Dr. McGuire had a very enlightening presentation. Much of the presentation did not directly relate to the students and materials that I teach, except for her part on enhancing involvement and creating a positive approach in the classroom. With over a decade of teaching in the Architectural Technology department, I have tried a variety of projects and in classroom activities to engage the students into the course.
One of the activities I have added to my Design V studio course happens during the residential project, where the students are designing a single family house. The students are responsible for designing a house for a family, including all the interior and exterior material and furnishings. The first semester I taught this project the students were excited to design a house, and did the work as required. The second semester I let the students pick out of a hat their family – different occupations, number and sex of children, pets, extended family members… The students embraced their families, giving them names, hobbies, images. They wrote a description of their family and included images of how they live and what their needs are in their new house. They brought them to life. They did not design houses, they designed homes.
How exciting it is that a simple shift in the way you presented a “problem” had such significant differences in the final product. I like the way that something (family, home, living space) that is so different to each of us can be expressed through architecture. Especially living in an urban setting I would expect that many students actually live in apartment buildings and not houses but yet we should all (hopefully) have a sense of home. This is inspiring.