Landscape architecture studio keeps pace during COVID-19

Richard leBrasseur

COVID-19 has caused remote design education to evolve rapidly, whether students and instructors are ready or not. The education paradigm specific to the landscape architecture design studio must respond; the practices and theories of studio-based learning and the challenges teaching techno-centric students must be revisited. A new remote teaching methodology – the Digital Review Session – was applied within a fourth year studio course, where students reported distinctly positive responses for multiple learning outcomes.

Studio-based learning (SBL) is a challenging structure to evaluate design efficacy of problem-based learning. SBL includes ‘learning by doing’ and is primarily student-led (student work + instructor response) and embodies constructive, collaborative principles to co-develop ideas and solutions. ‘Drawing’ and the process of design is a competency tool, so the effective incorporation of critical feedback and insight is required.

For the past three semesters, I have been using a recorded, synchronous audio-visual digital tablet whiteboard to conduct desk critiques. This Digital Review Session (DRS) approach aids with active learning, memory retention, critical reflection and project development, and was conducted at the desk with the student present; however as the COVID-19 teaching protocols were enacted, these sessions became fully remote.

The fully recorded and emailed version of the ShowMe DRS has basic playback functions including full screen, volume, and play/pause.

Source: Author

The strength of this DRS is the synchronicity – similar to a movie – where drawing image, screen markup, and audio commentary work together. This, to a high degree, imitates an actual studio desk critique with the added benefit of later being paused, zoomed in, and replayed to clarify ideas and comments at any remote location at any time. The digital deskcrit or DRS was recorded utilizing a tablet and ‘digital whiteboard’ or the ‘digital trace paper’ application ShowMe (www.showme.com). Once completed, the DRS was emailed to the student. The app allows you to ‘record voice-over whiteboard tutorials’ and is available for iPad, Android and Chromebook. The hardware used was an iPad Pro with Pencil. The ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard is free, though a monthly fee enables storage of recorded sessions. To be clear, the objective was not to turn a digital tablet into a digital drawing tool; hundreds of programs exist for that. This specific application was for the review and feedback portion within the design development and problem-solving process of the students’ drawings.

Still images from a DRS illustrating the iteractive design process (Top L to Bottom R).

Source: Author

Can the digital studio environment engage students? Paper-based design critiques often lack iterative context when reviewed later. The DRS via synchronous video, audio, images and text mimics, to the best degree possible, the face-to-face interaction in design studio critique. The DRS captures vocal expressions of emotion and intonation for emphasis of critical design components and those ‘pen-topaper’ clarification moments or other subtle gestures difficult to match in graphics-based critiques (i.e. standard digital markups).

This one was last year March 2019) when a student was standing at their desk there while I went into the session.

This one is after COVID (March 2020) – so no student was standing next to me in desk crit – this was a fully remote session.

Though the DRS is one-way, a student could send similar media or expand it to include a video-shared desktop. Digital pedagogical tools will increase within studio learning, and its interactive design feedback potential requires further application and exploration of effective student and distance learning utilization.

Dr. Richard LeBrasseur is Director of the Green Infrastructure Performance Lab at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia