John Gloag (1896-1981) was a leading modernist commentator and anyone with an interest in early and mid-20th Century design will be familiar with his name. He was well known as an author of almost 60 books on architecture, social history and industrial design. Gloag was a member of an elite design culture that was highly visible throughout the 1930s and 40s. Although an ardent reformist with links to a number of prestigious institutions, including RIBA, the RSA, the DIA and the CoID, Gloag's contribution to design reform and to an understanding of a national design tradition, has attracted little scholarly interest. This set addresses that by re-issuing 10 of his most well-received books, many of them amply and beautifully illustrated.

Wide aspects of a university education address design: the conceptualization, planning and implementation of man-made artifacts. All areas of engineering, parts of computer science and of course architecture and industrial design all claim to teach design. Yet the education of design tends ot follow tacit practices, without explicit assumptions, goals and processes.

This book is premised on the belief that design education based on a cognitive science approach can lead to significant improvements in the effectiveness of university design courses and to the future capabilities of practicing designers. This applies to all professional areas of design. The book grew out of publications and a workshop focusing on design education. This volume attempts to outline a framework upon which new efforts in design education might be based.

The book includes chapters dealing with six broad aspects of the study of design education:
- Methodologies for undertaking studies of design learning
- Longitudinal assessment of design learning
- Methods and cases for assessing beginners, experts and special populations
- Studies of important component processes
- Structure of design knowledge
- Design cognition in the classroom