This document discusses strategies for social presence in architecture and spatial design education. It explores how traditional studio teaching is based on physical presence but must now adapt for distance learning. Social presence involves qualities of "being there", "being real", "connecting", and "belonging". Successful strategies include instructor involvement, interaction frequency, knowledge sharing, and community cohesion to create a sense of belonging and potential connections among remote students.

1. Jolanda Morkel
jolandam@stadio.ac.za
Hermie Delport
hermied@stadio.ac.za
School of Architecture and Spatial Design
46th Improving University Teaching Conference

2. Closer at a distance: learning
design strategies for social
presence in Architecture and
Spatial Design education

3. Photograph: Mora, P. (2015)
THE ARCHITECTURE STUDIO
Studio teaching in architecture and design is traditionally
based on the premise of both instructors/ tutors and material
learning artefacts. Instructors typically give supervision to
students on-on-one at their drawing tables. Students, in turn,
work with tangible material such as pens and tracing paper,
and scale model material such as cardboard and Styrofoam.
From this triangle of students, instructors and learning
artefacts, the language emerges. As such, the physical
presence of people and stuff is a fundamental premise of the
traditional studio learning format’. (Steinø and Khalied, 2017: 23)

5. (Whiteside, 2015)
Lowenthal and Snelson (2017) describe
‘Being there’ as the quality or state of
‘being there’ (Dunlap and Lowenthal,
2009), ‘Being real’ is the degree to which
a person is perceived as ‘real’ in
mediated communication (Gunawardena
& Zittle, 1997), ‘Connecting’ is the degree
of feeling, perception and reaction of
being connected (Tu, 2002), and
‘Belonging’ is a student’s sense of being
in and belonging in a course, and the
ability to interact with other students and
an instructor (Picciano, 2002).

6. units
2.5
credits
objects
0.5
credits
module
10/20
credits
module
structure

7. affective association

8. community cohesion

9. instructor involvement

10. interaction intensity
frequency

11. knowledge and experience
sharing
the group’s
potential equates
to the sum of its
parts
potential
connections

12. https://theradicallyinclusivestudio.org/

13. Closer at a distance: learning
design strategies for social
presence in Architecture and
Spatial Design education
THANK YOU

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