Design education is qualitative in nature, there’s nothing absolute, it’s not like 1+1=2. The nature of assessment is more subjective and heavily depends on the context of an exercise, assignment, or project. As Dr. Marry explained in the course video the power of feedback, feedback… So, the outcome of a particular exercise is very important in aligning with the objective. This becomes very tricky for the instructor as well as for the students. Thus, the importance of assessment is undeniable in design studio-based education.

There can be both summative and formative assessments in the studio. In my experience the formative assessment gets more weightages as compared to the summative assessment. In conventional subjects’ summative assessment has more importance compared with design education. For example, evaluation percentage for a design semester course can be breakdown as; assignments and projects carry 50%, midterm exam carries 20% and final exam project has 30% of the total score.

Usually, the design studio courses are hours long, for instance a single studio design course can be six hours long. The instructor shares the topic, discusses it in detail through presentations or instructions and then gives the students the brief of the assignment/project. Each student works his or her way to reach the solution.

There can be numerous ways to solve a single design problem and each student can opt for a different way towards the solution. This requires active participation from the instructor, he talks, gives feedback, critiques, responds to questions, examines their design processes, and facilitates learning in the studio.

When students come up with a solution, they share the work with others. This sharing can be in the form of prototype, an artifact or in form or presentation. These recursive assessments are not done in quantification terms but more subjective and can be highly contextual. This whole learning process through feedback and discussion can be a good example of formative assessment in a studio environment.

On the other hand, there are conventional methods of assessment do take happen like there are mid exam projects or final exam projects or even sometimes quizzes can be the part of evaluation. But the formative assessment remains the dominating style of evaluation in design education.

References:

1. World Conference on Educational Sciences 2009, Problematization of assessment in architectural design education: First year as a case study.
2. Design studio discourse in architecture in Australia: The role of formative feedback in assessment
3. Assessment towards Innovation: Examining Feedback Methods in the Design Studio
4. Formative Assessment https://dpi.wi.gov/strategic-assessment/cycles-assessment/formative
5. What Is Formative Assessment? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkoDWSCGIE4