Abstract
This research examines how the media and open resources impact design process efficiency in design education. Through the internet, students can easily access the latest e-resources, learn about the most recent architectural and design trends, examine similar case studies, easily get the drawings for their design project, join competitions and awards, and use high technology in their work. These trends encourage students to rethink and look outside the box, opening their minds to profound philosophies that expand their design thinking and helping them to generate innovative ideas and creative designs.
The research includes a two-stage approach to investigating the impact of the media and open resources on manipulation of the design studio, which is an essential part of design education. A theoretical background in the literature provides an understanding of the impact of the media and open resources on the performance of students. This study analyses the data collection and incorporates two methods of data collection. The first involves meetings and interviews with instructors in graduation design studios (architecture and interior design) located in the case studies used by the researchers. The second is a survey questionnaire for senior students. This study measures use of the media and open resources in the graduation design studio. It also measures satisfaction of students regarding their performance on graduation projects. The data reveals the effect of the media and open resources on student performances in the design process used for their graduation design projects in two universities in the Gulf region. One is in the College of Engineering, University of Bahrain, Bahrain. The other is in the College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Ben Feisal University, Saudi Arabia. The researchers separate the opinions of the instructors and the students in the Gulf universities. The students confirm that the media and the open resources improve critical thinking in design projects, increase creativity, and develop the design value of graduation projects.