student spotlight

• Student: Jennifer Chalkley (staff)
• Director of Studies: Dr. Carla Molinari 
• Second Supervisor: Dr. Doreen Bernath

The significance of play in childhood development is well-researched and valued as a tool for learning, however exploration of play in adulthood, especially in higher education design pedagogy, is currently overlooked. The research aims to address the current gap in knowledge relating to the concept of ‘play’ being used as an educational tool within the context of design studio courses at higher education. It will explore how the act of play through developing a construction toy impacts students’ design process, using Leeds School of Architecture as a primary research source. It will achieve this by attempting to answer the following research questions: ‘What is a construction toy?’; ‘How can a construction toy be used a pedagogical tool in the design process?’; and ‘How does the development of a construction toy impact students’ design process?’ As a pedagogic tool construction toys explore the possibility of enhancing students visuo-spatial abilities, rather than the process solely residing with an individual’s imaginative capacity. A hypothesis of the research is that by introducing acts of play in the design process, students may stimulate analogical thinking which has not been nurtured. In this context, play will be facilitated by the designing and making of construction toys, which can be built, taken apart again and rebuilt as something different (Kudrowitz & Wallace, 2010). Whilst existing construction toys allow for freedom of form creation, and application of meaning, they still embody qualities of the material and form which is prescribed. To avoid repetition of past forms it is important in the design process for students to develop their own toy.