Abstract
Design education revolves around the effectiveness of its face-to-face interactions in the design
studio for design pedagogy to be effective. During the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, design
specialised lecturers had to rapidly transition their practical-orientated contact classes to
online classes. They were faced with facilitating the same contact-based studio classes on an
online platform, which was unfamiliar to them. The focus of this descriptive case study is on the
lived experience of design lecturers as they conducted their practical sessions in an online
environment and their approaches to facilitate the sudden change from contact-orientated classes to
online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings created a clear understanding of the
design lecturers’ pedagogical approach to first-year practical studio sessions during the rapid
transition to online classes through the lens of the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model. Furthermore,
it is placed in context with the literature on design education and studio pedagogy. This study may
urge further research into the effectiveness of lecturers’ approaches and the outcome they had on
student learning to predict what this might mean for the future of design educational practices.