Abstract
This paper reports a case study exploring the collaborative design process of students in an industrial design studio during the final year project. The study is on the impact of the tutor’s guidance on students during the first seven weeks of a 15-week project period when framing and ideation of the project were planned. The case study is composed of two projects involving four students and looked into the students’ reflective thinking. The participating students used a research-through-design approach for collecting data. They were asked and guided to document their design activities as their project advanced. They were also asked to reflect on their collaborative process while collecting data. The students received short training on documenting their design actions using the designerly activity theory model (a model that is an expansion of activity theory). The students used a template based on the model to allow them, as designer researchers, to report on their actions while or after each working session. This data collection resulted in a total of 136 completed templates. We analyzed, modelled, and translated the data gathered on the templates into synthesized findings about the project phases, processes, and tutor’s influence on students’ learning experiences. The designerly activity theory model was used again for this interpretation. The results highlight several points about the phases of the project and tutors’ guidance in the design studio. These points are then shared with participants for comment. The outcome of the study contributes to the design pedagogy by bringing our attention to some challenges that students go through.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.015
Citation
Zahedi, M.,and Tessier, V.(2025) Tutor guidance in design studio: study of effects and challenges, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.015
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Full Paper
Tutor guidance in design studio: study of effects and challenges
This paper reports a case study exploring the collaborative design process of students in an industrial design studio during the final year project. The study is on the impact of the tutor’s guidance on students during the first seven weeks of a 15-week project period when framing and ideation of the project were planned. The case study is composed of two projects involving four students and looked into the students’ reflective thinking. The participating students used a research-through-design approach for collecting data. They were asked and guided to document their design activities as their project advanced. They were also asked to reflect on their collaborative process while collecting data. The students received short training on documenting their design actions using the designerly activity theory model (a model that is an expansion of activity theory). The students used a template based on the model to allow them, as designer researchers, to report on their actions while or after each working session. This data collection resulted in a total of 136 completed templates. We analyzed, modelled, and translated the data gathered on the templates into synthesized findings about the project phases, processes, and tutor’s influence on students’ learning experiences. The designerly activity theory model was used again for this interpretation. The results highlight several points about the phases of the project and tutors’ guidance in the design studio. These points are then shared with participants for comment. The outcome of the study contributes to the design pedagogy by bringing our attention to some challenges that students go through.