Students＇ motivation for architecture education in Uganda

Understanding the persistence and success of students has gained increasing attention to unravel the ＂architectural education black-box.＂ However, the motivation and pre- socialization of incoming students were largely ignored as these factors fell outside the direct control of architecture schools. Motivational factors can affect the educational process given that the values, expectations, and career-related goals of incoming students influence their attitudes to education. This study seeks to uncover the motivational factors of applicants to an architecture program in East Africa and appreciate those factors that lead students into architecture as a career choice. Through qualitative content analysis, the study revealed the motivational factors of applicants, which were classified into four groups： educational, external, personal, and prestige. These factors were comparable with those found in previous studies conducted in Europe and North America, but nevertheless highlight contextual variances unique to the region. The findings raise questions of the role architecture education in engaging incoming students in discourse that aids their understanding of architecture and architectural education.

Our Future:Children or Old Age?New Goals of Continuing Architectural Education

The research is aimed at the potential of the professional architectural education and solving one of the important problems of society—creating conditions for maintaining health and social rehabilitation of older people.The experience of universities,public organizations,museums in Europe and North America was analyzed.Six types of strategies of these organizations were identified.They were differing in the degree of development of social and professional communications.The most interested in developing supplementary architecture and art education for older people are Colleges of Arts and Art museums.In the first case,the communication’s basis of the Colleges is there interest in the public appreciation of new art works.In the second case,the social missions of the Art museums.At the final stage,the sociological study of the attitude towards these programs among the participants of the Moscow Mayor’s Project“Moscow Longevity”had been done.It showed that the most attractive for 3-d age people was the opportunity to visit the Moscow Architectural Institute-an architectural monument and communicate with professors.

Using Social Interaction to Invert the Professional Competencies of Future Architects

The article analyzes the results of a sociological study of the role of public and interdisciplinary communications for formation and inversion of architect’s competences.The study was carried out in 2021-2022 among students of architecture departments in Russia.About 3,000 students of the Moscow Architectural Institute(State Academy)and the Orel State University took part in the study.As a result of processing the data of the written questionnaire with correlation relationships,the potential of“external”educational communications was identified for acquisition of new professional knowledge and competencies in architecture;popularization of socially important ideas in architecture and spatial development;raising a sense of pride and respect for urban historical and cultural heritage;enhancing the prestige of the architectural profession and the status of architectural education;understanding social expectations of architectural activities and factors limiting implementation of projects;identifying factors influencing formation of strategies for the development of architectural education.Four stages of formation and inversion of professional competences in the educational process were singled out:1st-2nd years of training-an“orientation period”;3rd-4th years-the level of Bachelor of Science in Architecture,at which the groundwork of the professional thinking basics is laid-a stage of mastering the basic system-design skills;5th year(diploma thesis)-a stage of entry into creative practice;training at the level of Master of Science in Architecture-scientific-design practice in architecture.Issues concerning underrating the importance of future architects’involvement in joint activities with community and engineering professions representatives to realize the goals of sustainable development were identified;late awareness of the value of participation in volunteer programs.

Investigating elective courses in architectural education

One of the approaches used by educational institutions to ensure that their programs reflect advances and changes in the architectural profession is the inclusion of elective courses. This study aims to establish a basis for integrating elective courses into architectural curricula by investigating the component of elective courses in 30 highly-ranked undergraduate architectural programs around the world. The need for this study arose as a result of the limited literature and lack of scientific foundation with which to support the process of merging elective courses into architectural curricula. This study has raised many questions in terms of direction, amount, subject, and timing of elective courses in architectural education. This study adopts an analytical deductive methodology supported by quantitative research. It is structured into four sections： topic overview, survey and its procedures, findings of the survey, and discussion. The discussion includes a proposal for integrating elective courses into architectural education. This study draws conclusions to its research questions, which broadens its impact on the quality of architectural programs and benefits for those concerned with architectural accreditation.

Teaching construction sciences with the integration of BIM to undergraduate architecture students

This study aims to test two hypotheses:teaching building information modeling(BIM)in relation to construction scienee provides students with a remarkable understanding of the nature of construction scie nee(Hypothesis 1),and if the student has positive attitude toward the use of the BIM program,then efficiency by which construed on science is taught by its means is improved(Hypothesis 2).Results and process of a case study with a novel teaching methodology were discussed in terms of the benefits of the students.A questionnaire study was conducted on the student group with which the case study was performed to test each student's attitude.Results were evaluated statistically.When BIM is integrated with the teaching of basic construction courses within architecture degree programs,the students understood the building system principles simply and effectively.As a result of the statistical analysis,the students find the applied method effective.Moreover,their attitude toward BIM affects the process.

Best practices in managing, supervising, and assessing architectural graduation projects： A quantitative study

Graduation project courses refer to the culmination of the learning experiences of higher education. These courses consolidate the disciplinary knowledge gained during architectural education while they integrate most of the learning outcomes of a program, which are intended to prepare students for their transition to the profession of architecture. The educational methods of these courses require constant attention, regular review, and continuous development to remain consistent with the changing standards of the profession given the significance of these courses. The problem lies in the diversity and controversy of these methods, thereby implying inconsistency in the best practices. In this study, several questions are raised in terms of the nature of these courses, enrollment criteria, topic selection, learning experience, and assessment methods. This study aims to investigate the best practices of managing, supervising, and assessing architectural graduation projects to provide guidelines for establishing and/or developing these courses. An analytical deductive methodology is adopted. This methodology is supported by a survey of a sample of 105 worldwide academic architects and is structured into four sections, namely, the analysis of the components of graduation projects, the survey and its procedures, the quantitative findings of the survey, and a discussion of the issues and results. This study draws conclusions to its research questions, thereby extending its influence on the quality of architectural programs and the benefits for individuals who are concerned with their development.

Search for desisn intellisence： A field study on the role of emotional intellisence in architectural design studios

The design studio is the core of the architecture curriculum. Interpersonat interactions have a key rote during the processes of design and critique. The influence of emotional intelligence （EQ） on interpersonal communication skirts has been widely proven. This study examines the correlation between EQ and architecturat design competence, To achieve this, 78 architecture students were setected via a simple random sampling method and tested using an EO. test questionnaire developed by Bradbury and Greaves （2006）. The scores of five architectural design studio courses （ADS-1, ADS-2, ADS-3, ADS-4, and ADS-5） were used as indicators of the progress in design of the students. Descriptive and inferential statistics methods were both employed to anatyze the research data. The methods inctuded corretation analysis, mean comparison t-test for independent samptes, and single sample t-test. Findings showed no significant relationship between EQ and any of the indicators.

Difference in grading parameters in architectural schools and its impact on the competency rating of future professionals

Architectural education in Nigeria is divided into at wo-tier training system of four and two years for undergraduate and postgraduate study, respectively. After the completion of postgraduate study, a student is deemed competent to take the professional practice examination. Success in this examination qualifies a student to be registered as an architect. The competency rating of future professionals in architectural schools in Nigeria is determined through a jury system of scoring based on predetermined grading parameters. However, the grading parameters adopted by assessing authorities （academic professors and practitioners representing the professional body） differ. The difference in the grading parameters employed by the two approved assessing authorities in Nigeria was investigated in this study. Covenant University in Nigeria was used as a case study. The grading parameters and scores for the 2013 academic session were compared to determine similarities and differences, which might have affected the competency rating of students. Descriptive statistics was employed to analyze the data obtained. Results showed a significant difference in scoring by the two authorities. This difference had a significant consequence on the competency rating of students.

Research and application of the virtual simulation system teaching method in NC machining course

Virtual simulation technology has become one of the most popular technologies in the field of engineering education after the multimedia information technology in recent years.This paper,based on the comprehensive integrated simulation and verification module of UG NX software,describes and discusses a novel virtual simulation system teaching(VSST)for numerically controlled machining to support the student engineering training to achieve the theoretical knowledge and practical techniques in numerically controlled machining.The findings of a study designed to evaluate the impact of VSST for the development of numerically controlled machining course are presented here.In addition,analysis of the follow-up surveys indicates that the VSST method enables to provide the concrete experience of interaction between the students and the simulation environment and to further stimulate students’interest in learning,so that the students who used VSST achieve significantly higher results than their co-workers.