Exploring the gap between student-centred learning and students learning outcomes: A case-study of a materials for interior design class

Abstract

The paper describes the challenges encountered in teaching a class in materials for interior design. Usually, materials science is studied as a separate discipline in which the characteristics of the most popular materials, their processing and application are explained. To encourage student-centred learning, a variety of strategies were proposed to attack the problematic of the discipline in a holistic way and to provide a more meaningful learning for the students. Among these were flipping the classroom, project-based learning, gamification. However, a major shortcoming was outlined-students did not find the direct relevance of the gained knowledge to other disciplines where specific products are designed. This observation was further proven by students performance in the subsequent design studios where their understanding of materials was quite superficial. This paper is an attempt to unravel the reasons for this discrepancy. It is a critical analysis of the applied student-centred learning approach questioning the priority of creating a positive learning experience over the importance of authentic knowledge acquisition. The drawn-on conclusions aim towards achieving greater efficiency of the student-centred learning and, how it can support the construction of durable knowledge and the development of 21st Century skills fully relevant to the design profession.