Alone in a Group Ten Characteristics of the Live Online Critique

Year 2022, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 5 - 19, 10.07.2022

Jolanda D. Morkel Johannes C. Cronjé

https://doi.org/10.46474/jds.1087021

Abstract

The design critique or crit, as it is commonly known, is a prominent educational practice that involves a design tutor guiding and prompting a student to develop design expertise. Although it has become a contested practice often criticized for its teacher-dominated approaches and asymmetrical power relations, it remains at the heart of architectural education. This paper is focused on an undergraduate blended architecture studio in South Africa, that allows students to study whilst working, through online learning engagements, combined with occasional on-campus blocks and office mentorship. This experiment was conducted well ahead of the recent pandemic which led to a sudden online pivot of educational spaces and practices. It explores the characteristics of the live online crit, mediated through a webinar platform. The research instruments include online surveys completed by students, graduates, and design tutors, as well as a focus group interview conducted with the graduates only. Through a thematic analysis of the data, we discovered ten characteristics of the live online crit namely that it is internet-reliant, participant-invisible, ubiquitous, media-intensive, multi-communicational, formal, accessible, work-focused, resource-saving, and inclusive. These results are timeous, given the current reliance on live online learning practices, in response to the regular need for social distancing.

Keywords

Design critique, Online crit, Webinar, Architectural education, Blended learning

Supporting Institution

National Research Foundation (NRF), South African Technology Network (SATN).

Thanks

This article is based on the doctoral research conducted by the first author. We wish to thank students and colleagues for their valuable contributions to this research. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is acknowledged, as well as support provided through a writing workshop in Durban, by the South African Technology Network (SATN).

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