A Triangulated Inquiry into Computational Design Integration: proposing a Framework for Design Education Reform
Abstract
Architectural education in Pakistan is currently undergoing a pedagogical transformation that mirrors broader shifts in higher education across the Global South. This study explores how design learning is evolving from traditional, hand-based teaching toward digitally supported and process-oriented pedagogies. Using a Methodological Triangulation, a mixed-method approach, data were collected through three different methodologies, including a Google questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with faculty and students from architecture schools in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, and a questionnaire with students after the studio conducted during the fall of 2023 at the Department of Architecture, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. Thematic coding in NVivo yielded five interrelated domains: student learning, studio methodology, learning environment, teaching culture, and technology integration, through which the study maps critical transitions in educational practice. Findings reveal a complex landscape in which students advocate for experimentation, collaboration, and digital literacy, while many educators remain aligned with hierarchical and analog studio traditions. The gradual introduction of Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) has enhanced reflective thinking and interdisciplinary learning but has also exposed systemic gaps in curriculum design, institutional readiness, and teacher development. By situating these findings within contemporary discourses on digital pedagogy and decolonizing education, the study proposes a hybrid framework that links technological competence with contextual sensitivity and how digital adoption reshapes both cognitive and institutional dimensions of design education.
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References
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