INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO LEARNING IN FUNDAMENTAL AND DISCIPLINARY COURSES IN THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE

Effective learning, gaining knowledge and developing skills that may later be practically applied present the key issues that need to be considered when establishing a curriculum of each study program at the university level. Starting with the current requirements of modern architectural practice, the study program of Architecture at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, as defined by the imperatives of the Bologna process, is expected to provide students with an interaction between fundamental and disciplinary courses, especially at the beginning of their studies. Having this in mind, the aim of the paper is to emphasize the significance of integrated approach to teaching in contemporary architectural education during the first academic year. Analysis and evaluation of students’ general and special competences, acquired after implementing the process of integrated learning, will be illustrated through various examples of students’ individual design projects. Teaching methods of fundamental and disciplinary first year courses that will be discussed in this paper are compliant with the study program’s curriculum and its general and specific educational outcomes, thus allowing students to gradually and continuously gain theoretical and practical knowledge, which is of great significance for further understanding of more complex tasks and topics that are yet to come.