Multilayered and Interacting Course Design Approach in Architecture Education: A Case of Building and Construction Technology Courses and Studios

Abstract

Building and construction technology education is a crucial component of architecture education, providing knowledge on tools and methods for designing and realizing building designs. While it provides knowledge as an input to other disciplines, it is also supported by the knowledge the other courses offer. On the other hand, these multilayered and interacting relations within the fields of architecture education may not be well-reflected in education curriculums, or implementation problems may occur. However, designing the architecture education curriculum based on these interacting relationships directly affects the education quality and educational outcomes. Within this respect, the AGU Department of Architecture provides a flexible curriculum design, which aims to provide experience in research and design during undergraduate architecture education and raise responsible team leaders or members. Therefore, building and construction technology courses of the curriculum are designed following the paths of the department’s and the university’s educational principles to engage all architecture disciplines with a multilayered and interacting approach. This paper explains the course design approach developed for and experienced with building and construction technology courses by aiming to contribute to the architectural design education literature from the technology education perspective. It sets forth the instructional design models and teaching methods used for designing the building and construction technology courses and also explains the course interactions within the curriculum.