Customization and Autonomy : Characteristics of the Ideal Design Studio Instructor in Design Education

Design studio is a unique type of course in architecture and interior design education, in which learning is based on student-instructor interaction and learning by doing; yet little research has been conducted on student perceptions of the ideal design studio instructor. The purpose of this paper was to identify characteristics of the ideal studio instructor from student perspectives. Three award-winning design studio instructors’ studio activities were observed, and the three instructors and their 40 students were interviewed. As a result, characteristics in four categories were identified. The author argues that providing customized feedback and allowing student autonomy are the two distinct characteristics that students value in design studio as compared to students in other fields or type of courses. The findings provide valuable insights to design educators who would like to strengthen their teaching studios by listening to student voices.

[1]  Patrick Little,et al.  Use of “Studio” Methods in the Introductory Engineering Design Curriculum , 2001 .

[2]  A. Ben-Ze'ev,et al.  Emotional phenomena and the student–instructor relationships , 2002 .

[3]  Linda Bloomberg,et al.  Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Road Map From Beginning to End , 2008 .

[4]  Dang X. Cu,et al.  Architecture: The Story of Practice , 1991 .

[5]  Donald A. Schön.  The Architectural Studio as an Exemplar of Education for Reflection-in-Action , 1984 .

[6]  M. Larson,et al.  Architecture: The Story of Practice. , 1992 .

[7]  William Alexander McClung.  The Mediating Structure of the Small Town , 1985 .

[8]  M. Opdenakker,et al.  Teacher characteristics and teaching styles as effectiveness enhancing factors of classroom practice , 2006 .

[9]  Wayne Attoe,et al.  Excellent studio teaching in architecture , 1991 .

[10]  Janette Young,et al.  Review: Linda Dale Bloomberg & Marie F. Volpe (2008). Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Roadmap From Beginning to End , 2009 .

[11]  M. Jacobson.  EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR OF TEACHERS OF NURSING AS DETERMINED BY THEIR STUDENTS , 1968, [Kango kyoiku] Japanese journal of nurses' education.

[12]  Jean Paul Carlhian.  The Ecole Des Beaux-Arts: Modes and Manners , 1979 .

[13]  Carmen Pozo-Muñoz,et al.  The 'Ideal Teacher'. Implications for student evaluation of teacher effectiveness , 2000 .

[14]  R. Forrester-Jones.  Students' Perceptions of Teaching: The research is alive and well , 2003 .

[15]  J. K. Ochsner,et al.  Behind the Mask: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Interaction in the Design Studio , 2000 .

[16]  C. P. Goodman,et al.  The Tacit Dimension , 2003 .

[17]  Anubhuti Bhatia.  Architecture Pedagogy: Psychological, Social, and Other Emergent Issues in the Design Studio , 2006 .

[18]  Seok-Heon Yun,et al.  Rebar Fabrication Process in Both Field Processing and Factory Processing for Adopting Lean Construction , 2013 .

[19]  Valeri R. Helterbran.  The Ideal Professor: Student Perceptions of Effective Instructor Practices, Attitudes, and Skills. , 2008 .

[20]  Gabriela Goldschmidt,et al.  The design studio “crit”: Teacher–student communication , 2010, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[21]  H. Kay.  HUMAN LEARNING. , 1964, British medical bulletin.

[22]  Jeffrey H. Dorfman,et al.  Determinants of teaching quality: What's important to students? , 1994 .

[23]  Stefani Ledewitz,et al.  Models of Design in Studio Teaching , 1985 .

[24]  J.M. Wilson,et al.  Studio courses: How information technology is changing the way we teach, on campus and off , 2000, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[25]  Stephanie E. Afful,et al.  Students' Perceptions of and Preferences for Professors , 2010 .

[26]  Abdulbari Bener,et al.  Student and faculty perceptions of the characteristics of an ideal teacher in a classroom setting , 1996 .

[27]  Donald A. Schön.  Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions , 1987 .

[28]  Alma Harris,et al.  Effective Teaching: A review of the literature , 1998 .

[29]  Michael A. Bunch.  Core Curriculum in Architectural Education , 1993 .

[30]  Taewan Kim.  A Simple Procedure of Seismic Performance Evaluation for Unreinforced Masonry Buildings in Korea , 2013 .

[31]  Nigel R. Parton.  Some thoughts on the relationship between theory and practice in and for social work , 2000 .

[32]  Carol B. Brandt,et al.  The “right kind of telling”: knowledge building in the academic design studio , 2012 .

[33]  Ji Young Cho,et al.  Pedagogy of aesthetics: a study of three architectural design studios , 2011 .

[34]  Castl Survey.  The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching , 1910, Nature.

[35]  H. Rittel,et al.  Dilemmas in a general theory of planning , 1973 .

[36]  James H. Stronge,et al.  What Makes Good Teachers Good? A Cross-Case Analysis of the Connection Between Teacher Effectiveness and Student Achievement , 2011 .

[37]  Kathryn H. Anthony,et al.  Design Juries on Trial: The Renaissance of the Design Studio , 1991 .

[38]  K. Moore,et al.  THE SCIENTIST, THE SOCIAL ACTIVIST, THE PRACTITIONER AND THE CLERIC: PEDAGOGICAL EXPLORATION TOWARDS A PEDAGOGY OF PRACTICE , 2001 .

[39]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches , 2010 .