Abstract
This paper reports on the evaluation of a funded teaching initiative for two undergraduate studios, one architecture and one landscape architecture, within an Australia-based design school. The initiative funded the expansion of a virtual site visit, as well as production of detailed digital and physical models. This suite of resources was meant to reduce demand on students related to searching for contextual and historical background, thus allowing them to grapple with the site’s complexities in a deeper fashion than they might otherwise. Students reported satisfaction across a range of criteria, including engagement, interaction, and feedback. Teaching staff reported more sustained and sophisticated site engagement compared to previous years, with place-based learning resources effectively complementing in-person visits to the site. This study contributes to recent scholarship on site-based learning in built environment disciplines, specifically in the blended, post-pandemic context, in which the interplay between technology and design is fundamental.
Keywords
place-based education, site visits, design studio, blended learning
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1600
Citation
Thompson, J., Sintusingha, S., and Prior, D. (2026) Supporting deep(er) engagement with site through blended resources: A case study across two design studios, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1600
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Supporting deep(er) engagement with site through blended resources: A case study across two design studios
This paper reports on the evaluation of a funded teaching initiative for two undergraduate studios, one architecture and one landscape architecture, within an Australia-based design school. The initiative funded the expansion of a virtual site visit, as well as production of detailed digital and physical models. This suite of resources was meant to reduce demand on students related to searching for contextual and historical background, thus allowing them to grapple with the site’s complexities in a deeper fashion than they might otherwise. Students reported satisfaction across a range of criteria, including engagement, interaction, and feedback. Teaching staff reported more sustained and sophisticated site engagement compared to previous years, with place-based learning resources effectively complementing in-person visits to the site. This study contributes to recent scholarship on site-based learning in built environment disciplines, specifically in the blended, post-pandemic context, in which the interplay between technology and design is fundamental.