Design studio in a challenging period: Implications for a digitalized education

Abstract

The unexpected and extensive emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020-2022 created a test environment that incorporates valuable data for the digitalization of education. Using the data obtained from architecture and interior architecture students, this research focuses on one of the fundamental elements of architectural education, the design studio. Examining online design studio (ODS) students from three different schools of architecture, this research tries to identify the technical resources utilized, students’ social interactions, physical and emotional wellbeing, and how these factors and demographic variables effected their ODS evaluations. The findings acquired by both qualitative and quantitative methods show significant relations between the technical resources of the students with their overall satisfaction from the ODS experience, as well as the level of their social interactions, physical, and emotional status. While ease of reaching resources, watching recorded lectures and critics, presenting student projects digitally both for critics and juries are strengths of the ODS, technical challenges for digital sketching and differing social requirements depending on the student’s year of study (YofS) are observed as weaknesses. Although the research has substantial limitations, the findings are proposed to be valuable for the research on developing a digital design studio.