Cultural Clash: Exploring How Studio-Based Pedagogy Impacts Learning for Students in HCI Classrooms

A number of computing departments have adapted studio-based pedagogy for teaching Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to help students develop creative design skills. These efforts have shown promise, however, some challenges that emerge when integrating studio-based pedagogy into computing programs have been neglected by researchers. This research focuses on these challenges in the implementation and evaluation of a studio-based approach integrated into three HCI-related courses. This study is based on 6 classes, 44 interviews with students, observations, and interviews with members of the teaching team. Findings supported many positive outcomes from previous studio-based implementations. Nevertheless, students felt the change in pedagogy frustrating and it may have hindered their creativity, motivation, and engagement. This paper highlights these conflicting narratives, comparing computing culture with studio-based pedagogy. We conclude with considerations for future implementations.