Teaching HCI Design With the Studio Approach

Critical Analysis

In this text, the authors describe a case study of implementing some qualities of a design studio in an HCI course.

Traditionally, HCI courses focused on technical topics and inherited the teaching approach from other technical courses in schools of computer science: large classrooms of lecture-based content delivery. Architecture schools, however, leverage a studio model. Studio courses meet for longer periods of time. Students have private workspaces. During class, “students work at their desks informally” until they meet with a professor for a critique. This critique “is the central means of conveying design knowledge.” A student’s actions are more important than a teacher’s actions.

The authors summarize that the qualities of a studio model are [verbatim excerpt]:

• It involves experiential, immersive pedagogy: learning by doing.
• Prior knowledge acquired from standard lecture courses is integrated.
• Students produce realistic artifacts using realistic design processes taken from professional practice.
• Students are active learners with teachers as resources or coaches.
• Collaboration is a key process between teacher and student, and student peers.
• Student assessment is based on presentations of design artifacts.
• Learning environment between students and teachers, students and students, and even students and professionals is intense and highly interactive.
• Primary teaching is through the design crit.
• Communication of the design and reflection upon both the product and process is critical to learning.
• It involves specialized studio rooms and scheduling.

Based on implementing some of these attributes in an HCI course, the authors conclude that studio is an effective way to teach HCI. However, they note that the space they were able to secure was ineffective; “students had no individual desks,” and they conclude that “successful implementation of the studio concept requires special studio rooms.”

Research Value

The value of this work in informing my own research is that it:

• Is definitive in arguing for dedicated workspace for students