Teaching design: a qualitative study of design studio instruction

Abstract

This thesis is a qualitative study of current teaching practices in landscape architecture centering around instructors' understanding and use of studio teaching methods. Selected faculty, considered by their peers to be expert studio instructors, participated in one hour, open-ended interviews sing their instructional experiences and examining the teaching methods they espouse. The resulting transcripts provided a base for qualitative analyses for a small sample of current teaching practices. By documenting selected design studio instruction methods, new faculty may draw upon a pool of education possibilities ranging far beyond their experience as students. Similarly, examination of the theoretical foundations, expected outcomes, and teaching methods of professors may provide new faculty with a more holistic benchmark for gauging their professional growth.