Architecture education may be able teach students more about real-life problem-solving than traditional subjects.

The learning process in architecture at Universidad Simon Bolivar is based on confronting students with practical or theoretical situations to let them acquire knowledge about the discipline. The core of this process is on design studio courses, and from the early stages of the program they have to discover for themselves the role of architecture…

Problem solving is essential to everyone's life. People survive if they are nourished, sheltered, and protected--and they construct ways to obtain nourishment, shelter, and protection through problem solving. Though problems vary in complexity--survival at the one end and the pursuit of comfort at the other--we are reliant on our ability to…

Creativity is an important criterion for evaluating conceptual and design abilities of architects and their praxis. However, in recent years, the world has grown more complex. New problems have emerged that are often outside the architect's capacity. Given this challenge, architects collaborate with colleagues from architecture and other related…

The notion of generic design, while it has been around for 25 years, is not often articulated, especially within Newell and Simon's (1972) Information Processing Theory framework. Design is merely lumped in with other forms of problem solving activity. Intuitively it is felt that there should be a level of description of the phenomenon which…

The ability to develop new problem descriptions, called problem restructuring in architectural design, has been related to creativity. Looking at human creativity through problem restructuring is likely to offer more research results and questions and can benefit understanding of the role of creativity in professional practice and related decision…

Four papers from a project concerning information-processing characterizations of the knowledge and processes involved in design are presented. The project collected and analyzed verbal protocols from instructional designers, architects, and mechanical engineers. A framework was developed for characterizing the problem spaces of design that…

This study compared the effectiveness of three design strategies using nine architecture graduate students to solve three typical room design problems. Open-ended (5 step), traditional (10 step), and systematic (15 step) strategies were developed based on a national survey of design methodologists. Each strategy was applied by three subjects…

This book presents findings of a 1993 study of how design in the curriculum helps students achieve national educational objectives. It also explores opportunities for expanding the role design can play in students' academic lives. Results of the 1993 study reveal how the use of design experiences in classrooms provides teachers and students with a…

A selected reference list is presented of 94 source publications of interest to architects contemplating employing systematic methods in the execution of professional services involving planning, programing, and design. The publication is divided into four major topical areas--(1) architectural design, (2) design (general), (3) decision making,…

Gaming-simulation in professional practice, education, and research is discussed. Simulation assists in exploring and resolving incongruent values and interests of clients, users, and architects; conveys complex interactive systems students are trying to understand; and elicits responses to alternative actions and contributes to theory development…

Operational gaming techniques that are permeating the architectural profession are used to: elicit user needs, represent architectural realities in the classroom, understand the rationale behind complex design decisions, and model decision environments at many levels with coarse or refined data. (MLW)

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…