Undergraduate Research Fellowship Team Received Best Poster Award in University Scholars Day

Undergraduate Research Fellowship team presented a research project, Growing Green: Investigating Interior Design Student Awareness of Sustainable Design, at the University Scholars Day on April 15, 2010. The research poster has been selected as the Best Poster in Social Science and Humanities.

Photo (left to right): Katy, Stephen, Meghan, and Sarah

This study investigates how interior design students’ perception of sustainable design changes over college life. A questionnaire was administered to freshman and seniors groups. The study was chosen as a recipient of an undergraduate research fellowship, an opportunity allowing a team of interior design, communication design, and fiber arts undergraduate students to engage in faculty-directed research activities.

Under faculty mentors’ supervision, the students explored concepts of sustainability, the research process, methodology, data collection and analysis. The students analyzed collected data and interpreted them in meaningful ways. Combining the systematic inquiry of quantitative and qualitative analysis with information design graphic techniques created a synergy unique to the College of Visual Arts and Design context.

The results indicate that the senior group’s awareness of sustainable design is significantly higher than the freshman group. The results are supported by both quantitative and qualitative data analyses. In conclusion, an educational curriculum with sustainability emphasis enhances students’ understanding of sustainable design.

Qualitative Analysis Team
Amanda Moss (Interior Design)
Stephen Walsh (Interior Design)
Sarah Westrup (Fibers)
The students in the qualitative analysis team recorded and compiled bibliographic information in American Psychological Association format. They engaged in data analysis by assisting to code open-ended comment section of questionnaire to formulate results.

Quantitative Analysis Team
Brent Arnold (Interior Design)
Meghan Besinger (Communication Design)
Katy Cagle (Interior Design)
Stu Taylor (Communication Design)
The students in the quantitative analysis team engaged extensively in discussion of data analysis using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. They developed findings from qualitative and qualitative analysis teams in visual graphic forms using information design techniques.

Faculty Mentors
Johnnie Stark, Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Jin Gyu “Phillip” Park, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Ron Reed, Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Keith Owens, Associate Professor of Communication Design
Amie Adelman, Associate Professor of Fibers

Photo (left to right): Brent, Amanda, Stu, Stephen, Katy, and Sarah