From Pin-up to Slideshow: Effects of Changing Media on ‘crit’ Assessment Cardiff University

Abstract

The assessment of architectural design project work, which forms the majority of the work produced by students in schools of architecture, is usually assessed through the process of critical review (otherwise known as a ‚crit‘ or jury). The traditional method of critical review usually involves the student describing work displayed on a wall directly in front of a panel of critics. Difficulties emerge when students wish to incorporate dynamic, computer generated content into their presentations. Architectural practice is increasingly turning to the ‘PowerPoint’ slide show as a means to communicate their work to clients, and this technology is often better able to incorporate dynamic content. This paper describes a comparative study, whereby students work is presented in both slideshow and pin-up formats to a panel of reviewers. The reviewers were able to evaluate the value of the two forms of presentation in terms of their ability to conduct critical reviews. Results suggest that whilst the slideshow method allows the reviewers to gain a reasonable understanding of the student’s project work, they found it more difficult to provide useful feedback to the student on their design project work.