Organic Cohorts in Architectural Engineering Technology Successes and Opportunities

Abstract

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.