The Efficacy of Using Critical Pedagogy as a Teaching Method in Master’s Architectural Design Course (1) on Graduate Students’ Motivation

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Choosing the optimal teaching method appropriate to the purpose and field of the subject is one of the issues that have been discussed by many researchers of various fields over the past few decades. Critical pedagogy is one of the most learner-centered teaching method, according to which the relationship between the professor and students is not made based on the one-sided transfer of information, but also on changes in the power-sharing and the mutual exchange of information. Consistency of this problem-based teaching method with the essence of learning environments of architectural workshops made it possible to apply this teaching method in master’s architectural design course (1). Accordingly, the present study aims to evaluate students’ intrinsic motivation under the circumstances of the critical education method. To this end, 24 graduate students of Islamic Azad University of Gorgan attending the architectural design course (1) are chosen as samples. The research hypothesis is that the critical pedagogy significantly affects the internal motivation of architectural students attending the design courses. This study is descriptive research carried out using inferential statistics. To compare the effectiveness of the two conventional teaching method and critical pedagogy on students’ intrinsic motivation, Deci & Ryan’s learning climate questionnaire is used. This questionnaire is based on Deci and Ryan’s “Self-Determination Theory”, which knows the three criteria of “autonomy”, “competence” and “relatedness” necessary in the development of intrinsic motivation. Moreover, the research conceptual model is designed and developed based on these criteria. Then, the data are analyzed using independent sample t-test and SPSS software. The results showed that the critical pedagogy produced a higher level of intrinsic motivation in students than the conventional teacher-centered educational method.