Design studio learning for developing creative skills in children: Insights from Arkki Türkiye

Abstract

Engaging in creative problem-solving anticipated through design studio pedagogy for design students is considered beneficial for early ages to gain 21st-century skills. This study aims to explore the outcomes of design studios in terms of creative skills and abilities and to analyze how children can acquire those skills through a design studio- based adopted educational model called Arkki. The study is based on the observations made by the researcher, an Arkki Türkiye facilitator, during design workshops with children. Arkki, School of Architecture for Children and Youth, is a Finnish-based affiliation that organizes architecture and design workshops for children aged 4-19 since 1993. Using a project based education, Arkki's main aim is to teach children the skills of 21st-century involving creativity, with a hands-on approach and using play, where children can learn by doing. Since 2021, Arkki has been operating in Türkiye under the name Arkki Türkiye partnering with Türkiye Design Council. The study's theoretical framework starts by establishing similarities between the workshops conducted by Arkki and design studio pedagogy. To establish a theoretical framework for the study, a literature review was conducted on the design process, design studio learning, creativity, creative problem-solving, and the relation of play with creativity and design education. Additionally, the educational model of Arkki was explained by reviewing related literature, including the similarities with the design studio, how play was included in its workshops, and the skill evaluation made by Arkki Türkiye. After establishing these relationships within the theoretical framework, the aim was to assess the outcomes and processes of the identified Arkki workshops, measuring children's ability outcomes regarding design studio achievements and creative skills. The goal was to highlight the gains of a design studio-focused education in children's creative skills development. The literature review enabled the designing of an assessment tool named the Creative Development Measurement Scale, an outcome of the thesis, to measure children's creative abilities. The five-dimensional creativity model assessment created by the OECD, which was the source of Arkki Turkey's assessment model, was re-designed by refining the Arkki Türkiye Development Map (ATDM) Arkki Türkiye uses. The re-designing process was made in light of the literature review involving creativity and design studio outcomes and the help of a focus-group study conducted with Arkki Türkiye facilitators. The data gathered through workshops were analyzed through the Creative Development Measurement Scale. The findings suggested that the creative skills of children participating in the workshops improved significantly. Furthermore, comparative analyses were conducted to examine the differences between the skill development of children who attended multiple modules of the workshops and those who attended only one module. It was found that skill development in terms of continuity was generally significant. However, when comparing the skill development of two different age groups who received different workshops, no significant difference was observed as expected. This finding indicated that designing an educational model according to age abilities was essential for parallel development in different ages. Secondly, valuable insights were obtained through semi-structured interviews with Arkki Turkey facilitators to explore the impact of play in Arkki-inspired design studio workshops. The findings from these interviews highlighted the importance of incorporating play elements into design studio pedagogies for children, showcasing the positive effects of play on various subjects. The interviews shed light on how play contributes to children's learning experience, creativity, and problem-solving skills. It was revealed that children used play for exploration, imagination, learning, understanding, and critical thinking. The use of play was compatible with design pedagogy and parallel to methods such as peer learning, learning by doing, and creative problem-solving. As a result of this study, it is discussed that design studio models like Arkki may contribute to children's creative problem-solving skills. Additionally, the advantages and examples of providing design studio pedagogy to children through play were presented, emphasizing that play can effectively enhance design studio outcomes for children. As the development of 21st-century skill creativity is considered in high demand across educational fields and the skills of the future, it is essential to investigate further how the design studio insights can contribute to enhancing creativity for children. In conclusion, design learning, supported with play, can support children in developing essential creative skills and abilities needed in the 21st century.