Hapticity in Digital Education Atmosphere

Esen Gokce Ozdamar,Hulya Yavas,Gokcen Firdevs Yucel Caymaz

doi:10.46474/jds.982811

Abstract

This article focuses on the effects of the decreased ability to perceive touch in distance learning for all of the actors in architectural design studios during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As part of face-to-face architectural pedagogy, the tactile experience of architectural materials, models, and corporeality in the studio environment assumes great importance. However, in contrast, these aspects are diminished when it comes to digital education, generating new topics for discussion. This article asks how and to what extent distance education models can affect the process of learning, understanding, discussing, and designing architecture, amidst the prospect of continuous digital education in the post-pandemic period. Hence, it examines the awareness and experiences of haptic perception of first-year students at the Istanbul Aydın University Department of Architecture through in-depth interviews recorded on Zoom. Between 2020 and 2021, the interviews investigated haptic perception, observed construction techniques, factors affecting design materials, the way and place in which materials were perceived, the methods of sharing and transferring designs with studio instructors, questions about the obstacles encountered, and expectations for the post-pandemic period. The outcomes of these in-depth interviews showed that there is a close relationship between the students’ bodily interests and their awareness with regards to perceiving materials and that the former indicated a tendency towards making models. It was observed that students had preferred digital design tools in the pre-pandemic period, and in addition to the digital tools that students often use as a design approach, they negotiated as designing through hand-drawing in order to gain the “thinking with one’s hands” experience in this study. This emphasizes the need for haptic experiences in an architectural educational environment.

Highlights

Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the difficulties of distance learning in architecture is the issues caused by the decreased interdisciplinary interaction and dialogue between instructors and their students
Research Problems This study explores the problem that haptic learning styles risk drifting away from the holistic nature of architecture because haptic perception is less accessible to both students and instructors in distance learning
Through the studio instructor. 70% have encountered the materials in their living environment, while 70% have seen the representation of the material in two dimensions in printed or digital media. 30% have seen an image of the material but only its technical properties in printed or digital media, while 45% have seen a representation of the material through animations, videos, or documentaries on the internet

Summary

Introduction

Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the difficulties of distance learning in architecture is the issues caused by the decreased interdisciplinary interaction and dialogue between instructors and their students. The most common disadvantages when compared with face-toface learning are the communication problems faced by students, which may cause the instructors to “use multiple applications” Other restrictions and challenges faced by the students and instructors who live in nonuniversity households include experiencing power outages during the pedagogical process, lacking access to architectural models and materials (which often corresponds to the remote location of their residences), and the decrease in hapticity as part of a distance—the focus of this article. It is significant that the lessons can be viewed and downloaded again—allowing students to watch the lesson at an accelerated or sloweddown speed—depending on their perception and speed—and to gain transparent and openaccess opportunities

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Discussion

Conclusion