Dusitnanond, Ajaphol (2007) Developing a Method of Teaching Architectural Project Design: A Case Study of Third Year Studio Project, Faculty of Architecture, Sriburapha University, Thailand. Other Degree thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

This research was concerned with an Interactive Evaluation, using an Action Research approach, of the effectiveness of using a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach – as opposed to the more traditional teacher-centred method – in the teaching of a Third Year Architecture subject, ‘Studio Project Design’. The four steps of Action Research – plan, act, observe and reflect – were used to make judgements and recommendations about this new approach. The respondents of this study were forty-six students – of whom twelve were also volunteer participant-interviewees – enrolled in Studio Design, together with three teachers, at the Faculty of Architecture, Sriburapha University, Bangkok, Thailand. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse student and staff opinion. The concepts of cooperative learning – including co-operative learning approaches, cooperative instruction, teaching cooperative learning skills, and responses to cooperative learning – were all shown to be relevant in student-centred learning. My Studio Design students and I, jointly, engaged in this research – improving students’ abilities in all components of Studio Design, as well as developing a positive attitude towards design, in general. Most significantly, all students ‘switched on’ to study as a result of the cooperative learning approach used in Studio Project Design. The research was concerned with determining whether or not a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach – which used cooperative and problem-based learning methods – resulted in improved student outcomes. Positive affective outcomes included development of a positive attitude towards design, and an increase in students’ technical and academic competencies that helped them to meet design demands. The outcome was positive. Students increased their learning competencies, enhanced their social skills, were more motivated to study, developed a higher level of interdependence, enjoyed the freedom to think ‘outside the square’, and increased their creativity when exposed to a Student-Centred Approach. To make a Student-Centred Cooperative Approach work more effectively, teachers and administrators within the School of Architecture need to embrace two key elements: first, by seeking to adapt themselves to change by engaging in lifelong learning; second, by undertaking special professional training courses in architecture.

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