Students as Partners in Architectural Design Education

Abstract

Architectural design study is subjective. In order to aid a new pedagogy that welcomes the diversity of design approaches, the research project funded by Taylor's University incorporates teacher-learner partnerships in curriculum design. Engaging students as partners (SaP) in teaching and learning is an emerging yet contested topic in higher education. The research aims to offer learner-led pedagogy through engaging the SaP. Initially the research offers a critical discourse on various perspectives on design studio teaching pedagogy involving tools, teachers, and procedures. Later moves onto a series of studio observations and interviews with students, made for two consecutive semesters at Taylor's and University Malaya. By keeping the learners at the core, SaP, the subjectivity of designers brought to main focus. The contribution of the paper is a learner-led new pedagogy, on e-learning, for the emerging young learners. The significance is to offer tools for exploring originality in design and therefore to empower the budding designers, the learners in architecture.