremely important’ by at least 75 percent of the respondents in Round Two. These competencies could be classified into 29 subdomains under five components, i.e., cognitive competence, functional competence, personal c...
Research Interests:
The participation of external stakeholders in pedagogical activities in higher education has increased in recent years, and this is because such involvement can potentially improve student learning outcomes. However, the strategies and... more
The participation of external stakeholders in pedagogical activities in higher education has increased in recent years, and this is because such involvement can potentially improve student learning outcomes. However, the strategies and processes have yet to be adequately explored and documented, especially in the context of the Malaysian university. This paper presents a case regarding how the external stakeholders were involved in the design and implementation of an experiential learning project for an elective module in Diploma programmes of Raffles University, Malaysia based on a pedagogical model. This model consists of three major phases: (1.) initiation and design; (2.) execution; and (3.) evaluation and review. The roles of external stakeholders and the responsibilities of lecturers in each phase were discussed. In addition, students' learning experiences and their reflections on the experiences were also described along with the discussion. This paper concludes that the developed pedagogical model may serve as an effective means to engage with external stakeholders in planning and delivering meaningful lessons for authentic learning at university level.
Research Interests:
Traditionally, graphic design (GD) education focuses on the training of technical production skills to prepare graduates for entry-level employment. However, due to the new challenges and the expanding opportunities of emerging practices,... more
Traditionally, graphic design (GD) education focuses on the training of technical production skills to prepare graduates for entry-level employment. However, due to the new challenges and the expanding opportunities of emerging practices, GD graduates are expected to master a wide range of additional competencies beyond traditional scope. The study aims to identify the competencies required by future GD graduates in the context of Malaysia. A two-round modified Delphi technique was used to gain consensus from a panel of experts consisted of design educators and industry practitioners regarding the competencies needed by the graduates for effective work performance. A total of 108 competencies were generated. All accepted competencies were ranked 'very important' and 'extremely important' by at least 75 percent of the respondents in Round Two. These competencies could be classified into 29 subdomains under five components, i.e., cognitive competence, functional competence, personal competence, ethical competence, and meta-competencies. The findings of this study are useful for enhancing the education and employability of graphic designers as they provide a common vocabulary to relevant stakeholders about the standards of performance for new entrants to the GD profession.
Research Interests:
Competencies have been used as valid predictors of superior on-the-job performance in business organizations over the last 40 years. An abundant of empirical evidence has suggested that competencies play important roles in human resource... more
Competencies have been used as valid predictors of superior on-the-job performance in business organizations over the last 40 years. An abundant of empirical evidence has suggested that competencies play important roles in human resource management (HRM) practices for different types of organizations. However, the important roles of competency have not been fully integrated into the business world, creating a gap between theory and practice. There seems to also appear a number of misperceptions with regards to the use of the term ‘competency’ in the literature. This paper intends to trace the origins of competency and document various definitions and concepts of competency proposed by different scholars. In addition, the paper also aims to shed light on the processes, guidelines, and techniques for developing competencies pragmatically for a particular job or profession as well as the importance of competency-based assessment in organizations for today’s HRM practices.
Research Interests:
Although a number of studies on identifying the competency constructs required by future graduates for working effectively in the professional practice of graphic design (GD) have been conducted, there is a lack of empirical evidence... more
Although a number of studies on identifying the competency constructs required by future graduates for working effectively in the professional practice of graphic design (GD) have been conducted, there is a lack of empirical evidence within the literature showing the ranking of importance of these constructs. Therefore, the study intends to determine the perceived level of importance among GD experts regarding the essential competency constructs for future GD graduates in the context of Malaysia. Survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 19 university-level design academics and 13 industry practitioners. Relative of Importance Index (RII) was used to analyse the data. The top 10 competency constructs in order of their ranked importance as perceived by the experts were: teamwork and leadership skills, project management skills, marketing fundamentals, self-efficacy, advertising design skills, reflective thinking skills, communication skills, industry knowledge, emotional intelligence, and design fundamentals. The results suggested that education of graphic designers must go beyond the conventional scope of technical training to prepare students for the evolving work of design practice.
Research Interests:
Integration of industrial specific skills and knowledge from workplace environment into the curriculum has received increasing attention in curriculum development at universities. The engagement between the stakeholders and students in... more
Integration of industrial specific skills and knowledge from workplace environment into the curriculum has received increasing attention in curriculum development at universities. The engagement between the stakeholders and students in learning is important to enhance the student's employability skills, which is identified as a gap among graduates. This paper reports the development of a participatory design model that emphasizes on the engagement of industry stakeholders and a module taught in undergraduate design programme. The model is discussed in the context of pedagogical process that aims to develop employability skills and to achieve the course learning outcomes. Students' works are presented to the project stakeholders and a reflection of the teaching and learning outcomes is discussed. Upon reflection, the findings indicate that the pedagogical process enables students to engage with industry stakeholders and produce visual design outcomes that fulfill industry requirements and expectations. This model provides an alternative way to encourage work-based learning at university level.
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The competencies of graphic design graduates are always a concern for design educators and industry professionals. However, limited evidence has been offered by past studies on the existence of a set of competency standards for new... more
The competencies of graphic design graduates are always a concern for design educators and industry professionals. However, limited evidence has been offered by past studies on the existence of a set of competency standards for new entrants to graphic design profession. Also, there seems to exist a very few studies on the tool used to measure the graduates' competency levels that can be found from the literature review. This paper intends to describe a conceptual framework used to develop a model and instrument for competency assessment of graphic design graduates in the context of Malaysia. The conceptual framework described in this paper will include the factors that constantly affect the competencies (knowledge, skills, personal traits, self-concept, and motives) of graphic design graduates.
Research Interests:
Several scholars had addressed the value of formal graphic design education in preparing students for the professional design careers in the past. Their studies investigated the necessity of a 'degree' for employment. In general, their... more
Several scholars had addressed the value of formal graphic design education in preparing students for the professional design careers in the past. Their studies investigated the necessity of a 'degree' for employment. In general, their results indicated that employers in design industry emphasized more on 'practical experience' than 'academic qualification' when recruiting graphic designers. Additionally, due to the availability and accessibility of various design software and tools today, there are a growing number of 'self-taught' and 'informally trained' graphic designers in the industry. In light of this phenomenon, design educators and higher educational institutions must reevaluate how they can articulate a broader value of formal education for design practice. Through conducting a comprehensive literature review, this paper aims to discuss what should be taught in graphic design education to best prepare graduates for a fast-changing world and strengthen the value of a 'degree' in graphic design. Recommendations will be provided in the conclusion.
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This paper aims to illustrate a systematic procedure in developing a model and measurement instrument to measure the competency levels of graphic design graduates. A review of literature indicated that the development of a competency... more
This paper aims to illustrate a systematic procedure in developing a model and measurement instrument to measure the competency levels of graphic design graduates. A review of literature indicated that the development of a competency model and instrument for a specific job or profession begins with identifying competency constructs and items through observation, literature review, document analysis, and interviewing. The methodological process described in this paper is furthered by means of modified Delphi Technique to gain consensus from a panel of experts and survey questionnaire to test the validity and reliability the competency instrument. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used in this process.
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Integration of social responsibility dimensions into graphic design curriculum has received increasing attention nowadays, and that is due to exclusive impacts designers have in society. Despite this, precise understanding among lecturers... more
Integration of social responsibility dimensions into graphic design curriculum has received increasing attention nowadays, and that is due to exclusive impacts designers have in society. Despite this, precise understanding among lecturers of integrating social responsibility pertaining to societal, environmental, and cultural dimensions into graphic design curriculum, specifically in the Malaysian context is inconclusive. In this qualitative study, 3 lecturers from 3 private colleges in Malaysia shed some light on their understanding of social responsibility dimensions with regards to integrating these dimensions into the graphic design curriculum. Results indicate that all lecturers have a sufficient but diverse understanding of the social responsibility dimensions. However, despite their planning of meaningful content and pedagogical processes for the graphic design courses, no specifically related formal goals are integrated into the curriculum. The results, therefore, suggest that more precise definitions of each social responsibility dimension needs to be integrated into graphic design curriculum, specifically in the curriculum purposes, content, pedagogical processes, and assessment methods.
Research Interests:
As compared to other professionals such as architects, doctors, engineers, and accountants, graphic designers have relatively lower professional status. Some people argue that this is in large part due to the fact that graphic designers... more
As compared to other professionals such as architects, doctors, engineers, and accountants, graphic designers have relatively lower professional status. Some people argue that this is in large part due to the fact that graphic designers have lighter responsibilities, i.e., they deal only with 'the making of things and beautiful things' instead of 'life and death' or 'safety' issues of their clients. However, many design scholars perceive graphic design as a strategic tool that can bring massive values to global organizations, markets, societies, and economies. In light of this 'perception gap', graphic designers must reconsider how they can strengthen or elevate their professional status among the public. Through conducting a comprehensive literature review, this paper aims to investigate and discuss the possible factors that have failed graphic designers to be recognized as professionals. It concludes that the conventional definition of the term 'graphic design' can no longer reflect the current state of the profession and that governing bodies must work towards developing an professional accreditation for graphic designers.
Integration of social responsibility dimensions into graphic design curriculum has received increasing attention nowadays, and that is due to exclusive impacts designers have in society. Despite this, precise understanding among students... more
Integration of social responsibility dimensions into graphic design curriculum has received increasing attention nowadays, and that is due to exclusive impacts designers have in society. Despite this, precise understanding among students of integrating social responsibility pertaining to societal, environmental, and cultural dimensions into graphic design curriculum, specifically in the Malaysian context is inconclusive. In this qualitative study, 3 groups of students from 3 private colleges in Malaysia shed some light on their understanding of social responsibility dimensions, and with regards to their experiences of how these dimensions are integrated by their lecturers into the graphic design curriculum. Results indicate that while all students present a sufficient understanding of social responsibility in societal and cultural dimensions, it tends to be lacking in environmental dimension. Further, most students express that despite their lecturers' planning for meaningful content and pedagogical processes for the graphic design courses, no specifically related formal goals are integrated into the curriculum. The results, therefore suggest that more precise definitions of each social responsibility dimension needs to be integrated into graphic design curriculum, specifically in the curriculum purposes, content, pedagogical processes, and assessment methods.