Sense of Classroom Community in Interior Design Studios: In–Person Learning versus Online Learning Approaches

Abstract

Numerous studies have observed the importance of sense of community in online learning. However, developing sense of community in online interior design studios is yet to be explored. The primary purpose of this study was to assess students' perceptions of the sense of classroom community (SCC) and learning experiences after switching their in‐person to online design studios during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Additionally, we examined students' characteristics that affect SCC in online learning and the impact of SCC on students' academic motivation and comfort levels. An online survey was administered to 100 undergraduate students enrolled in design studios at an accredited interior design program at a large public U.S. institution. From this, 57 students responded to the survey. The SCC questionnaire was based on the four dimensions of Rovai's classroom community scale. Additional items included open‐ended questions and students' characteristics such as their overall grade point average (GPA), family home environment, students' prior online learning experience, and adaptation time to the Zoom platform. The results showed that the SCC scores of four dimensions (trust, spirit, learning, interaction) were significantly less among students during their online than in‐person studios. Students' characteristics had a mixed impact on SCC dimensions. Additionally, SCC was a significant predictor of students' academic motivation and comfort levels in online learning. The study results are important as they make a valuable contribution to the growing area of research on online learning by advancing the understanding of students' SCC and learning in online design studios.

Modeling the Critical Factors Affecting the Success of Online Architectural Education to Enhance Educational Sustainability

“…The success of OAE has come under scrutiny due to its inability to meet the specific requirements of AE outlined earlier. Researchers from various countries, including India [1,9,11], Serbia [14], Jordan [6,7,22], Iran [8], Egypt [30], Saudi Arabia [31], England [15,21], the USA [32,33], Australia [34,35], and Poland [36], have conducted research on these issues in the field of OAE and have consistently evaluated this method.…”

Global Pandemic and Its Effect on Papuan EFL Students’ Digital Concepts

“…ISTE considers this learning essential for creating the conditions needed for the technology to support learning (International Society for Technology in Education, 2019). Learning that should be directed to become student-centered becomes difficult to realize given the deficient level of student participation in learning (Nubani & Lee, 2022). This condition is motivated by the lack of emotional contact between students and teachers during the learning period.…”

The Role of Informal Communication Within Multinational Interior Design Teams During Virtual Collaboration

“…for interior designers to communicate their ideas as effectively (Nubani & Lee, 2022;Rashdan & Ashour, 2020, 2022. According to former research (Eckert et al, 2005;Polat, 2018;Rashdan & Ashour, 2020), more communication among members increases the exchange of information and consequently generates more ideas, but they did not address how to achieve more communication in these teams.…”

“…It has been explored to some extent since the mid-1990s powered by the evolution and the rise in popularity and accessibility of computing power and digital technologies (Kvan, 2001). But the compulsory quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic led all the teams to use virtual platforms to simulate the environment of design studios, regardless of the geographically dispersed teams (Nubani & Lee, 2022).…”

“…Miro is one of the online platforms that allows multiple participants to use it for brainstorming, planning and managing agile workflows ("The leading visual collaboration platform", n.d.). It has been investigated that online design studios can be more effective for discussions (Nubani & Lee, 2022) such as idea generation. Likewise, McAlpine (2018) found that teams are unable to effectively compensate due to the loss of face-to-face informal communication by using electronic media, such as email, instant message, or audio/visual communication tools in the idea generation and innovation phase.…”