IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

The interior design education landscape is continuously reshaped by the post-pandemic shift toward virtual learning and the rapid adoption of digital technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Generative AI, which necessitates a critical re-evaluation of traditional design studio pedagogy. This transformation offers faculty and students greater flexibility for simultaneous academic and industry engagement, accelerating the integration of poly-employed practitioners — those who teach full-time while at the same time maintain full-time professional practice. This practitioner-faculty model enriches the curriculum with cutting-edge industry knowledge and can increase student operational skills and employability (Hackett, et al., 2016; Bhashanjaly, 2024). However, this faculty model risks fragmenting curriculum cohesion and heightening the problem of professional burnout, characterized by chronic stress and the complex creative burden inherent to the field. Drawing upon the full-time practitioner-faculty model, the research analyzes an undergraduate interior design program’s post-pandemic transformation. The case study investigates how institutional flexibility, driven by technology and the practitioner-faculty model, can effectively meet program demands while mitigating professional burnout. This case study demonstrates that a mix of both academic-only faculty and practitioner faculty is optimal. This core of dedicated academic-only full-time teaching faculty provide the continuity and institutional memory necessary for curriculum governance, stability, and fulfilling the critical service and administrative duties that hold the academic program together. Whereas the practitioner-faculty bring their technological skills and diverse practitioner knowledge. This mix of roles leads to optimal student learning and faculty satisfaction. The research also tracks student resiliency and student employability.