Block mode delivery is widely practised in higher education institutions across the world. It is popular at postgraduate level, such as in business and management fields, but is less common at undergraduate level, especially for studio design teaching. There is a lack of literature on the block mode delivery for studio design teaching. The aim of…

This article describes a co-taught course that mobilized a Design Thinking approach in the service of creating a prototype for an actual girls' boarding school in Kenya. The goal of the class was to allow students to engage collaboratively with faculty, with their peers, and with experts "on the ground" to develop the various parts of…

The authors seek to establish the need for better education to develop procedures useful to evaluate the sustainability of a building. The analysis emphasises the need for education in the social dimension of sustainability assessment in the context of the life cycle of a building and how such education of building agents could increase…

This article draws together two linked studies on formal teaching spaces within one university. The first consisted of a multi-method analysis, including observations of four teaching events, interviews with academics and estates staff, analysis of architectural plans, and a talking campus tour. The second study surveyed 166 students about their…

The student experience in higher education is firmly placed at the top of the strategic agenda for the majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK at present. In the current climate of public cuts, universities increasingly have to strike a delicate balance between cost efficiencies and delivery of the high-quality university…

Discussion of communities of practice in workplace learning is widespread. Here the authors seek to consider how we can make use of communities of practice theory in practical teaching in a formal undergraduate educational context. The concept of what the authors call the double shift is discussed; a shift from the workplace as community of…

The third annual conference of the National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) was held at Trinity College Dublin on 11-12 November 2009, and was attended by over 300 delegates. The theme--"Research-Teaching Linkages: Practice and Policy"--was timely and generated some fascinating papers, workshops and…

In architectural education the critical educational issue is how to overcome the student's internal struggle between the divergent pulls of "pure" design and applied technology. Examples of two successful approaches--including design in lecture courses and installing computer terminals in studio--are provided. (MLW)

The Environmental Control Systems (ECS) Structures Joint Project, developed by faculty of the University of Oregon's Department of Architecture, is discussed. The intent of the project was an educational summary of two technical courses that would establish the relationship of environmental control systems and structures to design. (MLW)

Suggests building models as a way to reinforce and enhance related subjects such as architectural drafting, structural carpentry, etc., and discusses time, materials, scales, tools or equipment needed, how to achieve realistic special effects, and the types of projects that can be built (model of complete building, a panoramic model, and model…

This qualitative study explored college teaching in an "apprenticeship" setting, specifically the architectural design studio. The study examined studio teachers' efforts to design effective project assignments and to help students move successfully through those assignments. Two design teachers were interviewed and observed as their students…

A "Form Primer," developed for and used in an introductory architectural design course at Princeton University, is explained and illustrated. The concept holds that architecture is made up of a typology of pieces that are composed into a whole. (MSE)

A general loss of concern for architectural type is most acutely felt in institutional buildings. A method for infusing history into design of public buildings in architectural education is explained and illustrated. (MSE)

Students at Qinghua University in China participate in real project design tasks. Thesis design in conjunction with real projects helps students to understand step-by-step the whole process of design work and the role of a qualified architect. A housing design course is included in the curriculum. (MLW)

Discusses a case study describing the philosophy of teaching design to architecture students as practiced by one professor. A model of his architectural design curriculum emerged. Three issues arose: constructing theory from data grounded in experience, posing appropriate research questions, and understanding the roots of ethnographic inquiry.…