All Together and Separately: Learning to Learn in the Studio

Abstract

This study aims to develop learning to learn and self-learning in the architectural design studio. The study considers that one of the ways in which the architectural design studio can be resistant to environmental conditions is to be aware of and manage the way the architecture student learns. The main theme of the methodological approach is learning how to learn, and its experients are first-year architecture students. The method consists of design research and a questionnaire. Design research is configured as a two-stage pedagogical approach: The first phase consists of an abstraction practice and results in a physical model. The second stage includes a single-function small-scale design task and imposes the use of design knowledge obtained from the physical model in the first stage as a mandatory condition. The study concluded in three basic positions: The first is that the first-grade architecture student establishes the relationality of comprehending–understanding–making sense of self-learning and learning mode. Second, the student has become a direct active learner, and finally, a way of making use of the built environment as an educational object has been discovered. Broadly, the study has enabled the students to become aware of self-learning. Improving such a learning culture in architectural education can provide a way to prepare for an uncertain future.