E-Portfolios in the interior design curriculum a review of the literature and development of an implementation plan to enhance practical components of the design studio

This paper will review the academic literature to establish the rationale behind the integration of an ePortfolio into design studio projects, by looking at the challenges many design lecturers currently face with various practical teaching methods. This will lead to a discussion of how ePortfolios can be used to enhance and enrich these practical teaching methods, by using them to document the types of student learning and progression that takes place in the design studio class – which also mimic the design process followed in industry: Critique, Collaboration and Reflection. Based on the existing literature, this paper argues that these three key stages of interior design project work can be enhanced by the use of ePortfolios at each stage, and proposes an implementation plan that can be applied to achieve this. It is anticipated that this paper which examines the application of a pedagogical tool that has been applied to design studio education will be of interest to interior design
educators, and encourage them to ask discerning questions regarding technology, and perhaps, embrace new ways of teaching and learning in the interior design studio. As well as challenging faculty in interior design programs, it also hopes to provide insight to employers who regularly seek out interior design graduates for sponsorship, placement or employment.