General
It seems important to me that the objectives be established very clearly, combining the objectives of design, architecture and the urban, this allows the student to understand that when making architecture the city is made.
It is risky to make a specific contribution without knowing the precise content of each subject, so I will limit myself to providing brief observations.
Collaborative learning and design
The constant development and advancement of the communication media as well as technology requires the training and continuous learning of teachers and professionals to adapt and excel in this world of constant change.
In the field of teaching and learning, educational programs and schemes are updated and advanced in an attempt to meet the needs of society, whether from a private or governmental point of view. That is why educational institutions must develop effective and efficient teaching methods that seek to develop and challenge the maximum potential of the student community through a systematic way.
Based on the knowledge and experiences acquired during my work experience (both in professional practice and in teaching) in the area of architecture, the creation and re-engineering of tools that would be of great use to the teaching and student community are proposed. That, would allow him to acquire a higher and better level of knowledge along with the use of technology to obtain an integral development by combining the best techniques and instruments of learning from the different study programs created to date.
Background
Although the activity related to the architectural project is considered as the main characteristic of the architecture profession. It is through this activity that the contradictions between the requirements and conditions of an architectural problem are raised and resolved, which must prefigure the characteristics of use, expression and realization of urban-architectural objects that respond to social demands, within a physical environment and cultural, and a specific historical moment (FAUNAM: 31).
The planning of teaching in architecture is an important measure, since they are experimental models that are applied according to certain circumstances, which, when analyzed by their main actors - teachers and students - define their new characteristics.
In the study plans of the Architecture career it can be considered that there is a curricular body dedicated to the instrumentation of various research methods to support the teaching - learning processes and in particular the Project Workshop in its project process.
Analyzing the study plan of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), an institution with vast experience in the management of research methodologies that in its current study plan (Plan 99) establishes the set of development processes in its theoretical contents and practical teaching - learning of architecture, where the Architecture Workshop encompasses convergent thematic assignment fields (theoretical and technological). In its general model, the Workshop proposes didactic thematic contents developed in six significant fields of knowledge, in such a way that they are present simultaneously in all the training stages through the different exercises that are carried out, differentiating them by their level of complexity.
Formulated in six areas, the first two of them refer to the links between the project and the theoretical and historical knowledge of the architectural urban phenomenon (the approach to the problems and the critical historical reflection), the subsequent three are related to the exercise and practice of the project, as well as with the elements that condition its insertion in an urban-environmental context (the processes of the architectural project, the process of the project and its representation, and expressiveness in architecture). Finally, a link is established between the projects and its technological, constructive and economic aspects (the feasibility of the architectural object).
Thus, in Architecture Workshop I and II, within 1st and 2nd semesters, the student begins his formative stage by coming into contact with the architectural work through the development of the project, establishing the concept-figure relationship resulting from the analytical review of relevant works in the field of discipline. Applies characteristic features analyzed in project exercises with a low number of use, location and construction components; handles instruments and methods of architectural representation and analyzes the conditioning of architecture by determining the dimensions of the human body (anthropometry and ergonomics).
In 3rd and 4th semesters within the Architecture Workshop III and IV the formative stage will conclude in this way the student establishes the intentions of the project that derive in the relationship of the architectural concept with the figure, incorporating conceptual foundations, therefore cultural in the project process as the generating principle of architectural purposes. He exercises and experiments based on the conditions of the object being projected, in relation to its habitability characteristics, location and the principles of architectural language applied to its configuration.
From the 5th and 6th semester the student in Architecture Workshop V and VI will begin the informative stage deepening and considering the knowledge, skills and aptitudes of their formative process in the architectural project with its components of formal will and communication, they will seek the architectural quality of the objects through assuming as a priority and as determinants of the architectural form within the project process the interrelationships of the architectural object with the physical-environmental and urban environment. Identifying the contradictions between what is necessary and what is possible within the urban - architectural environment, proposing, solving and developing the project with special attention to technical and constructive aspects.
The student will consolidate his informative stage in 7th and 8th semester within Taller de Arquitectura VII and VIII and will include in his area of knowledge the urban-environmental, in this way he will develop a broad vision of the architectural task by integrating in his project exercises the determinations of the cultural, historical, social and economic context, thus facing the concrete architectural urban problem, considering that architecture and the city are presented as inseparable phenomena considering all the elements that make up the architectural expression from its approach and diagnosis, its conceptual foundations and the conditions of integration into the urban context, to the architectural detail proposals, the technical construction and its financial viability.Thus framing the heading of a basic project, which even without being buildable, foresees the factors that would intervene in it.
For the 9th and 10th semesters, the evaluative stage will begin in Seminar I and II, the student will check the skills and aptitudes that he has acquired in the previous stages and will thus be able to formulate and develop a thesis proposal according to his vocational interests. The thesis will be characterized by being a propositional work, in which knowledge of the topic addressed is expressed through content from the initial problem statement and the procedure followed until the conclusion obtained, all within the framework of urban problems - architectural that demand the intervention of the architect.
For its part, the Institute of Architecture, Design and Art of the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez was restructuring the study plan of the Architecture Program (August - December 2011 semester), however Plan 97 is still in force, which is made up of Descriptive letters on the subjects taught, without the didactic thematic objective established by area, the Design Area included in theoretical-practical workshops is taken as the central axis of the career, the student begins his formative stage in 1st semester in Design I where he knows the basic elements of design to apply it in two-dimensional compositions, through history, design processes and conceptual elements classifies the form and establishes the formal and informal composition.
In Design II of 2nd semester the student will know the concepts of design and will obtain a theoretical - practical knowledge of the basic factors of three-dimensional design.
For the 3rd semester his formative stage in Introduction to the Architectural Project concludes, through specific topics the student receives the knowledge that allows him to understand the relationship of the design antecedents in the creation of architectural spaces by carrying out a project in which the duly dimensioned spaces considering their relationship with each other, applying resources to modify the shape and with an elementary criterion of adaptation to the environment, structural and facilities.
In 4th semester he begins his informative stage in Architecture Workshop I where he is provided with the necessary tools for the application of the methodology for architectural design aimed at the solution and resolution of architectural projects considering the conservation of the environment. Learn to analyze the users of their blueprints, needs, tastes and activities to determine the satisfactory ones and therefore the architectural program, zoning, elaborates diagrams of relation of operating space and analysis of areas to achieve the architectural match established under a specific theme specific.
In Architecture Workshop II established in 5th semester you will obtain the theoretical - conceptual knowledge of space, cultural context and concepts that affect the form. Through research, he will identify the needs to solve through an architectural program with an emphasis on form, function and context; six possible specific themes to be developed are established.
Architecture Workshop III in 6th semester the student is provided with tools to solve formal architectural projects and present them, they will obtain the ability to study and mean spaces, they will handle the proportion of architectural volumes with the human scale, they will be aware of the needs of man in any environment and respect the ecological environment. It will develop medium complexity projects presented at a preliminary project level with criteria of facilities and structures.
Within the 7th semester at Taller de Arquitectura IV he will reaffirm and continue the design techniques and methods for the development of a project where he will adequately handle function, form, character and aesthetics in addition to its relationship with the environment.
In 8th semester they will conclude their informative stage in Integral Workshop I where the student is provided with methodological tools and the knowledge to apply them in the solution of urban-architectural spaces, emphasizing a social, economic and urban problem. To solve urban-architectural projects as a factor of social and environmental integration.
In the 9th semester, the evaluative stage would begin and end in a comprehensive thesis workshop where it will provide a solution and development with technological, methodological and technical support to an urban-architectural project in the executive sphere.
Comparatively, in both study plans it is observed that teaching is outlined to train professionals committed to society and the environment through research methods that include theoretical, historical, technological, economic, political, social and environmental knowledge, seeking that teaching impact the student in a comprehensive way to be able to compete in a changing and globalized world. Although there are still rooted teaching concepts predominantly directed to the form to later see its use and functionality as can be observed in the subjects of Design I and II in Plan 97 UACJ-IADA;In both programs it is established that the architectural work to be carried out in the project will have a low complexity conception until the skills and knowledge are developed to develop complex urban-architectural projects. Starting its project development with components related to the habitability of the space such as its use, location, construction, anthropometry and ergonomics, to later incorporate conceptual (cultural) foundations as generators of architectural purposes, later deepening by interrelating the architectural object with the physical environment - environmental and urban, without neglecting the technical and constructive aspects to make the project possible.Concluding his formative stage with urban - environmental knowledge in which he must widely develop his architectural what - to do through the determinations of the cultural, historical, social and economic context, considering the city and architecture as inseparable phenomena. Here, too, there is again a divergence between the study plans analyzed because at FAUNAM it is up to the consolidation stage in 7th and 8th semester when the student incorporates the urban environmental factor into an architectural project, thus giving them a margin of 20% practical study and research (theoretical - practical) within the training stages where in addition to giving proposals for the technical constructive implementation and its financial viability.
For its part, Curriculum 97, still in force in the IADA - UACJ Architecture Program, establishes within the project area a formal theoretical - practical league focused on urban environmental study and research only in the 8th semester within a comprehensive workshop, thus giving a 10% margin of study and practical research (theoretical - practical) within the training stages with proposals for the technical constructive realization but without the financial viability involved.
Study Plan 2009
As of 2009, the new study plan begins in the Architecture Program within the IADA at UACJ, gradually leaving the previous 97 Curriculum. Structured through 10 levels (semesters) and 5 areas of knowledge: Theoretical Humanistics, Creation Architectural, Art and literature, Research and criticism, and Technology and management; states as an objective that its graduates generate congruent solutions to problems of an integral nature, capable of participating in a creative and purposeful way in multidisciplinary groups, supported by their observation skills, critical analysis and the use of specialized technological tools for the elaboration of architectural-urban plans, to achieve this the 2009 Plan considers three fundamental aspects: constructivism,complex thinking and education based on professional skills. '' The architect graduated from the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, will be a professional capable of solving the problems of design and construction of the spaces required by man to develop their activities, through the effective application of their knowledge and use of technology of avant-garde, necessarily giving them aesthetic values that satisfy them physically and spiritually, with a responsible, critical and open attitude that leads them to have a great commitment to the community and physical and urban context in which they will have to develop '(PA:5).will be a professional capable of solving the problems of design and construction of the spaces required by man to carry out their activities, through the effective application of their knowledge and use of cutting-edge technology, necessarily giving them aesthetic values that satisfy them physically and spiritually, with a responsible, critical and open attitude that leads him to have a great commitment to the community and the physical and urban context in which he will have to develop '(PA: 5).will be a professional capable of solving the problems of design and construction of the spaces required by man to carry out their activities, through the effective application of their knowledge and use of cutting-edge technology, necessarily giving them aesthetic values that satisfy them physically and spiritually, with a responsible, critical and open attitude that leads him to have a great commitment to the community and the physical and urban context in which he will have to develop '(PA: 5).critical and open that leads him to have a great commitment to the community and the physical and urban context in which he will have to develop '(PA: 5).critical and open that leads him to have a great commitment to the community and the physical and urban context in which he will have to develop '(PA: 5).
In its study plan, it establishes didactic axes and themes divided into three levels, thus, at the beginner level that covers from 1st to 4th semester the student is introduced to Architectural Design to later see items such as habitability, spatiality and contextuality and innovation.
In 5th to 7th semester designated as intermediate level, they will know, analyze and evaluate the fundamentals of sustainability, re-architecture and making a city, the student will reach the basic knowledge of sustainability and the knowledge of the territories under study based on the use of high-tech tools.
It will conclude its formative and informative stage at the advanced level with the didactic topics of housing and project - complexity. Obtaining the academic bases in order to combine them with knowledge of the area; while integrating into her training the skills that allow to identify the necessary measures to characterize from the point of view of architecture the challenges that professional practice presents to achieve sustainability. Quoted verbatim: it is proposed to form a citizen Architect, that is, a subject and actor architect, a free and creative human being with a broad vision of the world, aware of and committed to his environment, responsible and ethical in its transformation; with the skills and capacities to problematize, conceptualize, propose and act on the habitable space at all its scales,through interpretation, writing, representation and projection.
Problem Statement
Today, higher education in Mexico faces challenges that force it to visualize a better use of the accessibility of bibliographic resources that allow the implementation of themes and techniques for teaching-learning processes. That is why educational institutions have developed teaching methods whose objective is to develop and challenge the maximum potential of the student community in a systematic way. Such is the case of the programs and study plans of the Architecture career.
Faced with the aforementioned issues, the following questions arise: What are the most common problems that teachers face when teaching Design to students? What tools would help them make the teaching - learning of Design potentiate? In what way to guide the student so that the knowledge of Design is accessible and useful, and builds himself as a more autonomous and independent learner, capable of facing the difficulties that arise throughout his school life, but at his own expense. Maybe I can already apply in professional practice? What teaching tools can enhance the learning of Design? O well,By what means can we encourage student-teacher to take our daily practice of Design to a higher level? What areas of Design could be reoriented to make teaching easier and more practical? and How does the case study benefit the teaching-learning processes of Design and in what way can it be systematized in classroom work?
Origin of the Project
From the analysis of more than 1,000 students who were studying careers focused on design (mainly Architecture), I discovered that the understanding of the concepts of Design and its foundations can be known theoretically but at the moment of applying them to a Design problem in They were rarely able to solve said problem efficiently, with the requested characteristics, in the established times and very often they did not apply Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. This fact was so surprising to me that it prompted me to review the cause more carefully.
After analyzing the descriptive letters and study plans of various educational institutions focused on teaching Design, such is the case of UNAM: FAUNAM, UACJ: IADA, etcetera; I was able to observe that there was no documented case study as a practical guide that exemplified the most common difficulties that the student faces and that helped the teacher to know the strategies to help them overcome their difficulties.
Based on personal experience when teaching the subject of Introduction to Design in the recently inaugurated University City of the UACJ in August 2010, I realized that the topics and teaching techniques required in the program were not suitable to be developed in the facilities, However, there were other elements, which, when established as didactics within the class, exceeded the level of knowledge in comparison with the groups that studied the same subject on the campus located at IADA.
Based on the contents and didactic topics that were established in the descriptive letter of the subject, I was re-structuring and establishing parameters to be able to apply learning strategies, creating a guide that would provide me with the tools to educate in a simpler way and in turn get what best of each student at the time they were learning to Design.
Thus, the case study method was implemented with more than 100 students, the majority (70%) of the first semester of the architecture career, achieving results that when presented at the XV UACJ-IADA Academic Conference in December 2010 at the Design table they made a marked difference that showed that while the first semester students who had attended the school year at the IADA facilities had stated at the end of the course in their feedback surveys towards the teachers (teachers) that they were not able to understand the design and that they felt somewhat frustrated since they considered the didactics implemented by the teachers a setback.
The opposite happened with my study groups assigned in Ciudad Universitaria, since despite the fact that the teaching contents were the same, the learning ended in a different way for them; Through case studies and the new teaching tools used in the subject, the students gained meaning and usefulness when designing, effectively understanding how, for and why to design.
Justification
Although for learning there must be a friendly environment and teaching strategies, in the process of studying and teaching the "Design" a documented research that contains Learning Forms through Case Methods is necessary to contribute as a tool to obtain a comprehensive development towards Design.
This would also lead to the training of professionals - researchers committed to their environment and directed towards the development of skills.
Second case study to note: Architecture Workshop IV- Re Arquitectura.
As of the July - November 2012 semester I was invited as a teacher to be part of Architecture Workshop IV under the perceptual scheme of Re Arquitectura, it coincided that at the beginning of the semester a topic emerged that captured the headlines in our heroic Cd. Juárez, the demolition by the Municipality of the existing buildings in the 14th block of the historic center, in which the renowned and known Nueva Central restaurant is located since the 50's.
The headlines of the subject (Mstro. Sergio Moreno and Mstra. Elian Moreno) decided that the study of this specific topic seen from the perspective of Re Architecture could be of great contribution to the students so that they know, analyze and evaluate the fundamentals of sustainability, re-architecture and making a city, thus the student would reach the basic knowledge of sustainability and the knowledge of the territories under study based on the use of high technology tools.
Furthermore, it is worth highlighting how complicated it is to work in a dual team in an architecture workshop (I do not know if it has happened to the others but personally it is remarkable), to approach the same topic under two different but similar perceptions of how it is taught and learn to re-architecture the students has been confrontational and enriching since I was able to apply the negotiation part of my proposal of case methods.
The subject was then approached from the cognitive perspective of my colleague, in which my methodological position coincided with regard to the case method.
I derive the topic substantially from a formal study of the historic center of Ciudad Juárez where the students worked on specific topics analyzed in a unifying and associative perspective, since the investigation made in oral history showed that the Center no longer has a service area, public offices, safe recreational areas or any dependency that gives it character and coherent urban mobility.
Addressing the subject suggested various connotations, personally the re-architecture approach was applied in class under two connotations, the first, the aforementioned and applied in my previous and present groups; the case method and the second: see the re-architecture from the organizational and quality approach in the processes starting from the premise that re-architecture in concept: "It is the total or partial redesign of the organizational structure, the impact of various macroeconomic variables, mergers, acquisitions, incorporation of new technologies, creation of new business units, or the implementation of new processes, are just some of the many causes that generate in an organization, or in certain sectors of it, a situation of change ”. Where the basic principle is:quality is aimed at developing the intellectual capital of the company ”, reengineering the managers' mentality and breaking down market structures, in order to find new ways to reach the customer.
They change the features of transition from the paradigm of the Industrial Revolution to the paradigm of the Knowledge Revolution, change the conception of wealth (Labor, Land and Capital) now is knowledge.
Information, technology and human capital, work, administrative management and the very concept of leadership are part of knowledge. Complete, reliable and timely information becomes power since it is a tool to know the market, the demand, the business possibilities, it can generate competitive advantages if you know how to take advantage of it.
Quick responses and flexible production are required. The basic concept of quality is aimed at developing the intellectual capital of the company; the managers' mentality is reengineered and the market structures are broken, in order to find new ways to reach the customer.
The evolution of the industrial society to the knowledge society is essential in the XXI century, knowledge will mark the chances of success in the new economy.
This with the purpose that the architectural projects or preliminary projects not only remain as exercises of academic imagination and negotiate with the client (s) by “identifying, selecting and analyzing problems and possibilities for improvement related to their work (in this case, the task of architectural), recommend solutions and present them to the management (client), and, if it approves, carry out their implementation ”.
The re-architecture process, then seen in complexity, is yet to be evaluated when the projects are presented to the competent authorities and the citizens of Juarez who will reveal whether our perceptions are adequate or we will have to work mainly to delve into re-architecture processes to achieve a city where architecture teaching-learning institutions are a successful support for the design and implementation of sustainable buildings both in style, contemporaneity, uses, culture and context.
It is necessary to develop a new concept of work in architecture, which fits into a teaching-learning with flexible methodologies capable of adapting to any market demand, and with future architects seen as free agents or small entrepreneurs, hired for specific projects and for times. predetermined, according to the needs of the company and the employer.
Footnotes:
- Curriculum 99, Bachelor of Architecture, FAUNAM, 1998. Architecture Program, UACJ - IADA, 2009. Yepo, M. Interview conducted on August 15, 2012 at IADA- UACJ, Ciudad Juárez. Interviewers: Teachers and students of Taller de Arquitectura IV.Valdés L. 1997. Knowledge is the future, towards the sixth generation of quality processes. Edit. CONCAMIN, CCTC, FUNTEC. Mexico September 19, 2012. Quality circles.
