Asynchronous learning in the visual arts and design

Abstract

Industrial design education typically takes place in an immersive environment (the design studio) in which apprentices (design students) are inducted into a community of expert practice by the master (design instructor) who engages in and reflects on the practice being learned. The apprentice-student learns by intensive doing, supported by periodic formal feedback through design critiques, and informal mentoring through peer and instructor interaction. Clearly interactive, synchronous and face-to-face interchanges are the cornerstone of this model of design education.