Use of Imagination as a Pedagogy for Disciplinary Learning

• In Event: Building Real and Imagined Communities in Professions

Abstract

This semester-long ethnographic study examines how teacher discourse evoking imagination involved novice students in design processes in a college architectural design studio. I see imagination as a joint activity and resource for pedagogical practices. I analyzed discursive practices by Mr. J in his feedback and those by a student in their presentation. Findings showed that Mr. J’s two strategies in feedback, embedding imagined scenarios and pre-voicing, engaged students with the perspectives of two stakeholders, users and designers, and demonstrated how designs are considered outcomes of the imagined dialogue between stakeholders in a design narrative. I argue that teachers’ use of imagination can guide students to see design as a process of exploring conversations among stakeholders and fashioning professional identities.

Author

• Min-Seok Choi, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  Presenting Author