Background and justification of the project
Currently, technology is developing rapidly and technology has become part of the built environment. Instead of applying technologies as separate and stand-alone gadgets and applications, we aim - within our chair - at integrated solutions of technology in the built environment. Our students will be the motivated group of architects and engineers who will shape our future. As a consequence, knowledge about technological developments becomes part of the basic knowledge for students, just as basic knowledge about structural design and aspects of building physics for architectural students. Technology has become a new layer in the work field of the architect.
The chair Smart Architectural Technologies (SAT) offers education in the master program of the certificate Building Technology and seminars and graduation studios in the master program of Architecture. In both master programs, we notice a lack of basic knowledge about (advanced) technology within the built environment (both technology in building technology, as technological developments such as artificial intelligence). Instead of providing depth to our students, a lot of time is spent on updating the new developments, and sometimes even basic knowledge, of technology.
Objectives and expected outcomes of the project
In order to offer depth to students in our master programs and improve the quality of the education, we wrote the proposal ‘Integrated technology in the built environment’, which focuses on raising knowledge in this field.
This raising will be achieved by masterclasses and flipped classroom videos. The results of this proposal can be used within the educational courses of the chair SAT and within the unit AUDE.
Project design and management
In order to raise the knowledge level of the students, one person will be hired for one year. This person will mainly focus on performing three tasks. First, a state-of-the-art in the field of (smart) technology (in the built environment) will be performed. Second, a learning line (leerlijn) will be developed for the masterclasses and flipped classroom videos in close collaboration with prof. dr. ir. Masi Mohammadi. Lastly, the flipped classroom videos will be produced and masterclasses will be organized.
The project will be deemed a success after its application in the first course. The impact of the project will be evaluated after the students have completed their first related assignment, in which it will be visible whether they have better understanding of the concepts.
A risk of this proposal, is the ongoing development of (smart) technology. In order to concur this risk, the project could be extended each year in order to stay updated of the new developments.
Dissemination and sustainability of the project
Students of the master program of the certificate Building Technology and the master program of SAT within Architecture and students from the other master programs of AUDE will make use of the masterclasses and flipped classrooms.
The students will be informed about the masterclasses and flipped classroom videos by several ways. First, during classes of the master program of the certificate Building Technology and during the meetings of seminars and graduation studios of the master program of SAT within architecture, the teacher will emphasize on the results of the proposal and the results will become (mandatory) course material. Secondly, together with the study association of architecture – AnArchi – communication possibilities towards students will be looked for (for example the way how AnArchi is involved in the communication and organization of the ‘Making Architecture Lecture series’ of the chair ADE). Lastly, the masterclasses and flipped classroom videos will be announced at the pads in Vertigo (digital communication manners).
Within this project, we will provide two masterclasses, and the content of the masterclasses will be translated into two flipped classrooms. In order to develop the content of the masterclasses, a state of the art scan in the field of (smart) technology will be carried out. The most useful and practical technologies that could be applied in the masterclasses will be selected. The first masterclass and flipped classroom is called ‘Technology for creating and upgrading the existing buildings’ and the topics are among others retrofitting technologies. The second masterclass and flipped classroom are called ‘Imbedding of emerging technologies in architecture; creating new typologies’ and the topics are integration of IoT, AI, VR, and Robotics in architecture. The second one will be developed in collaboration with the departments of ID, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering.
The planning of the tasks is as follows; starting from September 1st:
- September: State of the Art
- Beginning of Februari: masterclass 1
- Beginning of April: flipped classroom 1
- End of May: masterclass 2
- End of June: flipped classroom 2
The first masterclass and flipped classroom will be evaluated by the responsible of the masterclass in collaboration with Prof. Mohammadi shortly after their finalization (April for the masterclass and May for the flipped classroom) and if necessary, changes will be applied to the second masterclass and flipped classroom to address any shortcoming. The second master class and flipped classroom will also be evaluated for further optimization.
The operationalization of the developed masterclasses and flipped classroom from September 2020 could then start already in the first quartile of the academic year 2020-2021.
Results and learnings
This project is currently still ongoing
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