The Phenomenological Evaluation of Teaching Professionalism in the Architecture Design Culture: A Case at The University of Kansas
This research explores the phenomenology of teaching as professional practice in the design studios of the department of Architecture at the University of Kansas. In contrast to previous general research, this study seeks to establish and then to improve understanding of design studio instructors’ teaching, employing a phenomenological methodology based on the learning theory of constructivism. This is the first study of its kind to use the uniquely developed analytical model and ATLAS.ti 7 Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) to conduct interpretative phenomenological research (IPA) in the field of architectural education. Three theoretical frameworks are advanced, using different levels of data analysis in ATLAS and several metaphors to illuminate collective experiences of instructors teaching in the studio context. The examined teaching practice of studio instructors is as an indicator of their professional development, based on the attributes of espoused theory and theories-in-use, showing how studio instructors have learned to become street-level bureaucrats and then negotiators. In explicating how studio instructors negotiate and develop their day-to-day teaching, the study aims to contribute to educational reform in support of understanding professional development of instructors in higher education. The three proposed models can be used to help studio instructors to develop more appropriate skills to address problems of teaching practice at all stages and levels of their professional development.
Architecture, Education, Adult education, architectural education, ATLAS.ti 7, design studio culture, Teaching professionalism, teaching style and methods
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