Abstract
The use of metaphors in design can help students reflect over a problem situation under an innovative point of view. During their design studies, students are supposed to acquire design skills, gain knowledge and enhance their level of expertise. This research explores the aid provided by metaphors in design problem solving, and its relationship to the development of design expertise. Empirical results showed that the level of expertise has no significant effect in the aid supplied by the use of metaphors in the earlier stages of the design process, concerned with the definition of design concepts and framing of design situations. In contrast, when expertise develops, the use of metaphors has a significant effect in the final stages of the design process, dealing with mapping, transfer, and application of structural relationships to the design problem. Although in the group of novices the use of metaphors was found to have a more significant effect in the earlier stages of the process, no differences between the different phases of the metaphorical process were found in the group of the advanced students. Metaphors are proposed as an educational method in the design studio, alternative to traditional education approaches.
Highlights
The design studio is the place where students are expected to acquire design skills and enhance their level of expertise (Kvan & Jia, 2005; Salama, & Wilkinson, 2007)
As an alternative to the above traditional education methodologies, the present study examines the use of metaphors, and its relationship to the enhancement of design skills during the design process
The acquisition of skills in the use of metaphors was analysed in the different stages of the design process, characterised by the definition of design concepts and framing of design situations, and the mapping, transfer, and application of structural relationships to the design problem
Summary
The design studio is the place where students are expected to acquire design skills and enhance their level of expertise (Kvan & Jia, 2005; Salama, & Wilkinson, 2007). Students can gain expertise in design problem solving from their teachers, and by tackling problems in a trial-error manner. The latter is known as “learning by doing.”. On the other hand, commonly misinterpret their teachers, and fail to identify the new knowledge transferred to them Their lack of experience, and their reduced ability to discern relevant from irrelevant information sometimes result in an impediment to apply appropriate concepts, experiences, or basic knowledge to their own projects
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