A STUDENT FOCUSED EVALUATION OF INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATION: A DESIGN STUDIO EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This article includes a comparison of two student groups which differ according to their previous learning within a design studio course in the department of interior design. The first group is the students who have enrolled in the department through a transition exam applied after the graduation of vocational schools, and the other group consists of standard students who enrolled according to the score of a central exam. The distinguishing feature of the first group is that they have passed to the faculty after two years of vocational education. The transition students have different backgrounds for their previous learning. As it is known, the design studio is an opportune environment to observe the design process and students’ performances. Also student factor in design studios is currently being discussed intensively to improve the content of design education. From this perspective, it is aimed to evaluate success circumstances of these two groups scientifically through the design studio environment. The success levels of standard and transition students were compared based on performances of the design studios. Consequently, no statistically significant difference was found depends on the backgrounds of students, however some qualitative inferences were made through interpretation in the scope of the study.