Abstract:

Until the 20th century, design schools around the world espoused the development of manual drawing, rendering and model making skills. However, with the advent of the digital technologies in the 21st century, the reliance on the manual skills is diminishing and these new technologies are revolutionizing the design education. In this paper the authors will discuss the impact the various design software has on the design education, and how it is changing the way we teach design. By doing so, the authors hope to generate a healthy debate if these design software are helpful or harmful for our students.
Methodology
To understand the changes affecting the design education, the authors reviewed the teaching methods of the past and researched new technological advancement, especially the software for the representation and visualization methods. To evaluate how students view these changes, the authors will also conduct a survey of their third year design students who are enrolled in the Microcomputer Applications course . The survey consists of the following multiple choice questions: 1) Which manual skills students developed before enrolling in the Microcomputer Applications course? 2) Which software they knew and used prior to enrolling in this course? 3) After learning various new software, did they think their design would improve if they used the digital methods 4) If they were given the choice between manual and digital methods at this stage in their design education, which method would they prefer to produce their design, construction and presentation drawings 5) Would they use the digital method at the conceptual stage? 6) If they prefer the digital method better, what are their reasons for their preference for the digital method? 7) Would they ever use manual methods for preparing design drawings? 8) Where would they use their manual skills? 9) If they prefer the manual method, what are their reasons for their preference for the manual methods?
Conclusions
The conclusions will be based on the authors’ research and the students’ survey results. This evidence based approach would indicate how the various design software impact design students’ thinking and design process. Based on these results authors will be able to suggest the differing methods of integrating various software in design studios. Authors will also discuss how these software applications can assist design educators in stimulating students’ interest to explore new design strategies. Authors will share their personal experiences of integrating this software in their students’ design projects to indicate how the old visual communication techniques are becoming extinct and how the new technologies are changing the way our students visualize, and design their projects. Authors will further demonstrate how virtual, walk-through models used during the design process can influence students’ way of thinking? Finally, using the student work examples, authors will discuss the pros and cons, rewards and their frustrations to assist other instructors in evaluating which technology/software would be better for their own classroom and share the lessons learned while teaching these software.

Keywords:

Digital Technologies in Design, AutoCAD, Revit, 3D Studio Max, Architecture, Interior Design.