ketching is a highly valued tool of thinking for architects particularly during the initial conceptual stages of the design process. Developing an effective design process is one of the key learning objectives facing an undergraduate architecture student. If we can improve the ways we teach students how to use early design sketching as a tool of thinking then we will better assist them in their aim to become competent practicing architects. The question is how to make these improvements?

This paper is intended as a conceptual framework within which the issues surrounding this question can be explored from a phenomenographic perspective on teaching and learning. The paper looks at the nature of early sketching, raises issues connected with its teaching and learning and identifies a phenomenographic study which has as its focus the identification and description of the variation in approaches to early sketching, the outcomes of which will help students to develop a deeper understanding of sketching and its usefulness. Further, by describing and analyzing the qualitatively different ways that students, teachers and practitioners experience learning about early sketching, insight would be gained into ways to improve the quality of student learning.

Keywords: early design sketching, design process, teaching and learning.