Evaluating the effectiveness of the collaborative method in teaching architectural design(Case example: architectural design course of three Ardabil Azad universities)

Architectural design education has always represented aunique pedagogy. From the early years of masterapprentice model to the modern project-based learning in form of thedesign studio. Many studios dealalmost solely with the individual, while complexities of contemporary practice require collaborative teamwork. Ithas always focused on individuality and personal-biased practicewith the importance of communication and criticism.However, in the recent years, the architectural profession hasbecome more complex, which critically
requires shifting paradigm towards a more collaborative approach. Students are supposedly being prepared for practice, but they are usually led to think of themselves as independent designers, which is a rare condition in real life.

Research Problem:

 Architectural design is a collaborative process in which understanding between group members may be more important than their ideas. Therefore, when architectural design is considered as a collective activity, it will also be effective in teaching it. One of the skills required by architecture students to succeed in the profession of architectural design is the skill of collaboration, group communication and teamwork. Architecture students need to collaborate, discuss, and exchange ideas in the studio to prepare for a collaborative design career, so there is a need for participatory design studios in architecture schools.

Research question: 

How can participatory architecture design training increase the skills of collaboration and teamwork of architecture design students?

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of participatory education model in architectural design courses in the studio

The research method in this article is causal-comparative method. The study was a comparison of the conventional method and the participatory model method from the students' point of view and evaluated their performance. The statistical population of this study was the architecture design students of= Ardabil Azad University in the fall semester of 1398 with 40 people in three different groups as a sample of the study and surveyed. The data collection tool was library resource studies and a questionnaire designed by researchers. In this article, quantitative analysis of the questionnaire during a semester in the workshop is used.

conclusions of the research:

 Participatory education model with grouping of students, presenting the topic of joint design, joint evaluation of group members and scoring the performance of the whole group, as well as using tools such as " time and task schedule", "Article "Reflection" and " ‘‘peer assessment" increase the level of students' interactions and their skills in working with each other and their contribution to the design process, and increase their readiness to face professional challenges in the future. According to the research findings, it was found that the participatory design model in design increases the efficiency, learning capacity, motivation and communication and social skills of students and teaches how to design in a shared design environment.