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Designing student learning outcomes in undergraduate architecture education: Frameworks for assessment
Get PDFOn the cusp of transition to the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) 2009 Conditions for Accreditation, and at the juncture of higher education's transition into a culture of assessment, this paper addressesthe rationale and frameworks for the design of student learningobjectives. The circumstances of undergraduate architectural education are the primary target here, but the same principles will apply to graduatelearning as well. The discussion is itself framed by a comparison to aset of model student learning objectives published by the American Psychology Association, and is structured within the conventionalplanning model of mission, values, goals, objectives, tactics, and strategies. For the purpose of discussion, the authors propose severalhypothetical examples
A collaborative research project on evidence-based and eco-effective design
Get PDFThe primary purpose of this study was to provide information regarding the design of healthcare facilities in the context of two important considerations, evidence-based design (EBD) andeco-effective design (EED). The secondary purpose was to test the effectiveness of research involving collaboration between practitioners and academic researchers, and the collaboration between EBD and EED professionals. The research team included designers and staff from a firm specializing in EBD andEED and a university researcher. Methods employed included focus groups, snowball surveys, and questionnaires. Practitioner focus groups specializing in EBD and EED identified critical questions that were translated into a 22-question, Likert and narrative-response survey. EBD and EED experts, via asnowball survey, selected the best practice institutions that would be the most appropriate recipients of a questionnaire that would address the role of EBD and EED. Administrators, representing theseinstitutions, participated in the survey. This study is significant in that it demonstrates that in spite of prior perceptions that EBD and EED are in conflict with one another, administrators perceived the twoas being fundamentally compatible. This conclusion is useful to designers and facility administrators by freeing them to incorporate both of these critical approaches in the design of new facilities. Observations are made regarding the collaborative process between practitioners and researchers
Affecting Change in Architecture Education / Can We Do the Right Thing
No full textI am impressed but not surprised at how differently Tom, Richard and Iview the question of "affecting change in architectural education.” Tomtook on the more expansive issue of how the broader university might redefineitself through "design thinking” and "design thinkers'” leadership,while Richard gave a concise overview of long held aspirations forarchitectural education and the profession. And I took on architecture'srelationship to society, particularly concerned with "massive societalchanges.” All of us, however, appear to have faith in architecture'sability, using Richard's words, to "make a difference.” It seems to methat relying on past and even present architecture education models isnot the best strategy.- - - -Change is both pervasive and evasive. In architectural education,evasive may arguably dominate. Although many aspects of change(or the potential therefore) might serve as a basis for this discussion,change to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of buildings willbe selected as a case in point. There may be no single issue of greaterlong-term impact facing architectural education and the professions itserves
On the question of leadership: the postwar Department of Education and Research at the AIA
Get PDFIn 1946 the American Institute of Architects established a Department of Education and Research (E&R), under architect Walter A. Taylor. The name given the new department signaled the importance of research for architecture, and the AIA's intended leadership role in promoting research-based architectural practice. E&R developed research policies under an advisory board and in 1959 convened a conference on research for architecture, funded by the National Science Foundation. Butthe AIA never assumed full leadership in research for architecture: The scope of the project was beyond the means of either academia or the profession, and postwar research policies remained decentralized. Although E&R played a role in directing applied research, academic institutions provedmore able to assume leadership of basic research. This history illustrates the complexity of leadership in a field that bridges academia and professional practice, as well as the importance of multiple leadership roles
Rethinking models of architectural research: we don't do objects
Get PDFHistorically, an argument can be made that architectural research was produced internal to firms and manufacturers as proprietary objects or sets of data. The concept of disciplines and professions reinforced the separation of open-sourced knowledge and the application of that knowledge in a commercial context. However, design has rapidly changed from an object-solution profession and is now faced with finding solutions to complex problems within complex systems. The past practice model of client, architect, and final product seems an ill-fit in this new context. The question is how to integrate a critical research process into a professional capacity in which that architectural research needs an inherent and immediate value to be performed or pursued. The SYNCH Research Group [synchRG] was formed in response to this question. Although research consortiums, design initiatives and research centres exist within many schools of architecture, most operate as a department or extensions of a school of architecture. SynchRG operates in neither private practice nor as a division of the university. Organized as a diverse and fluid association of faculty, students, professionals, and consultants, the synchRG group is focused on a designmethodology and philosophical structure rather than a client, site, building, typology, or object. The focus on idiosyncratic or aesthetic solutions to singular problems is set aside in order to provide acollaborative intellectual space for professional based explorations. The paper will examine synchRG's response to current architectural research challenges and illustrate its unique structure as a possible model to be replicated. A dialogue will be initiated on a model for practice aligned with both academia and industry
Ameliorating Local Impacts with Architectural Research: Subprime Mortgages & Housing Quality
Get PDFShock waves from the current housing crisis that still echo through Wall Street's largest financial firms, not only have threatened to topple financial markets and drive the country into a depression, but have also undermined the all-time high home ownership rate in the United States. The most attention-grabbing dimensions and headlines of the current crisis seem to be the staggering losses incurred by the likes of Bear Sterns and Citigroup, and the demise of some of the large corporations such as Washington Mutual. However, the real crisis is not on Wall Street or in the banking sector, but in low- and moderate-income and minority homes and neighborhoods throughout the country. At least ten years before the present subprime foreclosure crisis became mainstream news, these marginalized communities were feeling the negative effects of mortgage fraud and predatory lending practices occurring with regularity in the subprime market. This paper discusses an ongoing study of Subprime Lending, Mortgage Fraud and Housing Quality in process since 2002. This four-part study has employed foreclosure data with statistical and mapping analysis, detailed interviews with victims of predatory lending, systematic documentation of the resulting housing environments, and documentation of property improvements in light of victims' legal settlements. While subprime lending has supported the expansion of homeownership in the United States, this on-going study suggests that this expansion has sometimes been at the expense of safe, code-compliant living environments forlow-income, minority and elderly homeowners. Some of the victims of predatory lending and mortgage fraud have sought legal redress through the courts but many have suffered personal financial, health, emotional, and family crises as well. The current broad-scale discussion of the topic has given attention to the lack of regulation facilitating these unethical practices, but it is unclear that current discussions will lead to meaningful and lasting reform
Leadership in research across academia and practice
Get PDFTranscript of a keynote address delivered by John McRae at the 2009 ARCC Architectural Research Conference at the University of Texas San Antonio.I value very much the award and I certainly have truly enjoyed the time and the meeting these couple of days has been extremely stimulating. We were talking several of us ahead of time about the rigor and the intensity with which the programs are being presentedin each of the meetings. We really, I think, have the group here that's going to be serving us well for thefuture.I want to also say today, in expressing my appreciation for this award, that the list of past awardees is stellarand includes several colleagues and personal friends towhom I owe a debt in my professional development and am grateful for the opportunity to address the conference and hope that my remarks with be of even a small benefit to our collective efforts to strengthen research across academia and practice. I started my career in both academia and practice in 1967, little more than the 30 years you were so gracious to give me, in Gainesville and at the University of Florida. Over this span of the last 42 years I have sought to develop my own research and creative work agenda and, through administrative roles, have made an effort to foster the research of colleagues when I could. So what was it like in the late 60's and early70's? Some of you may recall. In the interest of full disclosure, I have included a few images of my research work during my early years as a faculty member at the University of Florida. And so, here is another shot of our research team. Some of you may remember the Chicago 7. This is the rainbow 9 and, in fact, aside from myself, whom you will recognize, there are several other people there who are today in positions helping to lead this nation. That is kind of hard to imagine but there they are
Educating the Reflexive Practitioner
Get PDF"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”SocratesIntroductionStudio as a model of education is distinct from many other professionaldisciplines and although it can be quite rewarding on many levels it mayalso be an extremely unconstructive endeavor.1 The amount of time spent in studio typically far outweighs that spent for other courses and often atthe expense of such other courses. The dedication that students bring tothe studio is remarkable, yet much of the time spent in studio is not alwaysproductive. Students often complain of not knowing what is expected ofthem and as a result much of the time is spent thinking about what they think the professor wants to see as opposed to working through theirprojects. In an alternate scenario, students are crushed by the workload, tasks, demands or expectations of their instructors. In either case, the work is almost invariably driven by the students' own creativity and imagination; unlike law, medicine, business, or engineering for example, where the interpretation and inquiry into case studies and cadaversis much less based on the personal introspection than established traditions. This extremely personal nature of the architectural studio canmake reviews either a devastating or extremely empowering process. As seen from the perspective of the larger university community, the studio is simply not an efficient way of education. The faculty to student ratio, for example, is not in accordance with other undergraduate disciplines. But this ratio, as we all know can also be a real strength. The often hermeticnature of the studio offers latitude for students to develop theirwork in relatively safe surroundings. This environment, however, may also foster the cult of personality that develops around certain professorsthat harkens back to the very roots of education but can also lead to anentourage of disciples who have no incentive to inform the Emperor that he or she is no longer wearing any clothes.Notwithstanding such issues, I do believe the studio holds the potentialto be an empowering learning experience. The intention of this article is to question the mode of instruction in an architectural studio. I've structured the paper in three parts. First, I will briefly describe the findingsof the study made by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancementof Teaching known as the Boyer Report.2 To develop and support the findings of the Boyer Report, I introduce the work of the educator Donald Schön. Though I see much merit in the Boyer Report, and Schön'sproposals, I argue that a more nuanced approach is required. I will recommend, therefore, in the second section of this paper that a meansof architectural education as based on the Socratic method may be amore productive approach. My reading of the Socratic method is basedprimarily on early Socratic dialogues and I will specifically use Charmidesto illustrate the issues that I believe are relevant to studio pedagogy.3 From my analysis of Charmides I will, in the third section of the essay,describe how the Socratic method is beneficial to studio pedagogy threeways: reflexive, non-propositional, and finally how Socrates' approachmay indeed be practical. This last section will be illustrated with a studentproject. It is my conjecture that the Socratic method offers insight intocurrent discussions of educational theory, namely student-centered,project-based learning
Thoughts toward a clinical database of architecture: evidence, complexity, and impact
Get PDFThis paper examines how architecture is building a clinical database similar to that of law and medicine and is developing this database for the purposes of acquiring complex design insight. This emerging clinical branch of architectural knowledge exceeds the scope of everyday experience of physical form and can thus be shown to enable a more satisfying scale of design thinking. It is argued that significant transformational kinds of professional transparency and accountability are thus intensifying. The tactics and methods of this paper are to connect previously disparate historical and contemporary events that mark the evolution of this database and then to fold those events into an explanatory narrative concerning clinical design practice. Beginning with architecture's use of precedent (Collins 1971), the formulation of design as complex problems (Rittel and Webber 1973), high performance buildings to meet the crisis of climate change, social mandates of postindustrial society (Bell 1973), and other roots of evidence, the paper then elaborates the themes in which this database is evolving. Such themes include post-occupancy evaluation (Bordass and Leaman 2005), continuous commissioning, performance simulation, digital instrumentation, automation, and other modes of data collection in buildings. Finally, the paper concludes with some anticipated impacts that such a clinical database might have on design practice and how their benefits can be achieved through new interdisciplinary relations between academia and practice
Built leadership: women administrators in architectural education
Get PDFOf the 114 accredited architecture programs within colleges and universities across America, only 18 (or 16%) employed females at the highest administrative positions as deans, directors, chairs, or heads at the time this study was conducted. Despite this statistic, nearly 50% of all graduates from architecture programs are female. Little is known about women administrators in architectural education, perhaps because of the fact that there are so few. The central question that guided this research study is as follows: What personal and professional factors characterize 10 women employed as administrators in nationally accredited architecture programs, departments, schools, and colleges in American institutions of higher education? Additionally, this study identified the women's career paths, and obstacles they overcame andsacrifices they made in order to advance in their careers. The qualitative case study tradition was employed for this study. Ten women administrators of accredited architecture programs, departments, schools, and colleges within American institutions of higher education participated in the study. Interviews, documents, and observations were collected and included in the data analysis. While feminist leadership theories were used as a lens and guided the current research, themes emerged from the study that point toward a potentially new, emerging theoretical construct. This emerging construct requires that pioneering female leaders in male-dominated fields be characterized differently than female leaders in other contexts. Specifically, the conclusions drawn from this study require characterizing pioneering female leaders in male-dominated fields as built leaders or leaders who have systematically developed professionally as a result of unwavering ambition but who employa post-heroic style of leadership. In other words, these women fought their way to the top, but once there, use an up, down, and across hierarchical leadership style