VALDOSTA — Because of their innovative efforts to help students master a crucial interior design topic, two Valdosta State University Department of Art and Design faculty members recently earned the Best Presentation: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award during the Interior Design Educators Council’s Unmasking, Provoking and Transforming Design Symposium. 

Kyoungim Park and  Selena Nawrocki, Ph.D., have long been committed to engaging in research and other initiatives that allow them to better understand and improve student learning and to contribute to scholarly research, according to a VSU news release.

They were honored to learn that their Know Better WELL: Accelerated Well-being in the Interior Design Studio research project received high praise from IDEC judges for its relevance to interior design teaching and learning, pedagogical approach and instructional methods, insights for teaching and learning, student learning outcomes and more. 

The Know Better WELL: Accelerated Well-being in the Interior Design Studio project began in Spring 2024 with Nawrocki’s Computers for Interior Design course, which introduces sophomore students to computer-aided design and drafting, software applications for three-dimensional visualization and design communication. The students were assigned a perimeter floor plan for a healthcare space. Using industry standard computer software programs like AutoCAD and SketchUp, they created a unique layout while applying WELL Building Standard concepts.

Nawrocki, a professor of interior design who joined the VSU Department of Art and Design faculty in 2000, said the WELL Building Standard empowers interior designers to create more thoughtful and intentional spaces that foster a culture of health and well-being. It is a performance-based system based on a series of concepts — air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and community — that transforms buildings and organizations in ways that help people thrive.

The Know Better WELL: Accelerated Well-being in the Interior Design Studio project concluded in fall 2024 with Park’s senior-level Interior Design Studio course, where students were tasked with designing a renovation plan for VSU’s Powell Hall. Through experiential learning activities, they gained invaluable experience in incorporating the WELL Building Standard in their design solution.

Park and Nawrocki said the WELL Building Standard has been an important part of VSU’s interior design curriculum since it was developed in 2014 by the International WELL Building Institute. Human health and well-being are also important parts of the professional standards of the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.     

“Integrating the WELL Building Standard across all levels of the interior design program helps students demonstrate a deeper recognition of well-being in the built environment,” said Park, an associate professor of interior design who joined the VSU faculty in 2007. “It also benefits faculty members in better aligning program learning outcomes, content, and assessment methods with Council for Interior Design Accreditation standards, which is important for demonstrating quality and credibility. Our Know Better WELL: Accelerated Well-being in the Interior Design Studio project demonstrated the pedagogical methods and benefits when coordination among projects is required to integrate WELL within the interior design curricula.”