Design studios are an innovative way to educate Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) students. This article begins by addressing literature about IDT design studios. One conclusion from this literature is that IDT studios have been theoretically conceptualized. However, much of this conceptualization is insular to the field of IDT and only narrowly considers studio pedagogy. This insularity and narrowness is odd, given both that design studios inherently are borrowed from other disciplines and pedagogy is a focus within IDT. Thus, this article identifies and analyzes the purposes of design studios as considered in other disciplines and through disparate lenses. These purposes can serve as the basis of prescriptive pedagogy.