The Design Studio Skill Kit: A new approach to supporting and sustaining student learning

Grant Recipient

Katherine Perrott, School of Planning

Project Summary

This project created an online toolkit of software and technical skills instruction for planning and urban design students. This took the form of an interactive “webbook” called the The Studio Skills Guide: Step-by-step instructions for urban design and planning [https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/studioskills/] The webbook enables students to have access to tips and tutorials that they can reference throughout their studies and co-op placements. This Guide will help streamline expectations and recommended techniques from different instructors, improving clarity in assessments for students.

Questions Investigated

  1. Establish an online Design Studio Skill Kit, organized into skills-based modules.
  2. Assess student experience with the initial soft-launched Skill Kit and refine content and website organization according to findings. 

Findings/Insights

I tested the Studio Skills Guide in my Winter 2024 course: PLAN 211, Design Studio Foundations. Students were given the link to the webbook and a form asking them to evaluate the importance of various topics (likert scale of 1-3: most important, neutral, lease important). Students were then directed to evaluate a specific entry and rate the image quality, written instructions, and interactive features (excellent, fine, poor), and provide comments. Students were also asked general questions about their preferences for learning technical skills to inform how the Guide is used in course tutorials. A student employed in Summer 2024 summarized the results, giving me a clear picture of what topics and skills matter most to students and where to focus my efforts as the Guide continues to grow and evolve with time.  Excerpt from this analysis: 

Sketching Skills had the highest average 'least important' score across all constituent skills with a mean of 3.7, and the lowest average 'most important' score, at 10.9. Presenting Design had the lowest average 'least important' score at 1.1 and the highest average 'most important' score at 14.8.

References

Lim, R. M., Azevedo L. and Cooper, J. (2016). Embracing the conceptual shift on new ways of experiencing the city and learning urban design: pedagogical methods and digital technologies. Journal of Urban Design 21(5), 638-660.

Moudon, A. V. (1995). Teaching Urban Form. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 14(2), 123–133.

Pafka, E. and Dovey, K. (2018). Chapter 15: Urban Design Pedagogy. In E. Pafka and K. Dovey (Eds.), Mapping Urbanities (268-277). New York: Routledge.

Roberts, M. (2016). Urban design pedagogy. Journal of Urban Design 21(5), 567-569.

Additional Information
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