Stone, Lori

Design projects are becoming global, and utilizing digital technology for communication among team members is important (Bender, 2005). Providing authentic learning experiences for interior design students helps prepare them for real world challenges in the workplace, where design firms have multiple offices around the world. In this study we employ activity theory (Choi & Kang, 2010) as a framework to evaluate a team’s communication activities and how these activities predict the team’s success.

Gallini (1989) argues that, “the ability to combine a collection of problems into a meaningful representation, or schema facilitates learning” (p. 244). In a previous study, it was found that introducing a schema-based learning system in the design studio assisted novice designers in a structured, purposeful process, where they began to see patterns of information and use these patterns to develop and refine their design solutions. Their design solutions proved to be significantly better than the other students who did not utilize the instructional interventions. But, does this instructional intervention have any lasting effects with this same group of students? Do these skills transfer to new or novel tasks after a period of time ? The aim of this study is to measure the lasting effects of this learning tool by following this group of students through a new set of transfer tasks approximately one year after the original instructional intervention. Like the previous year study, the effectiveness characteristics were examined from four main areas of a design project: 1) organization of information, 2) categorization of information, 3) application of theory, and 4) overall design. The following research questions were addressed: 1. What are the lasting effects of the schema-based learning tools after one year from the initial implementation of the instructional intervention? Or, what are the problem solving transfer effects of the instructional intervention? 2. Do students, who use these schema-based learning tools, develop projects that are more organized, categorized, more theoretically-based, and have better overall designs, than students who do not use such learning tools?

Gallini (1989) argues that, “the ability to combine a collection of problems into a meaningful representation, or schema facilitates learning” (p. 244). More specifically, Chan (1990) reports, “that the ability of organizing and applying schemata determines a designer’s ability” (p. 78). The purpose of this study was to measure the impact and effectiveness of a conceptual advanced organizer, a database/analysis card model, in the interior design studio. The effectiveness characteristics were examined from four main areas of a design project: 1) organization of information, 2) categorization of information, 3) application of theory, and 4) overall design. The following research questions were addressed: 1. Do students, who use conceptual advanced organizers, develop design projects that are more organized than students who do not use such organizers? 2. Do students, who use conceptual advanced organizers, develop design projects that categorize information more effectively than students who do not use such organizers? 3. Do students, who use conceptual advanced organizers, develop design projects that are more theoretically-based than students who do not use such organizers? 4. Does the skill of organizing and applying schemata determine a designer’s ability? This study utilized and analyzed the strength and capabilities of the database structure, coupled with the spontaneity and idea generation of William Pena’s analysis card technique (1977) in providing an expert-like structure for novice designers in their problem solving in the design studio.

The main question being explored in this research study is “does what we teach in the Interior Design Department make students successful in industry.” The measure of success in this study used two different variables, which include annual salary and job satisfaction.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore interior design students’ understanding of their design thinking, and to investigate how they view digital technology’s role in these activities. The research questions are: 1. How do interior design students conceptualize interior design as a discipline? 2. How do these students conceptualize their design process? 3. What value do students place on the “process book”1 as a representation of their design breadth and depth in a given project? 4. How do students view computer technology’s role in their design thinking and their design products? Participants viewed interior design as more sensitive to the human condition than architecture. AutoCAD was one software package that was used both in the process and the end product, but other more common software programs (word processors, spreadsheets) were only minimally utilized. Hypermedia and databases were not mentioned by any participants as tools in their design processes.

The purpose of this paper is to present initial findings of a quasi-experimental study that analyzes what selection criteria provide the best measures of predicting future “success” in an undergraduate interior design program. Success in this study utilizes a performance assessment of a capstone interior design project.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a new learning tool to the interior design studio, namely, a “digital process book.” Paper-based process books are not new to the studio. A process book includes representations of the activities that occur and artifacts that are constructed as a student completes a design project. It allows the instructor, jurors, and others, to see the processes a student goes through to complete a project. It is also intended to assist students as a tool in the learning and design process. Schenk (2007) similarly describes this process work in the graphic design context as “job bags,” where this material, for the most part, provides the “drawn record” of the design process. However, paperbased process books are mostly a linear compilation of the design process that provides little of the scaffolding that a novice designer neeeds. The goal of this project is to take the existing strengths and capabilities of the computer and other digital technology, and merge them with the positive qualities of the paper-based process work, while also incorporating an underlying structure that is grounded in educational psychology theory.

The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology and investigate a set of variables that best predict future college success in an undergraduate interior design program. The central aim of this study focused on the following question: From among variables collected as part of college admission, what is/are the best predictor(s) of student college "success" in interior design programs? The list of predictors was organized into three waves of data, where the first wave was high school, the second wave was freshmen Core Program, and the third wave was the sophomore year. An undergraduate interior design program at a large Midwestern university was the focus of this study. This program has ranked among the top 10-15 programs in the nation for the last five years and has a large pool of students competing for the approximately 40 slots each year.

Path analysis techniques were used to explore the relationships of student characteristics and performance measures to determine the best predictor of student future "success." Here, the outcome measure, or criterion, is a performance assessment of a student's "capstone" project, which is designed to incorporate all of the skills and knowledge an interior design student should possess at that given time in their program of study. In all of the path analysis models, the existing admission criteria (portfolio, essay, and CoreGPA) showed no significance in predicting success, nor did they have any relationship to other variables in the models. GPAs were strong predictors as shown in the high school GPA, Core GPA, and the final GPA. Three of the ACT subscores showed significant relationships to the criterion measure. These included the ACT_Math, ACT elementary algebra, and the ACT geometry-trigonometry.

“So you have a design degree, why are you interested in the area of curriculum and instructional technology?” For me I see so many connections and important contributions to both design and education, in addition to the valuable lessons learned by taking an interdisciplinary approach to projects. This case study provides one example of how design and education, together, can produce exciting processes and results that help inform both design and education scholars.

The university library continues to evolve in response to student behaviors, perceived desires, and technological advancements. The interior qualities of the library can contribute to academic success and provide students with an unparalleled study environment that supports peer collaboration and scholastic achievement (Gardner and Eng, 2005). How can a student’s perception of an ideal study environment be integrated into the design of a library to foster an environment of learning? Using results from a case study to develop a model project, this research examines the design of a student group study space within a library.