Design Studio Alpha

This award recognises improvement or impact on the quality of students’ learning experiences, and on the relevance of subject content and skills at ABP.  It is awarded to Design Studio Alpha as a team award.

Design Studio Alpha are:

• Dr Kelum Palipane
• Dhanika Kumaheri
• Dr Sofia Colabella
• Dr Kirsten Day
• Sarah Kahn
• Yui Uchimura
• Magdalena Sliwinska
• Rebecca Graham

This award recognises the impact of changes to Design Studio Alpha on the quality of student learning experiences in 2022. Dr Palipane led the redevelopment of the subject for sem1, 2022 following changes to the structure of the Architecture major in the Bachelor of Design. The project focussed on curriculum development to address key gaps in 1st year construction knowledge resulting from this change, as well as changes to assessment frequency, redesign of the Canvas site, and activities to foster peer-engagement and introduce studio culture.

A key element of the project was a series of e-modules to introduce fundamental content - this was reinforced through lectures and quizzes, tested by students through focussed journal reflections and production of detailed drawings. Online content included outcomes of a successful Learning and Teaching Initiatives grant titled “Praxis and Lexis”.  The LTI project produced videos to demonstrate fundamentals of architectural drafting and model making, while orienting students to the lexicon of the discipline through demonstration, text and verbal description.

The success of the re-development of the subject in enhancing student learning and experience is evidenced by improvements in ESS outcomes, and publication of this approach as two separate peer reviewed conference papers.  This team nomination also recognises the contributions of DS Alpha teaching staff who achieved an average of 4.78 in response to ESS Question 3: "I received useful feedback on my progress" in Semester 1, 2022.

Congratulations Studio Alpha!