Architectural Design Learning Research Articles

Immersive virtual reality in experiential learning for architecture design education: an action research

PurposeChallenges of conducting site visit activities, a vital component of architecture learning during the recent pandemic have proved our unreadiness in facing the digital future. The lack of understanding of learning technology has affected the education experience. Thus, there is a need to investigate immersive learning technology such as immersive virtual reality (IVR) to replace students’ concrete experience in the current learning setting. This study aims to answer: (1) What is the influence of IVR in experiential learning (EL) in enhancing the personal spatial experience? (2) Does IVR in EL influence students' approach to learning during the architecture design process?Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted as an action research design approach. Action research was employed in the first-year architecture design studio by the lecturer as a practitioner-researcher. The personal spatial experience survey was performed in the earlier phase to identify the students’ prior spatial experience. Architectural Spatial Experience Simulation (ASES) a learning tool was implemented and assessed with Architecture Design Learning Assessment (ADLA) rubric, which was developed to evaluate EL and student’s approach to learning during the architecture design learning process.FindingsThe outcomes revealed that ASES as a learning tool in EL could improve the participants’ spatial experience, particularly those with minimal prior personal spatial experience. ASES was recognized to enhance the participants’ EL experience and encourage changes in student’s approach to learning from surface to deep learning.Originality/valueThis research benefits the architecture design learning process by offering a learning tool and a framework to resolve challenges in performing site visit activities and digital learning. It also contributes by expanding the EL theory and students’ approach to learning knowledge in the architecture education field.

Interações da tectônica no ensino de projeto de arquitetura

Considerando a interdisciplinaridade proposta nos ateliês de projeto de arquitetura, um dos temas desafiadores para professores e estudantes é a abordagem da tectônica no ensino de projeto arquitetônico. Este trabalho tem como objetivo compreender as necessidades, expectativas e demandas da tectônica em um ateliê de projeto de arquitetura de um curso de Graduação em Arquitetura e Urbanismo, com proposição de solução para a demanda exposta, adotando a abordagem do design thinking. Para a coleta de dados, optou-se pelas técnicas de observação participante, entrevistas dirigidas e aplicação do mapa de empatia, sendo a análise de dados documental, caracterizando uma pesquisa qualitativa. Os resultados demonstram que as três principais demandas da tectônica em ateliê de projeto de arquitetura estão relacionadas aos conteúdos de concepção estrutural, entendimento sobre contenções estruturais e sobre qual a melhor solução técnica para cada projeto. Como contribuição, foi elaborado um protótipo em ambiente de aprendizagem virtual, que contemplou conteúdos sobre os principais temas solicitados pelo público-alvo da pesquisa. A solução incentiva a autonomia e proatividade dos estudantes na busca pelo conhecimento, reduz a competitividade, promove a comunicação e compartilhamento de conhecimentos entre estudantes e professores, minimizando as dificuldades relatadas no ateliê de projeto de arquitetura envolvendo a tectônica.

Vivir – Habitar- Convivir: Cinco reflexiones sobre sostenibilidad para la formación del Arquitecto

El respeto por los espacios habitables, debe partir de un sistema de valores promotores de buenas prácticas para el hacer. La presente reflexión forma parte de una diagnosis sobre la praxis en el escenario del proceso de aprendizaje del Diseño Arquitectónico, para guiar a los estudiantes hacia la proyectación de propuestas con criterios de sostenibilidad, más allá de posturas teóricas recurrentes. Se abordan cinco reflexiones a modo de interrogantes, surgidas de la preocupación por la sostenibilidad, su práctica en los espacios habitables, la experiencia docente del Diseño Arquitectónico, así como consideraciones sobre el hacer académico de la Arquitectura.

Constructing knowledge and identity in a professionally-oriented discipline

AbstractCentral to rhetorical genre theory is the notion of ‘rhetorical situation’ (Bitzer, 1968), which emphasizes context as sociohistorically situated. In the analysis of academic genres, this notion helps us to think of the contexts that genres respond to as dynamic, varying across time and space, rather than as stable and unified disciplinary discourse communities. From this social perspective, academic disciplines are theorized as including a great number and range of rhetorical situations (Paré, 2014), and the idea of genre variation becomes of increasing scholarly interest. In this study, rhetorical genre theory and the concept of ‘rhetorical situation’ provide a framing for the analysis of a recurrent discursive event. The event is the design studio ‘crit’, a weekly presentation and review of students’ in-progress design ideas and artifacts, through which the teaching and learning of architectural design is enacted in the academy. In a professionally-oriented discipline such as architecture, curriculum genres often need to negotiate tensions between the academy and the profession. Applied to such settings, a rhetorical genre approach invites us to think about whose values and knowledge dominate, and who has the authority to adapt the genre to suit its changing needs. This paper reports on interviews with five design teachers (one senior academic and four professional practitioners). The interviews reveal how the teachers take up the crit genre in diverse ways, including what counts as knowledge and competence in the design studio and how this knowledge is best taught, learnt and assessed. The paper concludes that students would benefit from a genre pedagogy that focuses on genre variation, its sources and its consequences, as well as genre conventionality.

A Knowledge Conversion Model Based on the Cognitive Load Theory for Architectural Design Education

The education of architectural design requires balanced curricular arrangements of respectively theoretical knowledge and practical skills to really help students build their knowledge structures, particularly helping them in solving the problems of cognitive load. The purpose of this study is to establish an architectural design knowledge conversion model, helping students to obtain architectural design knowledge through a learning process of knowledge sharing/socialization, extraction, externalization, integration, creation and internalization. This model can help students to effectively solve the problems of cognitive load in the learning process, achieve knowledge construction and storage through meaningful learning, apply their knowledge in their future designs and, ultimately, improve their design capability. This study starts with a literature review on theories of knowledge conversion and cognitive load to establish an architectural design knowledge conversion model complemented with especially designed curricular contents and activities. The model is applied in actual teaching to find out if the application of this model has a positive influence on the students in their learning of architectural design, solving the ill-defined problems in their learning and easing their cognitive load.

Establishment of a Digital Knowledge Conversion Architecture Design Learning with High User Acceptance

The purpose of this study is to design a knowledge conversion and management digital learning system for architecture design learning, helping students to share, extract, use and create their design knowledge through web-based interactive activities based on socialization, internalization, combination and externalization process in addition to learning in the “design studio” at school. In addition, the technology acceptance model3 is used in this study to measure how students accept the system developed in this study by analyzing the user behavioral and environmental factors that can affect their use of the system. The results of questionnaire surveys based on TAM3 indicate that this digital learning environment based on knowledge management can effectively reduce the challenge of “ill-defined design problems” for students and help to promote better learning results. Therefore, it can be concluded that the knowledge transfer learning system developed in this study is very helpful for learning of architecture design.

A Concept Transformation Learning Model for Architectural Design Learning Process

Generally, in the foundation course of architectural design, much emphasis is placed on teaching of the basic design skills without focusing on teaching students to apply the basic design concepts in their architectural designs or promoting students’ own creativity. Therefore, this study aims to propose a concept transformation learning model to achieve the learning objective via the input-process-output learning process, which focuses on: (1) the information transmission of the concept (or conceptual frame); (2) the students’ simulation, analogy, analysis, and innovation; and (3) the works output (or learning output). In this study, three design assignments of 2D composition, 3D composition, and architecture form composition are given to the students to promote their motivation of active learning via the concept transformation learning model. The effectiveness of the concept transformation learning model is verified by comparing the results of the pre-test questionnaires and the post-test questionnaires. The questionnaire results also indicate that, with the concept transformation learning model, students’ creativity can be effectively promoted so that they can become more interest and more active in their learning. The research results can be referred by further teaching and studies of architectural design.

A Study of an Architecture Design Learning Process Based on Social Learning, Course Teaching, Interaction, and Analogical Thinking

The students in the vocational education of architecture design in Taiwan often face many learning obstacles, such as no problem solving ability and lack of creativity. Therefore, this study used a social learning model as a learning strategy in the architecture design learning process to solve related learning difficulties. Firstly, this study used cognitive development teaching activities and a learning process based on analogical thinking and analogical reasoning to build the social learning model. Secondly, the social learning model of this study was implemented in the teaching of a required course of architecture design for 120 freshmen in China University of Technology. The questionnaire survey results were then statically analyzed and compared to measure the differences in the students’ knowledge about architecture designs before and after the teaching in this study. In this study, the social learning model is proven helpful in inspiring the students’ creativity by converting new knowledge of architecture design into schemas and hence retaining the new knowledge for future application. The social learning model can be applied in the teaching of architecture design in other schools, while more research can be conducted in the future to further confirm its feasibility to promote effective learning.

Using an analogical thinking model as an instructional tool to improve student cognitive ability in architecture design learning process

Lack of creativity is a problem often plaguing students from design-related departments. Therefore, this study is intended to incorporate analogical thinking in the education of architecture design to enhance students’ learning and their future career performance. First, this study explores the three aspects of architecture design curricula, interaction and students’ cognitive development. Then the study discusses learning based on analogical thinking into two parts: analogical learning and analogical reasoning. The samples in this study were the freshmen of the Department of Architecture, China University of Technology. The model was used in a five-week unit of the course of Architecture Design, a required course for all the freshmen. Questionnaires were given to the students before and after the unit to evaluate the influences of the model in the dimensions of Teaching, Teacher-student Interactions, Student–student Interactions, Cognitive Development, and Overall Learning Performance. The questionnaire results were collected and statistically analyzed. The analysis results indicated that, the students scored significantly higher in each of the dimension after the unit than before the unit. These findings suggested that the use of an analogical thinking model can be helpful in the teaching of architecture design. Hopefully, the findings of this study can provide helpful references for not only teaching of architecture design but also future related research.

Evaluasi Proses Penelusuran Literatur dan Penerapan Topik-Tema dalam Perancangan Arsitektur

Topics and themes become the key to open the insights of both theoretical and practical knowledge in architectural design; a concept in architectural design related issue as well. Ideally, the students of architecture do researches to generate new design ideas or proper design solutions. Prior to doing researches, it is necessary for them to find out how far the process of searches – literature review and application of topics and themes in the architectural design – have been done. This study was conducted with descriptive approach through case studies. The analysis unit is the final students of design studio class and students of the final project in the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Binus University - Jakarta. The Results of the study illustrate that the architecture students of Binus University know and learn about the architecture research. However, they need the efforts to improve research skills, accurate literature searches, as well as exercise and evaluation of the implementation of topic-themes that started to be studied by students from the mid-level to theadvance-level. The results of this study will be inputs to support architectural design learning based on architectural research at the Department of Architecture, especially in Binus University.

Self-identity, rationalisation and cognitive dissonance in undergraduate architectural design learning

This theoretical paper addresses the persistence of architecture students in undergraduate design learning despite the considerable sacrifices that this frequently entails, and proposes a framework for some of the mechanisms that explain students' diligence in their love-hate relationship with the design studio. Such love-hate association is poorly understood, but is clearly a pervasive dilemma in architecture education. The proposed model includes a number of cognitive mechanisms that students may use to reconcile their idealised and romanticised self-image with the incoherent sacrifices of design studio.

Computer-stimulated design: construction of a personal repertoire from scattered fragments

This paper describes some possibilities of creating and structuring a personal digital memory capable of facilitating architectural design and design learning. The raw materials of this memory are different representations that can be found on the Web. Having interpreted these representations, one is able to construct a meaningful memory, educated and personal, which can be called upon subsequently during the design phase, as long as one has a medium that can represent this memory and put it to good use. As a practical, effective application of this process, we will describe part of a configuration geared towards the learning of architectural design. This configuration is composed of various elements, precisely arranged in space and time in a set of interrelations and interactions. The design student is placed at the centre of the arrangement, from where he or she can call on a broad spectrum of possibilities from the Web as provider of image documents. When necessary, students can use specially developed software that allows them a verbal and pictorial interpretation stimulated during particular phases of the learning process. In this way, through pictorial material presented on the network, the students can build up a digital library appropriate to their own understanding of architecture and their own representation of the world. At this point, they can abandon the universe of digital documents and media and return to the world of materials and shapes in intensive design studio sessions, where slowly maturing ideas can at last find concrete form. Thus, we deal with the relationship between the public, shareable aspect of the documents, and the private aspect: the individual interpretation of these documents. In the same way, we show how, within the framework of the teaching programme that has been set up, and without interference, this relationship between public and private can be linked into a dimension of the work of learning which is at times personal, at times collective. The conclusion attempts to outline the issues raised by this sort of configuration, and to show how thoughtful use of computers and networks can stimulate and enrich design rather than just “aid” it, as is generally accepted.