The Effect of the U-Shaped Seating Method on Cooperation and Competition among ‎Students in the Architectural Thesis Design Studio

الملخص

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavioral patterns of the students in the design studio and their effects on learning outcomes. The students prefer to arrange the seating arrangement and the drawing boards in a U-shaped seating arrangement on the long side of the studio in order to create an open space in the central part. However, the majority of the studies about the effects of the U-shaped arrangement on the behavioral patterns of the students considered this position in schools rather than in design studios. Qualitative methods, structured observation, an open-ended questionnaire, and simulation were applied in this research. The findings of the research revealed that the students form groups, peers, and individuals in the U-shaped seating arrangement for the learning activities. Despite the fact that the students work in self-made groups with peers and individuals, their achievements are not at the same level, which means that the groups have different effects on their members. The students revealed disruptive behaviors and personalization attitudes in the studio in the questionnaire, which could expose a hidden aspect of interaction in the studio. In conclusion, the U-shaped seating arrangement enhances both collaboration and competition between the students due to the central open space in the studio. However, this form of seating arrangement requires monitoring by the instructor to protect the separated students, balance personalization attitudes, and mitigate disruptive behaviors in the design studio. The seating arrangement needs to be modified for the design studio, particularly by providing dividers for privacy and storage for materials and equipment to support collaboration