Design stories: An action research study on students' skill development through the portfolio process

Abstract

This action research aims to support the systematic development of landscape architecture students' technical and aesthetic skills by examining their portfolio design processes and to reveal how students construct their unique design identities through the portfolio process. The study was conducted with third- and fourth-year undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, İzmir Demokrasi University, during the Spring Semester of the 2024–2025 academic year. Initially, 21 volunteer students were included in the research; however, because the course was not mandatory and students had concurrent academic workloads, the study was completed with 4 students selected through purposive sampling. The implementation, carried out between 05.03.2025 and 25.07.2025, comprised 10 sessions totalling 18 hours and focused on Adobe InDesign, typography, colour theory, and layout design. Data were collected via a preliminary information form, in-class video recordings, student and researcher journals, semi-structured interviews, and final portfolio designs, and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that the portfolio design process enabled students to move away from monotonous templates and develop a distinctive visual language. The process also appears to have deepened their awareness of visual hierarchy and use of space, supported the development of their digital tool competencies, and strengthened their reflective thinking skills by allowing them to critically evaluate their past work from a distance. These findings indicate that the portfolio design process in landscape architecture education should be regarded not merely as a means of producing technical output, but as a pedagogical process that fosters students' design identity and reflective thinking skills.