RICERCA ITALIANA     

Research and experimental evaluation of e-learning new model and tecnologies in architecture education

Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"

Abstract

The research intends to develop new interactive and multidisciplinary applications for e-learning in architecture, to test and evaluate the quality of online courses and to define, therefore, the guidelines for an e-learning methodology in Architecture.
The strategic goals of the research program are:
a. development of asynchronous interactive lessons able to focus on the multidisciplinarity of Architecture and the integration of design disciplines;
b. identification and development of synchronous applications to be tested in virtual laboratories;
c. construction of online thematic databases to support teaching;
d. identification of the platform for the diffusion of the architectural courses with special attention to catchment area and to the system expansibility;
e. definition and didactic experimentation of the Design Virtual Laboratories on the telecontiguity system “Augmented desk”;
f. definition and experimentation of simulation models for design process in urban and regional design;
g. test and evaluation of the e-learning courses produced by the operative units;
h. realisation of a logistic structure for observation and monitoring of teaching effectiveness;
i. certification of quality for online education.

The program is articulated in 2 years but it can be described in detail in four operative periods.

First operative period
- Construction of >>>

Principal Investigator

Lucio Barbera Università degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza"

Research Objectives

The main aim of the research is to propose and experiment a didactic methodology for e-learning in Architecture.
The strategic goals of the research program are:

a. development of asynchronous interactive lessons able to focus on the multidisciplinarity of Architecture and the integration of design disciplines. The possibility to integrate various disciplines constitutes a fundamental quality/objective for e-learning to test and verify in the research. In the course the experience will be optimised in order to define the guidelines to set up e-learning lessons for architecture teaching, that will be published at the end of the research.

b. identification and development of synchronous applications to be tested in virtual laboratories; The collaborative learning events will be realised thanks to a virtual laboratory in which it’s possible to search and test new teaching procedures, through the telecontiguity system.

c. construction of online thematic databases to support teaching. The research Unit will set up an index-linked structure for the implementation of thematic databases online to support the courses, hosted on the server, accessible and updated by each unit, in order to give the students a collection of organised material.

d. identification of the platform for the diffusion of the architectural courses with special attention to catchment area and to the system expansibility. The architecture that >>>

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

1. E-learning
Education is undergoing a rapid process of evolution, particularly in Higher Education where there is a concurrence between technological advancement due to e-learning and the need to modify traditional educational models.
For these reason many universities and teaching institutions are strongly pointing towards long-distance teaching environments, that train students who are not obliged to attend lessons, giving them maximum flexibility in time and learning mode, thanks to e-learning environments implemented in Internet.
At the same time it has been for a few years now that new technologies have been entering the learning field where new education methods are tested to verify the possible synergy between teaching innovations and the changes that these technologies have already brought to professional practice.
The Council of Europe (Lisbon 2000) has set a major aim for Europe to become before 2010 “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge society in the world, with sustainable economic growth, higher and better employment, and greater social cohesion”. In March 2001 the Council of Europe presented an e-learning action plan calling for a significant program of updating and coordination between European education systems. These include:
- developing and integrating ICT in education and training;
- developing high quality educational materials;
- creating flexible infrastructures to make e-learning accessible to >>>