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Architectural education has always been a complicated issue. "To prepare students to meet the complex demands of the profession, the degree focus and structure as well as the curriculum must facilitate the relationship between general education and specialized study." In 1996, Thomas Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota, noted, architects must "assimilate large amounts of disparate information and find ways to order it and apply it to particular settings." Boyer and Mitgang concluded in Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice, "that architectural education is really about fostering the learning habits needed for the discovery, integration, application, and sharing knowledge over a lifetime." These are only some of the many challenges facing the academy. Continual assessment of the successes and challenges of any program are essential to its thriving. The University of Hartford's Architecture Program is based on the blending of academic-based theoretical studies with industry-based problem solving. Our practice oriented architecture program has developed and implemented an innovative assessment plan. The goals and objectives are clearly defined. Learning experiences and assessment measures are both traditional and innovative. These innovative approaches will serve as a model to other disciplines. Assessment Overview Educational assessment is generally considered a method of evaluating student performance and attainment. Although this may sound relatively simple in fact it is a complicated challenge for administrators and faculty at universities throughout the United States. Architectural programs are somewhat unique. In addition to the traditional means of assessment (i.e. testing) the subjective nature of the design studio projects provide challenges and opportunities for both students and faculty. Portfolios, always hallmarks of architectural programs, are now being considered as assessment tools in many more traditional liberal arts programs. Accreditation agencies are requiring university, colleges, and departments to provide assessment plans, goals, and measures by which to be assessed.

Architects in the 21 st Century are required to work as key leaders of the design team in developing projects from inception to completion. Solid teamwork is essential for success in the architecture profession and the construction industry. Teaching teamwork to undergraduate architecture students has its challenges and rewards. At the University of Hartford we have chosen to teach our architecture design students team projects through team teaching. Projects involving teamwork offer considerable learning opportunities for the students. Working together and setting an example for students also offers considerable teaching opportunities for design faculty members.

In an effort to improve the Architectural Engineering Technology curriculum at the University of Hartford, educators and practitioners are working in collaboration. As design professionals, we are approaching the challenges of an integrative curriculum as we would an architectural design project. The goals of the 'new' design curriculum are to improve student learning through effective implementation of practice. The curriculum promotes critical thinking, problem solving skills, and creativity. Realistic issues are integrated into the design studios -real programs, real sites, cost estimating, and scheduling. We are integrating 'the basics'architectural history, architectural theory, drawing, and technical courses (such as structures and environmental systems) with design. In the design studio courses, we are attempting to find balance and connection, and increase the awareness of the interrelationships between these areas of study for the students. Faculty, practitioners, and students know that learning in a compartmental fashion has never been that successful. We look towards this new integrative design studio approach as a better way to prepare our students for the demands of professional life. I. Issues in Architectural EducationThroughout history, what has distinguished 'architecture' from the mere building of buildings is the insight and skill to blend the useful with the timeless, the technically sound, with the beautiful. The challenge that has always faced both the academy and the profession has been discovering the right balance of Vitruvius' ancient ideals, Firmness, Commodity, and Delight. That challenge continues today. 1 In his "The State of the Profession" report, Hugh Hochberg of the Coxe Group, Inc. recognized the challenges presented to the architectural profession. Hochberg challenged the academy to help students understand more about the real world in which they will be practicing (while also recognizing that with some of their skills they may help shape it differently). 2The Carnegie report on "Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice" (1996) by the late Ernest L. Boyer and Lee D. Mitgang is a comprehensive report on the state of Architectural education with goals for improvement. The report criticized architecture programs for lack of integration of the curriculum. Boyer noted, that many design studios seem not to be living up to their expectations. 3

In Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice, Boyer and Mitgang (1996) noted that, "Each school of architecture should actively seek to establish a supportive climate for learning-where faculty, administrators, and students understand and share common learning goals in a school environment that is open, just, communicative, and caring" and continued with their concern "that life for many architecture students is socially isolated and exhausting, and leaves little time for any but the most determined students to explore the connections between architecture and other fields of study." These challenges for architecture education continue today.The University of Hartford's Architectural Engineering Program (AET) or prearchitecture program is based on the blending academic-based theoretical studies with professionally based problem solving. In our first-year design studios and architectural history courses, we find our students naturally and organically form the high impact practices (HIP) of shared "learning communities" or cohorts and "common intellectual experiences." The cohort concept often serves as a support network as students advance through our program.