LEARNING OUTCOMES AND ACCREDITATION IN INTERIOR DESIGN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Abstract

With each passing day, the number of undergraduate programs that provide interior design education is increasing in Turkey. Different educational approaches, which vary in relation to interior design education, may cause vocational skills to be at different levels. This situation may lead to the creation of training programs that do not have the necessary qualifications and to alienation in professional culture. In order to provide the necessary qualifications in the education program, the education process should be standardized, education quality and compliance with various criteria should be sought. For this reason, international discussions are held by accreditation of application analyzes and training programs through some professional and accreditation organizations. Some studies and research for upgrading and standardization of the quality of education in Turkey is made on behalf of interior architecture. However, rapidly changing conditions require the studies to be updated. Within the scope of the Bologna process, the program information packages that are planned to create a quality and assurance system in education should be examined in this direction. In this study interior design-focused degree programs of learning outcomes in Turkey, which targets how standards set out in international accreditation programs and departments were identified as reflected how the information pack, part been put forward missing header in the information packet. For this purpose, in this study, the learning outcomes of the interior architecture / interior architecture and environmental design program were examined within the scope of the titles included in the CIDA (Council for Interior Designer Accreditation) and ECIA (European Charter of Interior Architecture) accreditation programs. It was determined whether the learning outcomes of 47 institutions whose information packages were accessed met the headings specified in the CIDA criteria; learning outcomes are scrutinized in the context of CIDA and ECIA standards. In this respect, the missing issues in the learning outcomes of the departmental information packages of the interior design undergraduate education programs in Turkey were discussed. Issues such as the effective application of light, color principles and theories related to environmental impact and human welfare are among the important results that have been found to be lacking in this context. With this study prepared to draw attention to the deficiencies in learning outcomes within the scope of international accreditation programs, educators; If deemed necessary, they can reshape their programs. Considering that there are many interior architecture departments that have not yet established an undergraduate program and are preparing to accept students soon, updating and repeating similar studies will significantly contribute to the field.