Can the 'designerly way of thinking' be taught remotely?

Abstract

It is widely accepted that certain domains of knowledge are better made accessible to students by a complex set of strategies comprehensively known as 'designerly way of knowing'. This 'way of knowing', which is appreciated as essential to (good) design, is developed within the framework of the design process, the copying and reusing of existing forms, and the making of artefacts. The distant teaching applied during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown could only partly substitute for the in-person guidance provided to students in normal design studios. While the transfer of explicit aspects of knowledge, such as constant critical evaluation and reflection on the various stages of the design, could more-or-less be kept to the in-person tutoring, the transfer of implicit aspects of knowledge based on bodily involvement probably suffered considerably. The latter is involved in both the reactions to the modified design presented by students each week, and in the new modifications proposed by the tutor, or the critique realised by means of exploratory sketches meant to show the weaknesses or suggest ameliorations to the design presented. But, there is an upside, too. Students open up their personal space; the instructor can make adjustments to their tutoring on the basis of information they normally don't have access to.