Queen’s University Centre for Educational Development
Case Study: Active and Interactive Learning at Stage 1
Title : Design Principles in the Built Environment
Context:
This module offers an introduction to planning/ urban design theory and skills; it is
designed to develop students’ skills in analysis, visual communication and
conceptual thinking.
The module is divided into three stages:
in the first stage students are introduced to the basic concepts and vocabulary of
design; the second stage requires students to undertake a group contextual analysis
and the final part of the module requires an individual design response to a site within
that context.
The module gives students an opportunity to use their creativity to develop urban
design skills at an early stage in the degree programme. This is unique in UG
Planning programmes; in most other courses urban design is taught using lectures
only and does not challenge students through active or interactive activities.
School/Subject:
School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering
(Environmental Planning)
Degree Programme: BSc Environmental Planning
Module: ‘Design Principles in the Built Environment’ (EVP1011)
43 students are enrolled in 2012-13
Learning environment (eg. lecture, tutorial, lab., field work)
Lectures, interactive workshops, studio tutorials (group and individual), site visits,
student-led sessions.
Preferred room type: project work is carried out in the School’s Planning Studio, but
this is front-loaded by theory provided in lectures and also with two site visits to the
chosen town. Workshops/ demos take place in the School’s Computer Lab.
Timetabling of session: weeks 1 to 5 have five 2 hour lectures on Monday morning
and also one 2 hour skills workshop; one full-day site visit takes place in week 5 and
one half-day visit in week 9; in weeks 6 -12, there are two 2 hour studio tutorials per
week.
Activity
What do you do? (content, assessment etc.)
 In week 1 (as part of Induction), students complete a short project (an A3 size
visual representation): ‘My favourite place’ this prompts them to begin thinking
about places in a more critical way.
 Lectures provide students with relevant theoretical underpinning.
 Parallel to this, visual communication skills are developed during afternoon
workshop sessions.
 In week 5 students begin working, in groups of three, on stage 1 of the project
which involves producing a full urban design visual analysis of a local town.
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Students are given the choice of self-selecting or not; by this stage many
students have already bonded (induction, peer mentoring, Level 1 Facebook
page) and prefer to self-select, whereas other students recognise the
opportunity offered by being placed randomly. Two tutorials are held in the
studio each week where students are supported by the module coordinator
and a tutorial assistant.
A group submission is submitted and presented orally during week 9.
Feedback is returned promptly and the second site visit maintains momentum
for the individual submission. A similar pattern of studio tutorials and support
remains for this stage.
The final submission during week 12 is marked/ celebrated with a staff/
student get-together before the Christmas break.
Module marks are allocated as follows:
Coursework 100%
Group submission 55% (including 10% peer assessment)
Individual submission 45%
How do you do it? (method including tips)
Inherent in this module is the desire to develop discipline identity and professional/
employability skills. Identity (as part of the level 1 group and part of the planning
profession) is seen as being crucial to retention and the subject of urban design is an
ideal context within which to build professional skills. The module has been designed
to encourage students to make the transition from school/ college learner to
independent HE learner at an early stage in the course. The timing of events is very
specific and the location of tutorials is crucial: tutorials are held on Monday and
Thursday to ensure that students start the week positively and are able to develop
ideas between tutorials. The tutorials are held in the Planning Studio, directly
adjacent to the Coordinator’s office and an ‘open door policy’ is maintained
throughout tutorial days.
Emphasis is placed on
 making connections between theory and practical skills
 working collaboratively
 reflecting and developing (both on conceptual ideas and on students’ own
skills), e.g. during the project students critically review their own work and that
of other students in an effort to better understand what works and what
doesn’t)
 ‘design as a process’, this reduces the anxiety which is sometimes felt by
many students during creative activities
 feedback – this is given regularly and in a variety of forms (orally, informally,
formally, summative, formative etc)
Why do you do it that way?
The above method creates a framework of learning into which theory, practical skills
development and critical thinking activities may be fed. It also allows for increased
levels of support at stages which students find more challenging. The resulting
submissions are seen as tangible manifestations of their learning which are often
included in portfolios for future employment interviews. Using a real place allows the
project work to be current and rooted in practice.
Technology (if any) used to support activity (brief description)
Visual material is usually digitally produced, but this module also allows and
encourages students to draw by hand as this is recognised as an important step in
developing three dimensional understanding.
Workshops in PowerPoint and Photoshop are provided.
PCs, scanners are available in the studio, allowing the tutorials to be active and
varied.
The level 1 Facebook page facilitates efficient communication, allowing staff to
publish links and photos relating to best practice and encouraging students to share
ideas with each other.
Evaluation/Reflection/Outcomes
How do you know it works? (measures you adopted, student feedback outcomes,
staff feedback)
The module has morphed over the years, now being a synthesis of earlier halfmodules on design. The range of skills required to be developed has been honed
and refined to be as relevant as possible to future employment. For example, in
recent years it has been recognised that producing rough models accelerates student
understanding of scale, this has now been included into stage 2 (individual
submission).
Both group work and individual work components are assessed in an effort to ensure
that each student achieves the learning outcomes.
The module is always well attended. Students enjoy the opportunity to work closely
and collaboratively with staff and each other. Taking the group to a local town makes
the project feel ‘real’ and relevant.
Module review scores usually range from 4.4 to 4.9
comments from student evaluations
‘immediate feedback, new techniques were very well explained, if I was ever unsure
help was always available’
‘a lot of communication with the lecturer made it easier to understand new concepts
and new ideas, along with building confidence, everything is made clear in advance,
there is space to try out various new ideas in the module’
‘time spent in the studio was really good as you were able to express opinions in a
safe environment’
‘fieldtrip was a huge positive as it added to just a classroom experience’
Challenges/Issues/Problems
The main challenge is to undo negative conditioning about creativity. Often students
arrive with incorrect views on creativity and on their own ability/ inability to be creative
– these are usually based on inaccurate comments received in childhood.
The module attempts to dispel these assumptions and unlock their creative
confidence within a discipline-specific activity. Theory and skills are developed as a
sustainable resource for individual students as they move forward through the course
and their career.
Having access to the Planning Studio is critical.
Advice and Tips
This module is recognised as an important transition experience. The activities
undertaken are new to students and staff support is essential. It is also important that
the co-ordinator of this module is approachable and available for students to contact.
Since most first year students are risk averse and not used to the independent
learning expected at university, they need to feel that they have a safety net when
undertaking this sort of project.
The module format and timing may seem complex but once set up in principle it may
be replicated for other types of project work.
Looking forward
Almost all of the module evaluations report the positive experience of learning in the
studio and completing project work. There is currently no project element in semester
2 of Level 1, so it may be worth identifying a mechanism that enables students to
build on the skills they have developed in semester 1.
Support Material (please upload/attach or give URL)
A lot of visual material is presented during lectures with the aim of developing
students’ visual vocabulary. A ‘How To’ guide and two checklists are provided for
each project stage (some students have, since leaving, requested the checklist to
use when in graduate employment).Students are given digital maps and references
to key texts; they see and critique submissions and models produced by earlier
cohorts.
References (if available)
Contact Details
Ms Jayne Bassett, Teaching Fellow and Level 1 Co-ordinator for Planning.
j.bassett@qub.ac.uk
tel: 028 9097 4213
David Keir Building, room 03.011