Studio Course Research Articles

Virtual Reality (VR) Method to Improve Sense of Place for Interior Design Studio Students

Virtual reality (VR) technology has emerged in response to recent developments in the 3-dimensional (3D) world. VR enables people to engage in various metaverse world experiences in a more immersive way. Immersive learning is a learning method that uses 3D digital technology to facilitate the learning process by visualization in the classroom. This research used a case study of the Interior Design II studio course taken by level-2 students of the Department of Interior Design, School of Creative Industries, Telkom University, Indonesia. The Interior Design II course requires students to design the interior of a residence with a minimum area of 100 m2. The method of paired sample test analysis was used to assess student’s preferences for pre-test and post-test statements from the VR intervention method in assessing student’s sense of place in the final design of the course. The results showed significant differences in student preferences during the pre-test (481.3% and 790.6%), which increased during the post-test (641.7% and 801%). The paired sample t-test analysis results also showed a Sig (2-tailed) number of 0.000 < 0.05, so there is a significant relationship between the pre-test and post-test intervention.

Fostering metacognition in the design studio: The effect of minimal interventions on architectural students’ metacognitive awareness

This study investigates the role of metacognitive interventions in the design studio and the relationship between metacognitive awareness and design learning through quasi-experimental research. The study was conducted at an undergraduate design studio course with the participation of 80 fourth-year students divided into experimental and control groups. In the study, minimal metacognitive interventions prompting students to reflect on their design project and design process were administered in the experimental group during an academic term embedded in the design course. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) was applied to both the experimental group and the control group as a pre-test and post-test to determine the impact of minimal interventions on metacognitive awareness. In addition, the relationship between metacognitive awareness and design course grade and the type and level of this relationship were analysed. According to the findings, metacognitive interventions significantly enhanced metacognitive awareness levels of students with lower metacognitive awareness. However, interventions did not result in a statistically significant difference in the design course grade. Furthermore, a moderate positive correlation was found between design course grades and pre-MAI scores, i.e., pre-MAI scores explained about 20 % of the variance in the design course grades. In conclusion, minimal interventions are beneficial at least to students with lower levels of metacognitive awareness and potentially more substantial interventions would be even more helpful to these students and other students with a higher level of metacognitive awareness.

Computational earthquake management: An educational perspective

This article presents an educational undertaking to integrate earthquake management subjects into the curriculum, specifically in a master’ s-level design studio course within an architecture faculty. The course explores the employment of challenge-based learning (CBL) and self-directed learning (SDL) principles, emphasizing computation for earthquake resilience and recovery. It is taught with a teaching team with diverse expertise, and it is formulated as an interdisciplinary learning environment that leads to the development of projects that explore know-how beyond the typical disciplinary boundaries of the students’ backgrounds. The article suggests that employing the principles of CBL and SDL, emphasizing computational thinking as a transversal competence, and introducing digital technologies into the course content and teaching methods can lead to an effective interdisciplinary learning environment that improves students’ motivation and agency. They can allow the students to take the initiative in extending their disciplinary knowledge and encourage their self-positioning as problem solvers. The projects formulated and developed by the students address all four phases of earthquake management through computational methods and digital technologies. Accordingly, it is suggested that computational earthquake management can be studied as an interdisciplinary research field that can address all phases of earthquake management, influencing both educational and professional domains. This article presents this course’s pedagogical approach, learning methods, and outcomes. It is concluded with an evaluation of this experience, highlighting directions towards future research. It is suggested that it can give insights into the effective integration of this subject into education and influence future research and professional explorations at the intersection of computation and earthquake management within interdisciplinary learning environments.

Design Students’ Affordance-based Messages in an Undesigned Design Studio

In this study, as PhD candidates and teaching assistants working in the Interior Architecture Department of the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) we aimed to explore the interrelationship between the students’ messages and the studio’s affordances by using participant observation and photovoice methods in the classes we attended in the same physical space. We used the photographs taken by us during the studio courses as the central data set to explore the messages triggered by the studio affordances, which are formed based on the complex environments and relationships created by the limited physical facilities of our design studio, the high student quotas and the large project groups using the same physical space at different and even the exact times. Through collaborative commentary and reflective writing, we produced written and visual reports on the final themes at the conclusion of the analysis process. Finally, we concluded that the four main themes, namely, direct message, indirect message, transcendent message, and no message but action, guided us in exploring and explaining our studio’s affordances.

Structural literacy in architectural studio learning

ABSTRACT Architectural education encompasses a multidisciplinary curriculum including design, theory, history, technology, environmental considerations, urban planning, social aspects, and professional practice. This study aims to investigate the extent to which students can effectively integrate structural concepts into architectural design. This examination takes place within the framework of a third-year architectural design studio course, where students advance their design processes with input from architectural design instructors and experts in structural concepts. To facilitate this endeavour, a simple visual screening form was introduced to aid in the learning process. The study utilises a newly generated survey, namely ‘Structural System Control Form’, which is inspired by the rapid visual screening forms, to assess the students’ comprehension of structural concepts during a 14-week architectural design studio. Employing a descriptive and correlational research approach, the study assesses the effectiveness of this integrated strategy in enhancing the students’ understanding of structural principles. The findings revealed a notable development among students who participated in the integrated approach, highlighting the value of feedback and evaluation from instructors versed in construction. Furthermore, the use of simplified structural models in students’ projects improved their understanding of structural concepts and their ability to incorporate them into their architectural representations.

Human-centered approach for furniture design studio course in interior design education: A case study

Human-centered approach for furniture design studio course in interior design education: A case study

Digital Reflective Practice in Textile Design Studio Courses: Perspectives from Pakistan

AbstractThis multiple case study aimed to investigate how digital reflective practice (DRP) influences the creative process of textile design students. Interviews were conducted with textile design instructors, heads of department, and students from four higher education textile design departments in Pakistan. The main themes elicited from the four case studies were teachers’ and students’ perceptions of DRP, challenges to its implementation, and prospects for DRP in the context of textile studio design. Digital technologies can improve students' creativity and comprehension of tasks in textile design studio courses through reflection. Furthermore, teachers can play a crucial role in helping students to utilise digital reflection technologies through mentorship.

Selecting applications to increase the efficiency of distance learning in architectural design

PurposeIn light of the technological advancements and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational systems, universities worldwide had to find new methods to ensure that the educational process continued. In many countries, including Egypt, it has become a priority to direct their institutions toward digital transformation, using electronic means in the educational process. A set of challenges emerged in the educational process, especially in architectural learning, focusing on the design studio; problems intensified and some professors rejected the idea of distance learning, announcing their strong adherence to traditional face-to-face learning. This research aims to find a methodology that informs the choice of digital technology in architectural design courses.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used both qualitative and quantitative methodology based on inductive, analytical, interview-questionnaire and empirical studies in Egypt.FindingsResults show that many criteria affect the selection of proper applications. Also, using multiple applications in architecture design course helps students understand the material. However, hybrid learning is crucial in teaching architectural design since it cannot be effectively conveyed solely through distance learning.Originality/valueThe results of the research will help improve and develop the distance learning system in architectural education by proposing a methodology for choosing suitable electronic tools for architecture studio courses. These courses enhance the effectiveness of students' understanding and comprehension during the distance learning process to increase motivation for thinning development, imagination and educational skills.

Strategic Design Skills in a Live Project: A Case Study of a Graduate Studio Course

Strategic Design Skills in a Live Project: A Case Study of a Graduate Studio Course

Nurturing Feedback and its Impact on Self-Efficacy, Empowerment, and Professional Growth in Educational and Corporate Environments

This study examines the impact of feedback quality in design education on students' self-efficacy. It argues that nurturing feedback can positively influence students' self-efficacy, leading to increased effort, perseverance, and eagerness to embrace challenges. A case study conducted in a senior design studio course at the American University of Sharjah (UAE) explores the effects of feedback. It proposes strategies to transform it into a nurturing tool for students' self-efficacy. The insights gained provide valuable guidance for all instructors involved in educational environments where feedback plays a pivotal role in students' growth and development. Furthermore, the findings have broader implications for the corporate design sector, emphasizing the importance of nurturing feedback to empower employees and foster their professional growth. Empowered employees are more likely to embrace challenges, take initiative, and contribute to organizational success, making nurturing feedback a vital factor in promoting a positive and productive work environment.

Teaching Sustainability in Architecture through Collaborative Online International Learning

To confront global environmental challenges, architectural design can play an important role to achieve sustainability. This paper addresses the Online collaborative approach to support the integration of environmental sustainability. It will assess the efficacy of integrating collaborative online international learning exchange (COIL) and cross-cultural dialogue pedagogy into a sustainable architecture studio course to develop students’ architectural and intercultural competencies. In this study 16 groups, each group consists of 3-4 students, from An Najah university in Palestine and Memphis university in USA were involved in shared learning classroom model. Different methods were used to assess the students’ outcomes, such as reflection reports written by the students, the use of new technologies for design and communication, and the outcomes from the architectural design. The results show changes in the students' understanding of different cultures, they improved their communication skills, and their ability to design in different contexts. The findings also underline the importance of integrating COIL into architectural design education to create professionals who are able to design a resilient and sustainable built environment. The paper introduces intercultural dialogue framework and a new pedagogical technique in the field of virtual exchange.

İç Mekan Estetik Memnuniyetin Karşılaştırılması: İç Mimarlık Birinci Sınıf ve Üst Sınıf Öğrencileri Arasındaki Farklılıklar

The professions of interior architecture necessitate the integration of both aesthetics and functionality. Therefore, these concepts are deeply embedded in the university education process. The first step on this educational path is taking the basic design studio course which aims students to start developing critical and abstract thinking skills in the design process. It would contribute to the literature to examine how far students are able to develop their aesthetic evaluations in the first year of university education. Therefore, we conducted the study to investigate if there is a difference in aesthetic evaluations of interiors between students who have just started their interior architecture education and students who have completed their first year. Examining how students' aesthetic evaluations for interior design evolve over the course of their interior architecture education provides valuable insights into design education. The results illustrated that there is a significant difference between evaluations of aesthetic pleasure and novelty. The students who finished the first year have less aesthetic pleasure and novelty scores than the students who just started their university education. The first year of education may reduce aesthetic appreciation because basic design education aims to teach students to think critically.

Outcome Based Curriculum Development for Studio Courses: Data Mining an example course

Abstract—Over the past few decades, with a growing emphasis on learner-centric methodologies, the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework has become prominent, with the aim of bridging the gap between academic learning experiences and industry requirements. Outcome Based Education (OBE) has been proving its prominence to ensure intended outcomes and quality. Efforts in designing and development of outcome-based curriculum help to create an effective learning environment. Outcome Based Curriculum Development (OBCD) ensures not only the domain knowledge but also centennial mastery over the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for Industry 4.0 and above. To fill the gap between academic learning and industry requirements, Studio Pedagogy is gaining prominence, particularly for a few hard core courses that require more activity-based learning rather than traditional teaching-learning, i.e. Studio-Based Learning (SBL). This paper discusses OBCD for such an engineering course, Data Mining that needs theoretical concepts to learn by doing, being taught to 5th semester students as a case study. The end survey and assessment performance demonstrated the effectiveness of designing and implementing curriculum for this course as a Studio course with Studio Based Learning. Keywords— Outcome based education, Outcome based curriculum Development, Studio Pedagogy, Studio Based Learning, Learning -by -doing.

Infusing Mental Health in Design Education: A Case Study on Transdisciplinarity and Empathy as Mediums for Innovation

Riane Eisler’s partnership model capitalizes on mutual respect and benefit to empower all relations, an approach that is instrumental to teaching around mental health. Many of the thoughts, urges or behaviors associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) revolve around spatial characteristics of interior built environments. Yet little has been studied on how to infuse such complex problems into design education, which can transform the lives of patients and their families in ways that are both sensitive to students as well as empowering. This paper uses a series of introspections to unpack the lessons learned from a transdisciplinary partnership between an interior design and a product design faculty member who, through a product design studio course, tackled the challenge of designing for youth living with OCD. Three primary themes of reflections and lessons are analyzed: transdisciplinarity, empathy, and course structure. As the analysis reveals, future pedagogical efforts on transdisciplinarity must account for fit - from course objectives to timeline – along with the time and energy needed; a more nuanced approach to empathy must be adopted where the possibility to overwhelm and instill fear in students are balanced with innovation; and fusing research into the design curriculum and course structure must be situated within a more fluid process and also centered on outcomes.

The role of active pedagogies in architectural design studios: post-pandemic adaptation

Background: Architectural design studio courses are the core of architecture education where learners collaborate, brainstorm, and share their ideas to obtain the most beneficial outcome in a shared creative environment. The COVID-19 crisis has brought a variety of amendments in the architecture education world which therefore introduced a vast number of challenges to both architecture students and tutors. Since the beginning of 2020, all architecture universities from all over the world started to depend thoroughly on remote learning and according to previous studies, the majority of the students were highly satisfied with online learning when it came to architectural theoretical courses; however, the most challenging part was the architecture studio courses. Such interference lead to an educational shift from a physical interactive studio environment to a remote learning environment which caused a heated debate among the researchers. Hence, the study aims to test the architecture studio pedagogies in order to obtain an efficient and interactive studio environment leading to more satisfactory outcomes regarding the studio courses. Methods: Two questionnaire surveys were distributed online on google docs to both the studio courses staff members and students at the AAST Campus in Alexandria, Egypt at the end of the 15th week of the course and collected three weeks later. A comparative analysis of the individual and the collaborative phase for both surveys was anonymously achieved through the online forms for an unbiased active learning and pedagogical approaches assessment. Results: The survey results of 73 students and 13 staff participants emphasized the most beneficial active learning criteria and architecture pedagogies to be used for architectural studio courses. Conclusion: According to the results, the study will propose updated active learning guidelines for architectural design studio courses adapting to any emergency.

A blended model of interior design studio practice due to COVID-19

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic upended the educational system around the globe. During this challenging period, universities and colleges looked for other effective alternative methods of learning, such as Virtual Learning Environments (VL). Besides, Ahlia University has implemented E-learning in response to COVID-19. There needs to be more attention given to the challenges associated with technology adoption facing interior design and architecture programs, where over 60% of courses are practical, especially design studios, which form the core of the curriculum. According to a review of the relevant literature, there needs to be more research on blended learning in interior design and architecture. In order to enhance the teaching and learning of interior design and architecture, further research is required to combine cutting-edge techniques and technology. The aim of this study was to review the classroom materials for Ahlia University’s interior design studio. Methods: After completing the INTD 212, INTD 216, INTD 311, and INTD 404 studios in mid-March 2022, a short Qualtrics poll was done to assess the difficulties of e-learning and offer potential consequences. Results: Though students were conveniently attending courses online, there was not much discussion and interaction like in the face-to-face model. Blended teaching in design studio courses offered many benefits. The results showed that blended design studios achieved pedagogical results as students developed their knowledge. Conclusions: Based on the findings, this research concludes that teaching and learning should be shifted from face-to-face and online learning to the best practice of a blended format.

Challenges and opportunities in online education in Architecture: Lessons learned for Post-Pandemic education

This paper reports on the online architectural learning experience at a university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study surveyed students and faculty members regarding their experience of learning and assessment and proposed recommendations for future online education. The survey supported the study hypothesis that students generally believe that they had a positive online learning experience during the pandemic. However, the principal challenge was the lack of a physical interactive environment in studio-based courses, which resulted in a sense of isolation. Thus, the study recommends that online education in architecture could be used as a supportive tool rather than an alternative. In this context, design studio courses, especially at the beginning of a study programme, should not be given completely online unless this was essential. The use of blended learning is a balanced strategy that uses interactive online technologies to enhance traditional face-to-face learning in design studio courses.

Evaluation of an alternative approach to increase productivity in architecture project studios through student projects

Studio courses in architectural education are undoubtedly among the most important courses that prepare students for professional design life. A given project should be guided with the support of the instructors and should include a simulation of the process in professional business life. Despite this, research shows that there is a disconnect between academia and the professional process. In addition to the fact that the educational process tries to add a different understanding to the student, professional life cannot find the middle point with academic education due to the constant changes in regulations due to rent and similar reasons. In such an environment, giving meaning to projects with an idealistic understanding, offering a thematic experience and producing holistic buildings with identity increases the importance of alternative approaches in project studios in educational processes. Although it is not possible to prevent the emergence of identity-less and rent-oriented products in the market only through architectural education, approaches that will increase productivity in this education will also increase students' expectations from the profession. The conceptual approach, which is one of these alternatives, can be defined as creating a network of relationships based on a basic idea. This network of relationships allows the concept to be transformed into a concrete structure by distributing it to all project processes without moving away from the context and with an inclusive approach. In this study, first of all, the conceptual approach in design education will be emphasized and general definitions will be made, and Studio-2, Studio-3, and Studio-4 courses in Konya Technical University Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture in 2021-2022 will be evaluated with a conceptual approach. With this approach, it has been concluded that the student's design perception and thinking technique can be developed by creating concept-based, original, and holistic, and focusing on the missing aspects of professional life in project courses.

Appropriation Method in Visual Art Teacher Education Painting Art Studio Course

This research is a case study aiming to reveal the experiences of art students towards the activity of “reproduction through appropriation”. During the activity process, students were firstly informed about appropriation and the art of appropriation, especially the works in which two works of art were appropriated by integrating them, and each student was asked to identify two works of art to be appropriated. Students made sketches by establishing relational links between the two works they chose. In the last stage, students were expected to make a new artistic production. In this research, which was conducted with the participation of 8 students attending the art studio course, the experiences of the students regarding the process formed the unit of analysis. Worksheets, process evaluation form and artworks were used as data sources. As a result of the research, it was identified that the students were able to produce thoughts about the concepts emerging with appropriation and appropriation art and question this art practice. The students made an effort to integrate the artistic elements in the two works they used for appropriation in an appropriate way and to create the best visual fiction, and they were able to bring a new interpretation by making use of the artists’ application of the paint technique and their understanding of colour in the appropriated works. They also realised that the artwork they produced was only a tool to force themselves into the artistic creation process and to gain artistic knowledge and skills. In other words, they developed an awareness of the limits of utilising the works in the history of art to ensure originality in their future arworks. It is possible to say that making use of the appropriation method in art studio courses will contribute to the artistic development of students.

Variants of Design Studio: A Phenomenographi Research on Students’ Conceptions of Design Studio Environment

Especially in the last two decades, there has been a call for change in design studio education. Today, a growing body of unconventional studio teaching approaches is challenging the traditional design studio setting. Given the central role of the instructor in the design studio, each instructor adopts an approach according to their disposition on design and architecture, as well as to their view on education, and to some extent, they reflect their view in the design of their studio course. This also enables students to explore different approaches to design and architecture while exposing them to different pedagogical positions. This scenario, viewed from the students’ perspectives, raises two intriguing questions concerning studio education and the range of studio environments: (1) What is the range of studio teaching approaches embodied in design studios? (2) In what dimensions do they differ regarding students’ learning experiences? This paper is a phenomenographic research aiming to map the range of current studio environments from a pedagogical standpoint through students’ conceptions. For this purpose, we interviewed ten graduates from three architectural schools about their studio experiences. Through a phenomenographic analysis, we elicited four qualitatively different conceptions of studio environments. Further cross-category analysis revealed that the conceptions varied in several dimensional themes. The results provide insight from the student’s perspective on how studio environments are experienced. This information may contribute to our understanding of the studio environment, its underlying pedagogy, and how students experience learning.