Integrating 3D Scanning in Interior Design Pedagogy for Workforce Readiness

Emerging digital technologies are reshaping interior design practice, increasing the need for educational approaches that intentionally support students’ perceived workforce readiness. This study examined the implementation of a mobile 3D scanning application within a university interior design course to examine its association with students’ technology learning self-efficacy and perceived workforce readiness. Using a one-group pre–post survey design, data were collected from interior design students who participated in a classroom-based 3D scanning activity using Polycam and completed surveys before and after the instructional experience. A total of 29 pre-test and 21 post-test responses were collected. Survey instruments assessed students’ perceived importance, familiarity, and experience with 3D scanning, along with technology adoption characteristics. Post-intervention measures also examined technology learning self-efficacy and perceived workforce readiness domains, including career development, self-regulated learning, problem solving, and technological competence. Welch’s independent-samples t-tests and Mann–Whitney U tests indicated that the post-test group reported significantly higher perceptions of familiarity with and experience using 3D scanning, as well as several technology-adoption perceptions, than the pre-test group, including ease of use, work style compatibility, efficiency gains, result observability, and trialability. One-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed that post-intervention composite scores for technology learning self-efficacy and perceived workforce readiness domains were significantly higher than the neutral scale midpoint. Qualitative thematic analysis of open-ended responses further supported these findings, identifying themes of ease of use, engagement, enhanced visualization, creativity, and professional relevance. Overall, the findings suggest that participation in the classroom-based mobile 3D scanning activity was associated with positive post-intervention perceptions of technology learning self-efficacy and perceived workforce readiness.