Development of Project-based Learning (PBL) to Improve the Design Ability of Students in Vocational Education

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Background and Aims: As China's vocational education system aligns with the 2019-2025 reform mandate emphasizing practical competencies and industry integration, interior design education faces the challenge of preparing students for increasingly complex, technology-mediated design practices. Traditional lecture-based approaches inadequately develop the multidimensional competencies required in contemporary residential design. This experimental study aimed to: (1) develop and validate a Project-Based Learning (PBL) instructional model for residential space design, (2) assess its impact on students' design competencies through pre-post comparison, and (3) evaluate student satisfaction with the PBL approach. Methodology: Employing a one-group pretest-posttest design, we implemented a five-week PBL intervention with 42 second-year interior design students at Guangdong Huashang Technical School (first semester, 2025). Students completed an authentic residential renovation project. Data collection included validated design competency assessments (pre/post, 100-point scale across five dimensions), expert evaluation of the instructional model (n=3 experts), and student satisfaction surveys (12-item, 5-point Likert scale). Analysis employed paired t-tests and descriptive statistics. Results: Expert evaluation rated the PBL model at 4.42/5.00 (SD=0.28), indicating high instructional quality. Student design competency scores increased significantly from pretest (M=67.50, SD=9.76) to posttest (M=82.00, SD=8.12), t(41)=17.24, p

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Related topics: Problem and Project Based Learning · Architecture, Design, and Social History · Design Education and Practice