Between design and digital: bridging the gaps in architectural education

Developing technologies, such as computational design and digital fabrication, are transforming the design and construction of contemporary architecture. Today, architecture schools are tasked with introducing digital technologies as they are changing, creating an opportunity to develop innovative curricula and democratize access to these skills. However, the understanding of how to teach digital technology as an essential design skill has not kept pace with these rapid changes. Design education and digital technology education continue to be seen as separate loci of learning, separated by pedagogical gaps and teaching mindsets

Five Years of Flipped Classrooms: lessons learned

In recent years, flipped classrooms have gained in popularity at many universities. However, they remain uncommon in design education. This paper presents the author's experiences creating and teaching flipped classrooms for required computing and communications courses over the past five years. In each of the two case studies, the introduction of flipped classrooms produced improvements in student learning outcomes, student engagement, and more efficient uses of school resources (e.g. contact hours, classroom space, TA's, etc.) compared to nonflipped versions of the courses. The author presents the details of the course structures, assessment methodology, and outcomes for the studies. The intent of presenting these studies is to share ideas about creating effective flipped classroom experiences and to help beginning design educators determine whether flipped classrooms are appropriate for their needs.This proceeding is from NCBDS 33 | Begin w/ why: Ethics and values in beginning design (Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 2017).</p

Empowering Students with Design-Build

In their second semester of architecture school, seventy-seven undergraduate students across five studios worked together to fabricate and construct a 20’x25’ installation with 2300 unique pieces in their school atrium. The project, titled TwoXTwo, represented a curricular realignment to incorporate digital methods, studio-wide collaboration, and full-scale construction into the beginning design sequence. The theme of this paper is student empowered learning in design-build: what it means, how it can create learning opportunities, and how it can go wrong.This proceeding is from NCBDS 33 | Begin w/ why: Ethics and values in beginning design (Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 2017).</p

Exploring Learning Objectives for Digital Design in Architectural Education

: What are the objectives of teaching digital design in architecture? While this seems a rather primitive inquiry it in fact is loaded with misunderstanding and disagreement. This paper aims to bring accepted educational research about learning objectives into the discussion of digital design’s relationship to architecture. In particular, Bloom’s Taxonomy is introduced and referenced as a tool for creating clarity, transparency, and accountability among educators. The purpose of reflecting upon learning objectives for digital design in architecture is not to produce a definitive list of what students ought to learn. Learning objectives are written for specific curricula, student needs, and faculty interests. They are useful because they provide a clear definition of expected outcomes and which becomes a point of dialogue. In order to evaluate something, it first must be named. Through evaluation and discussion, a discipline develops. When Bloom created the learning taxonomy, this was the goal. Not to explain or lay claim to how students must learn, but to provide a shared structure so educators could compare their approaches. In a similar manner, creating and sharing learning objectives for digital design instruction, using established tools like Bloom's Taxonomy, can produce a more organized dialogue about how to align the use of digital tools with the core values of architectural education and the development of the discipline itself.</p

Democratizing Access and Identifying Inequalities: Gender, Technology, Architecture

While technology has rapidly become more accessible to more people, its benefits are not always evenly shared. This paper searches for methods of identifying and defining gender inequality in architecture as it relates to digital technology and computation. The authors begin by documenting and then questioning existing metrics for measuring women’s participation in architecture, then look outside the field to STEM disciplines, educational research, and economic theory as means of framing this research agenda. By examining and critiquing current patterns of technological distribution and academic culture, the authors seek to foster greater equality in education, architecture, and, consequently, the built environment.This proceeding is from the Proceedings of the 2017 ARCC National Conference, Salt Lake City, UT (pp. 56–62).</p