Abstract:

Teaching on design is realized through architectural projects, depending on teacher-student relations, primarily centered on critique sessions. The incorporation of technologies such as virtual reality and participatory architecture emphasizing the importance of considering the user’s perspective can enhance the design process, facilitating the understanding and evaluation of spatial elements.The benefit of including them in the teaching process is unknown. This was specifically the subject of the present study: to quantify the improvement of teaching techniques in architectural projects. The study compared traditional teacher feedback with the implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) self-assessment by students and Participatory architecture where users evaluated the project through questionnaires. To tackle it, a field study was conducted in which students undertook an architectural project in three stages, incorporating a new methodology at each phase with the purpose of improving the traditional teaching methodology and subsequently the architectural project itself.

The three stages were as follows:
Stage 1: teacher feedback,
Stage 2: teacher feedback + VR visualization,
Stage 3: teacher feedback + VR visualization + participatory architecture.

At the end of each stage, students were required to assess their experience with a survey. The survey collected data on students' perception of these teaching innovations, quantifying various aspects related to utility, interest and learning experience through a Likert scale ranging from -5 to +5. A total of 17 students participated. Results indicate significant differences in the evaluation depending on the stage, with higher ratings across the set of attributes (utility, interest and learning experience) as new teaching methodologies are introduced. This shows that a preference by students becomes apparent in the final phase when the introduction of new teaching methodologies takes place, not just for the outcomes but also for cultivating motivation and enthusiasm throughout the process.This knowledge about the pedagogical benefit of applying these new methodologies (Virtual Reality and Participatory Architecture) in the architectural design teaching process may be of interest to both teachers of design-related disciplines and those involved in educational planning and infrastructure.

Keywords:

Educational innovation, architectural education, participatory design, virtual reality, student perception.