Abstract:

One of the most important concerns the architectural teachers face is the work carried out by the students in order for their learning to be as most efficient as possible. On one side, this work makes them analyse the constructive detail intuitively, and on the other side the knowledge of their performance. In many occasions, both the analysis and the performance do not deliver the expected educational target due to the difficulty in transforming the traditional 2D drawing model into the real object.
The subject Construction I is one of the firsts where the student is faced with a detailed knowledge of construction, and in order to solve this learning problem we have been introducing for many years now, practical lessons for the students to actively participate in class. This means an active learning based on their own reflections when they are responsible for working directly on each practical case.
We are aware of this concern and are looking for efficient learning targets. For this reason, we consider that practical lessons in 3D in classroom are essential; the traditional method of looking at one constructive section in 2D on paper is not enough for the architectural students to be aware of the global problem the constructive reality generates.
We realised our method is efficient. This is based in explaining the proposed practices on the blackboard (a traditional didactic method) in 2D with the students active participation. At the same time we visualise and explain the object in 3D, with drawings in perspective. This process is slow and requires more concentration, work and effort from the part of the teacher, but is highly efficient. The students understand the explanations easier and quicker, since they visualise the object without any difficulty.
This method is complemented with current computer applications. The use of new educational technologies such as powerpoint, 3D presentations, virtual creation of a theoretical model, virtual models... enables the explanation to be carried out according to the phases of the constructive execution in relation to the architectural problem presented. In this way, the student obtains a real understanding of construction.
The skills they gain in this way are mainly a complete understanding of the space, a higher interest in the constructive reality, the overcoming of the abstraction related to studying details separated form their context and from the real context, and also they obtain a professional approach of the teaching to the reality of the shapes, materials, dimensions, textures and techniques.

Keywords:

application, learning, construction, education, computer science, technology.