Looking closer. Active learning experiences for undergraduate design students.

The latest theories on undergraduate learning tend to move towards new approach of teaching more student centered, based on active learning activities where teachers are facilitators with the aim to develop students' autonomy and their ability to learn. Specifically in the field of design teaching, activities based on Learning Outside the Classroom - LOtC - and situated learning approaches can help giving students direct and personal sensorial and aesthetic experiences on spaces and atmospheres. Moreover the modern theory of multiple intelligences states that people have an intelligence that act in specific ‘modalities’, so that teaching must be given by using different methodologies, differentiating theoretical activities with other practices, classroom lessons with others outdoors to reach all students. In this perspective, this paper reports the experimental approach carried out within the design studio of ‘visual elements of the project’ at the Design School of Politecnico di Milano based on teaching and practice activities, classroom lessons and outdoor visits, taking advantage of the cultural experience offered by the city of Milan. The design studio titled ‘Looking clooser’, lasting four months, was based on three guided tours, which were the reference for the study of analysis and the project training. The first one was at Fondazione Prada spaces, designed by the architectural firm OMA, the second one at the Fuorisalone during the Milan Design Week 2019, the most important event in the world for design, and the third one at Villa Panza di Biumo (Varese), which hosts a collection of American contemporary art among the best known in the world, as well as international exhibitions. These visits offered to the student the opportunity for an active-learning experience outside the official educational environment, engaging them in activities that forced them to reflect upon items that contribute to create spatial atmospheres and how they are used and combined. Switching between theoretical lessons and practical works, the students of this design studio have shown a greater interest in the subject and a better performance in the training activities, each achieving homogeneous levels in learning. The ultimate goal of these educational experiences is to develop in students the ability to observe the reality that surrounds them with trained eyes to recognize the meaningful elements of projects, assessing them in a critical and constructive manner. In this sense, the experience carried out may need steps further in this direction, stimulating students to recognize these opportunities autonomously in their daily experience, bringing their observations back to the classroom, during the academic career and later on in the professional activity.