The place and importance of informal education in the freshman year experience of architectural education

Abstract

Formal architectural education is inadequate for students in the current dynamic world where visual content and speed have become determinative. Particularly, freshman-year architecture students have difficulties in this process. In order to facilitate this process, dynamic methods, in which the student is interactive, should be included more in formal education. Informal education methods should be used complementary to formal education in terms of achieving the required skills and development along with knowledge. The aim of this study is to emphasise the requirement, importance and practice methods of informal education to make the education process more efficient for freshman-year architecture students. The quantitative research method is used in the study, and a survey is conducted with the sample group of selected freshman-year architecture students. With the results of the survey, it is tried to determine which informal learning the students preferred and found useful in the process of obtaining information. As a result, informal education methods, their contribution to the education of freshman-year architecture students, the results of this contribution and the student learning outcomes are evaluated.
 
 Keywords: Architectural education, formal education, informal education, freshman-year architecture students, architecture courses;