To study the impact of experiential learning on student engagement and cognitive learning outcomes in interior design material courses

Interior design education nurtures imagination and critical thinking skills among students. Learning interior design would enable design students to translate their creative expressions into practical real-world scenarios through informed material selection. A conventional classroom pedagogy is usually confined to a lecture format with theoretical inputs; however, experiential learning can be used as a powerful tool for interior design students, wherein they can learn the process of applying their theoretical knowledge and conceptual understanding to real-world scenarios with actual materials. This research aims to examine the effect of experiential learning on student engagement and their cognitive learning outcomes in an interior design material course. The research design followed a quasi-experimental post-test- only approach, with an experimental group taught with experiential learning and a control group taught with lecture- based learning. Experiential learning takes place in a practical setting within the makers' lab. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire and post-test scores. The student engagement survey was adapted from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) - High Impact Practices (HIP). Student engagement was measured on their cognitive understanding, social engagement and personal skill development. Learning outcomes were measured on the post- test scores, having questions from all six levels of Bloom's taxonomy to measure their order of thinking skills. Data analysis was performed using means, standard deviations, and independent sample T-tests to measure the difference of scores between the control and experimental groups. The results indicate significantly high order thinking skills (HOTs) and a positive impact of experiential learning strategy on student engagement and their learning outcomes, enhancing their ability to make informed design decisions. The research corroborates that experiential learning is better adopted even for theory-and practice-based subjects such as materials in interior design, affirming the significance of experiential learning in not just practical but also conceptual and theoretical courses.