Junghwa Suh, D. Arch., assistant professor in the Environmental + Interior Design (E+ID) Program, has received an honorable mention in the 2016 CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation) Award for Excellence Competition. Open to faculty members and collaborating teams at CIDA-accredited interior design programs, the competition recognizes outstanding practices in interior design education and honors design educators for their exceptional work.
Dr. Suh’s submission “Learning on the Go: Using Mobile Tools in Design Education” researched opportunities for students to explore and analyze key design elements and principles in various interior spaces. In order to facilitate understanding and application of how the components of lighting design are integrated and designed in various interior spaces, students needed to analyze the components in a physical context. She used mobile technology as a tool to provide students with a way to visit various interior spaces and conduct meaningful visual analyses. Instead of seeking a specific educational mobile application, Suh chose Instagram, a social networking mobile application which her students were already familiar with and constantly using. The activity was successfully introduced and developed in her “Introduction to Lighting Design” class.
In fall 2016, Makana Mattos, Faculty Center instructional designer, and Tom Galli, Communications senior lecturer, had encouraged Suh to enter the competition. “The research had been already done, so it was a matter of making a video, which was the media format requirement for the award competition,” Suh noted.
Besides Mattos and Galli, two of her students participated in the video. Jenelyn Sison and “Ryan” Zhu Fan had been in her E+ID 325: Intro to Lighting Design class in a previous semester and had participated in her Instagram class activity.
In recognition of her achievement, CIDA will widely publicize her entry in the media, on its website, and through social media. Award winners will also be recognized at the upcoming Interior Design Educator Council’s Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois this spring. Dr. Suh has also been invited to present her research at the IDEC conference.
“Overall, this was indeed an accomplishment in my design education career and E+ID program,” wrote Suh. “I thank Makana, Tom, Jen, and Ryan for helping me to make this wonderful video. This gave me a chance to share my teaching methodology with everyone in the world. I am also thankful for the continuous support from our E+ID director Joan Riggs and from the Chaminade Faculty Center,” she added.
The submitted research video “Learning on the Go: Using Mobile Tools in Design Education” can be found by visiting https://vimeo.com/183874306
About CIDA
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is an independent, non-profit accrediting organization for interior design education programs at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally. For more than 35 years, this knowledge-driven organization has been passionately committed to the ongoing enrichment of the interior design profession through identifying, developing and promoting quality standards for the education of entry-level interior designers, and then encouraging, accrediting and supporting educational programs to aspire to those standards. Through a process of program self-evaluation and peer review, accreditation promotes achievement of high academic standards, while making education more responsive to student and societal needs. The Council engages nearly 200 volunteers, all drawn from interior design practice and education, to carry out its work. More than 150 interior design programs are currently accredited by the Council, serving an estimated 20,000 students. The Council for Interior Design Accreditation is recognized as a reliable authority on interior design education by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The CHEA-recognized scope of accreditation is professional-level interior design programs that culminate in a bachelor’s or master’s degree located in the United States and internationally. Chaminade’s E+ID program has been accredited by CIDA since 2013.
About Environmental + Interior Design Program
Chaminade University offers the only degree-granting Environmental + Interior Design program in the state of Hawaii and is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), the body that oversees and evaluates academic standards for baccalaureate institutions. Chaminade’s comprehensive Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program prepares students to embark upon a successful career in interior design, environmental design, and other design-related fields. The degree satisfies the educational requirement for professional licensing through the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), as well as prepare students for post-graduate studies and entry-level positions in the field. The E+ID program is unique from other academic programs, in that it extends beyond the traditional scope of interior design by encompassing the broader aspects of the environment into the design process. The curriculum addresses the symbiotic relationship between the indoor (built) and the outdoor (natural) environments by cultivating a design approach that integrates rather than compartmentalizes the spaces and places humans occupy.
