Complete thesis - Murdoch University

development of abstract artefacts that are used by others. Studios, and the attendant teachingmode of mentor and coach, can be found wherever artistic creativity goes hand-in-handwith a grasp of multi-disciplined content. Examples include art, interior design, architecture,graphic design. The pedagogy underlying the Studio approach has its theoretical originsin social constructivism, which places the learner at the core of the teaching and learningexperience, and is influenced by the work in many strands of educational research as well asresearch in relation to the IT disciplines, (eg Vygotsky (1978); Jonassen et al (1995); Cronin(1997) and Reeves (1997a)). A number of pedagogical processes and theoretical perspectivescome together in the practices of the design studio: Kuhn (2001) describes characteristics ofthe studio environment:• student work is organised primarily into complex and open ended problem• students’ design solutions undergo multiple and rapid iterations• the ability to work quickly, and to draw effectively on past experience, are key featuresof professional expertise – students are exposed to relevant precedent and to rapiditeration of design solutions (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 1986). This combination is essentialto the development of true expertise, and the design studio can be a powerful venue foreducating expert software practitioners• critique is frequent, and occurs in both formal and informal ways, from teachers, peers,and visiting experts. One of the hallmarks of studio education is the creation of a‘culture of critique’, in which students, who spend long hours working side by side attheir projects, give each other frequent feedback, and also get both formal and informalfeedback from the academic in charge of the studio and reflect on their learning• a characteristic feature of design discourse is its dense interweaving of heterogeneousissues, and its odd method of progression – raising topics, considering them, and thenoften moving on to other issues without clear resolution of earlier concerns. Observershave commented on the linked and contingent nature of design decisions, reflected indesign conversations (Schön, 1983), while one author has compared design conversationsto jazz improvisation (Cuff, 1991)• students study precedents (past designs) and are encouraged to think about the bigpicture• teachers mentor students to impose appropriate constraints on their design process inorder to navigate a complex and open ended problem and find a satisfactory designsolution168