Abstract:

The paper explores a case of active and experiential learning with a group of 2nd year architecture students. Following their latter semester exam in Architectural History - The Baroque, 38 students enrolled in a practice programme which reflected the curricula of the course. A large sub-theme of the curricula deals with the city of Rome and its churches that underwent significant changes during the Baroque Era. Due to their large number and complexity, only the most popular monuments (both in terms of their architecture and history) were included in the course curricula: San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and Santa Maria Maggiore. By exploring this practice programme, the aim of the paper is to underline the extent to which experiential learning, and more specific the students' on-site analysis of various baroque churches, improve their overall understanding of the theoretical notions learnt the same semester. This improvement is quantifiable by following the three phases of the programme, namely their initial study, prepared prior the departure, their on-site documentation, and final drawings made and submitted after the trip.

Keywords:

Baroque architecture in Rome, education, field trip, experiential learning.