DIGITAL LIBRARY
QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE INTERIOR DESIGN’ COURSES PERFORMANCE
Ajman University (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)
About this paper:
Appears in: INTED2017 Proceedings
Publication year: 2017
Pages: 9201-9210
ISBN: 978-84-617-8491-2
ISSN: 2340-1079
doi: 10.21125/inted.2017.2172
Conference name: 11th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Dates: 6-8 March, 2017
Location: Valencia, Spain
Abstract:
The interior design study is one of those fields that involves the theoretical and the practical knowledge that became an individual and unique type of education. I believe that such an area should apply any information given it is a design specialization. Our end product is an interior designer creating spaces that have to be healthy, comfortable, aesthetic, sustainable, safe and before all functional.

The quality of any educational system include three main pillars; the program (including the instructor), the educational spaces and the student. Those three stakes need constant development and improvements to compete with the continual development of our life. Many types of research discussed the courses and teaching processes, but development wise, it needs a regularly updated publication and researchers who discuss and explore new ways of assessments to reach a better level of performance.

To evaluate any performance, we – as professional academics in the field of interior design – should create a strategic assessment to seek the required development. The case of this paper's application in Ajman University – Department of Interior Design, the Ministry of Higher Education in UAE follow a system of academic accreditation that ensures the main guidelines of such development. It applies those guidelines through an expert committee that provides such standards –the Committee of Academic Accreditation Standards or CAA Standards, each five years. Subsequently, each academic program should follow those standard guidelines to be declared accredited by the Ministry.

This paper will explore the tools used to apply these standard guide in the department of interior design at Ajman University, to assess the performance quality of the courses. It involves the different assessments types that assure the evaluation, to extract the weak points. Therefore, this research shall follow the qualitative approach as it will explore the steps applied to collect data. It will link participants' feedbacks to the required outcomes. The assessments are divided into a part done by the students, attending the course, and by different forms that will prove the students level and the tracking of the course performance. This strategical process should end up by stating the weak points, related to any of the three pillars of the education. As a consequence, the program' academic committee could define the problem to be able to set solutions.
Keywords:
Interior Design Program, Course Learning Outcomes, Interior Design, Qualitative Approach.