1. Studio Teaching in
the Low-Precedent
Context of
Instructional Design
Elizabeth Boling, Indiana University
Colin M. Gray, Iowa State University
Kennon M. Smith, Indiana University
LearnxDesign2015, Chicago, IL

2. Background
studio signature pedagogy is enacted in many traditional art and
design disciplines
critical role of precedent in studio education
(CIDA, 2014; NAAB, 2014; e.g. Clark & Pause, 2012)
definition of precedent as used in this study …
not restricted to a disciplinary canon, or historical works taught as
exemplars
unbounded experience (direct or vicarious) put to use in the moment of
designing
teaching studio in an emergent design discipline (instructional
design and technology [IDT]) without tradition of precedent
building

3. Philosophical Context: IDT as Science and/
or Design?
traditional characterizations of IDT have emphasized links with
science (e.g., Merrill et al., 1996) and models have been
represented as a primary form of knowledge building (Branch,
2009; Richey, Klein, & Tracey, 2011)
the emergent view that IDT shares many concerns and
characteristics of design fields raises concern that some of the
critical practices supporting design are absent in the field
the use of precedent is one of those critical practices

4. Questions
When an educator in IDT collects and curates precedent materials
to support student learning, how do those students experience this
precedent?
how do the students encounter precedent?
how do they recognize it, seek and use it
how do they discuss its role in their projects when asked to do so?

5. Context of the Study
intensive, graduate-level studio course in instructional graphics design
offered within an IDT program – summer elective course
course design has evolved over ten years with classic studio features
established for 5 years
physical resources for the studio (compared to typical IDT classroom)

6. Context of the Study
2014 course assignments
Draw 100 Things
Instructional Book
Precedent Paper

7. Context of the Study
2014 course assignments
Draw 100 Things
Instructional Book
Precedent Paper

8. Context of the Study
2014 course assignments
Draw 100 Things
Instructional Book
Precedent Paper

9. Method
Participants:
2014: 9 students
all studies (n=75)
Data Sources
primary: 2014 field notes and precedent papers
secondary: previous field notes and analyses
Data Analysis
descriptive analysis
thematic analysis

10. Findings & Discussion
as in previous iterations of the course, students encountered, but did not recognize the
precedent materials in the room on their own; they noticed it when –
the instructor pointed out relevant work on the walls or selected books from the shelves and
brought it to the work tables
the instructor encouraged them to seek visual precedent outside the classroom, including offering
advice on where it might be found
students were largely unaware of precedents they were using and found it difficult to
discuss its role in their projects
students first considered their process moves to be precedent
they required significant prompting or questions from the instructor to identify precedents that they
actually were using
students made both immediate and analogic use of precedent
direct/immediate use was most available to them for reflection
most made progress in understanding analogic use

11. Unconscious analogic use
Cecil’s side-by-side visual reflection regarding the influence he perceives on his image from a comic
style he has enjoyed previously.
• with prompting, Cecil was able to connect his lived experience of the
visual world to the moves he was making in depicting objects

12. Unconscious direct use
Hana presented a craft book instruction she has used previously as an example of the visual strategies
she has adopted in her own images on the right.
• Hana made direct use of precedent, evident to the instructor from her
expressed background and interests, but surprising to her until the
connection was suggested to her.

13. Conscious direct use
Aaron used the Dog Owner’s Handbook as a direct model
for his visual representation throughout the instructional
booklet he created.
• Aaron exemplified direct, linear and
conscious use of precedent. He went
looking for a model to use, made
adjustments as he went, and by the end of
class was able to articulate how he might
use additional sources of precedent.

14. Conscious analogic use
The nine-patch quilt design suggested to Bodhi as providing an analogic possibility for the structure of
a display, drawing many small images together into one composition.
• Bodhi perceived the “small squares” nature of a quilt suggested to her as a
compositional example, and adapted this visual quality to her poster with
multiple contextual adjustments.

15. Conscious analogic use
Terry’s image (left) shows the line quality he applied to his illustrations after noting it in text from a
children’s science magazine. Chen’s image (right) combined photographic environments and people
with drawn objects, adapted from a technique he had seen that combined photographic
environments with sketched people.
• Two students with some design experience prior to this course were both
proactive and analogic in their use of precedent, although neither was
fully independent in this use or fluent in their discussion of it.

16. Conclusion
a precedent-rich learning environment is not sufficient on its own—
students have to learn:
what the environment is for
how to use the environment effectively
how the environment in the studio relates to precedent use outside the
studio
findings may inform the approaches used to incorporate designerly
perspectives (including the use of precedent) in IDT pedagogy
and in other fields

17. References
Branch, R. M. (2009). Instructional design: The ADDIE approach. Boston, MA: Springer-Verlag.
Clark, R.H., & Pause, M. (2012). Precedents in architecture: Analytic diagrams, formative ideas, and
partis (4th ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). (2014). Professional standards 2014.http://accredit-id.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/02/Professional-Standards-2014.pdf
Merrill, M. D., Drake, L., Lacy, M. J., Pratt, J., and the ID2 Research Group. (1996). Reclaiming instructional
design. Educational Technology, 36(5), 5-7.
National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). (2014). 2014 Conditions for accreditation. Available for
download at: http://www.naab.org/accreditation/2014_Conditions
Richey, R., Klein, J. D., & Tracey, M. W. (2011). The instructional design knowledge base: Theory, research,
and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.