Rate My Professor Jody Nyboer

Jody Nyboer, Ph.D., is an associate professor in Syracuse University’s School of Design, where she teaches across multiple programs including design studios and the three-course Environmental Factors lecture series in the environmental and interior design program, as well as Design Research and Creative Problem Solving for the design studies B.S. and M.F.A. in design programs. She serves as program coordinator for Design Studies B.S. and chair of the Faculty Council for the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Nyboer earned her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota College of Design, M.Arch. from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning, M.A.T. from Lewis and Clark College Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and B.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Oregon. Her expertise stems from prior careers as a science educator and designer focused on school architecture and educational planning and programming, which informed her doctoral studies and ongoing scholarship in design pedagogy.

Nyboer’s research investigates contemporary issues in design education, including design critique, feedback preferences of modern design students, online tools for remote studio learning across design disciplines, environmental influences on creative production among studio learners, the role of creativity training in higher education, and applications of artificial intelligence in design studios. She received a 2022 VPA Research and Creative Grant for “Environmental Catalysts of Creative Production Among Studio Learners Across Disciplines” ($4,995). Select publications include “ ‘Something Has Changed’ –observations of contemporary studio learners and implications for pedagogy” (2025, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, co-authored with Tara Winters and Riham Nady Faragallah), “Different ideas, lots of ideas: A design course that enhances the creative abilities of college students” (2021, Learn X Design, co-authored with Brad Hokanson), and “Critiquing contemporary interior design students” (2024, International Journal of Technology and Design Education). Nyboer co-teaches an international MOOC on Creative Problem Solving with a University of Minnesota colleague for nearly a decade, annually mentors undergraduates via the Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE), and serves on the editorial board of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education.