摘要：Prototypes are made, presented, and interpreted differently by people according to their understanding and frame of reference. Design educators have, in recent decades, come closer to one another in how they approach design creativity. Still, many distinct differences exist. One of the most striking has to do with the role of prototyping in developing ideas into concrete manifestations. Prototypes unlock cognitive association mechanisms related to visualisation, prior experience, and interpersonal communication in ways that favour iterative learning between peers in the product development community. When, where, and how to use prototyping strategies depends on context, and it demands a high level of situation awareness. The nature of this awareness is, in turn, dependent on cultural variables and curriculum development. Prototyping has been portrayed as an excellent activity to share inner thoughts, yet a deeper connection to its knowledge-building processes has been lacking in previous research. This paper builds on related literature in shaping a common understanding of how prototyping is perceived and applied in two different high-performance academic contexts (Stanford University, Stanford, USA, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden). Our exploration focuses on students’ perceived learning experiences and on teachers’ experiences within engineering design projects. Prototyping is an active enabler in both cases, establishing iterative loops of new knowledge through social interaction and team-based communication. The deeper level of cognitive attachments to prototyping provides an explicit link between embedded implicit knowledge and its consequences for objective learning.
