Analyzing Research in Design Education Studio Practice as Legitimate Inquiry
Article Sidebar
- undergraduate design education
- research through design
- design inquiry
- iterative design process
- capstone studio
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Downloads
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigates how undergraduate design studios function as research environments that cultivate inquiry-based learning and knowledge production through making. A key problem addressed is the disparity between recognized research in STEM fields and the undervaluation of research-through-design within interior architecture education. The central research question asks: How does the design studio facilitate research as a form of inquiry in undergraduate interior architecture curricula? Participants included senior-level students engaged in capstone studio projects emphasizing iterative design prototyping and contextual analysis as applied to an intensive year-long project. Results indicate that students demonstrate higher levels of critical inquiry and self-directed research when engaged in approaches of iterative making and reflection. This allowed for the transformation of spatial problems into evidence-based design propositions that still employed creativity and feasibility. These findings suggest that undergraduate design education can indeed be more widely recognized as a legitimate site of scholarly research.
Article Details
References
Albrecht, L. (2019). Inquiry-Based Learning in Architecture. In: Mieg, H.A. (eds) Inquiry-Based Learning – Undergraduate Research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14223-0_23
Asojo, A. O., & Vo, H. (2021). Pedagogy + reflection: A problem-based learning case in Interior Design. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 12(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.14434/ijdl.v12i2.25372
Boggs, C., Moussatche, H., Pizzichemi, C., & Woodcock, M. (2016). Design Research in Interior Design Education: A Living Framework for Teaching the Undergraduate Capstone Studio in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2016. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.368
Cross, N. (2025). Designerly Ways of Knowing and Thinking. Springer.
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and Education. Free Press.
Findeli, A. (2001). Rethinking Design Education for the 21st Century: Theoretical, Methodological, and Ethical Discussion. Design Issues, 17(1), 5–17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511905
Frayling, C. (1993). Research in Art and Design. Royal College of Art Research Papers, 1(1).
Galford, G., Hawkins, S., & Hertweck, M. (2015). Problem-Based Learning as a Model for the Interior Design Classroom: Bridging the Skills Divide Between Academia and Practice. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1527
Groat, L. N., & Wang, D. (2013). Architectural Research Methods (2nd ed.). Wiley.
Hmelo-Silver, C. E. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review, 16(3), 235–266. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:edpr.0000034022.16470.f3
Kistner, K., Sparck, E. M., Liu, A., Sayson, H. W., Levis-Fitzgerald, M., & Arnold, W. (2021). Academic and Professional Preparedness: Outcomes of Undergraduate Research in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. The Journal of the Council on Undergraduate Research, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.18833/spur/4/4/1
Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
Pedaste, M., Mäeots, M., Siiman, L. A., de Jong, T., van Riesen, S. A. N., Kamp, E. T., Manoli, C. C., Zacharia, Z. C., & Tsourlidaki, E. (2015). Phases of inquiry-based learning: Definitions and the inquiry cycle. Educational Research Review, 14, 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.02.003
Prince, M. (2004). Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), 223-231.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cirs/1748
Yin, R. K. (2017). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. SAGE.
Zimmerman, J., Stolterman, E., & Forlizzi, J. (2010). An analysis and critique of Research through Design: Towards a Formalization of a Research Approach. Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, (pp. 310–319). https://doi.org/10.1145/1858171.1858228