Application of Flipped Classroom in Architectural Design Course of Architecture

College of City Construction, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Abstract Through the study of the teaching reform design of the course in Architecture Design using the flipped classroom, this paper discussed the effectiveness of the information-based teaching method for students’ learning.It integrated the flipped classroom into all aspects of Architectural Design teaching. By using the flipped classroom, it is expected to effectively solve the problems related to the traditional Architectural Design teaching, enhance the students’ participation in the teaching process, create a learning atmosphere for students, enhance the initiative of self-learning, and promote the improvement in the quality of Architectural Design teaching.

Key words Flipped classroom, Architecture Discipline, Architectural Design, Teaching reform

1 Introduction

The Architectural Design course is a course running throughout the undergraduate period, and it is a core and the most important course of the Architecture Discipline. Architectural Design has unique course characteristics, and it is oriented towards design and creation. Architectural design is a kind of skill. In ancient times, it was inherited by the masters and apprentices; later, with the start of schools, it was taught in classroom, but learning still needs design practice[1]. Thus, Architectural design is a course connecting teachers teaching and students learning and combining theory and practice. Besides, with the development of the times, Architectural Design has also expanded its depth and breadth. Architectural Design has been incorporated with new design concepts, green building thinking, new materials and structural awareness. The original teaching methods and teaching systems are difficult to meet the teaching needs of the new period and need to be improved.

On the basis of discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional teaching mode, we introduced the teaching advantages of "flipped classroom". Combining the characteristics of the current information society, we intended to establish a new and diverse adaptive teaching model for Architectural Design. The model is aimed to enhance students’ active learning and take students’ learning needs as the purpose, so as to fundamentally break the shortcomings of single and one-sided teaching.

2 General situation and problem analysis of the Architectural Design course

As a core course of Architecture Discipline, the Architectural Design runs through the whole undergraduate process[2]. It can be divided into Architecture Basic Design, and Architectural Design I, II, III, and IV stages. With the development of the times, the Architectural Design course has higher and higher requirements for students’ theoretical and practical ability, and has raised higher requirements for both teachers and students. Domestic architectural colleges generally have problems in the teaching of Architectural Design courses, such as old teaching methods and teaching methods. These problems lead to the weak initiative of students’ learning, so that contradiction between the characteristics of the increasingly cutting-edge disciplines of architecture becomes more prominent.

Most of the Architectural Design courses adopt small class teaching modes, mainly taken in the way of teachers and apprentices. At different stages of the course, it is necessary to design different courses to improve the design skill of students. Generally, a design time period is eight weeks, mainly including three phases: pre-design (topic explanation and survey), design (first sketch, second sketch, and third sketch), and post-design (front view and design review). Although a design has been subdivided, the overall effect is not excellent from the effect drawing of student learning. Main problems are as follows.

2.1Traditionalteachingmethodsbeingdifficulttogiveplaytostudents’initiativeThe traditional teaching methods are mainly a stereotyped teacher-apprentice teaching and mainly the way teachers teaching students. Students in the design will inevitably be influenced by the subjective consciousness of the teacher design, so that their design ideas are suppressed. Students’ passive learning has gradually become a mechanical learning process. These contradict the characteristics of Architecture itself and hinder the creative expression of Architectural Design.

2.2Teacher-studentratiobeinginsufficientandinfluencingtheguidingeffectIn the Architectural Design course, usually one teacher guides 8 to 10 students (according to the evaluation requirements of the Architecture Discipline of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the teacher-student ratio 1/8 is excellent, and 1/10 is acceptable)[3]. In many construction colleges and universities, the number of teachers is generally insufficient, and some even still use the big class teaching mode. The main activities of the class are limited to teaching, and there are not many opportunities for students and teachers to communicate. In the short course design, the guidance is not comprehensive enough.

2.3ConflictbetweenscatterteachingofArchitecturalDesignandall-roundinvestigationThe Architectural Design course generally takes eight weeks. It requires students to understand from design topics to design research and then to the progress of the design process. All of these require time accumulation, to solve related design problems at different stages. Architectural Design examines not only the process of a point. It cares not merely the shape, function, streamline or space of the building, but also the collection of problems from function to space. Architectural Design also requires students to pay attention to the knowledge of art, philosophy, sociology, and psychology, and to think about problems from multiple perspectives. In general, the Architectural Design course is a comprehensive examination of design.

2.4Conflictbetweenunifiedteachingprogressanddifferenceinstudents’comprehensionabilityArchitectural design is an open design. Although it adopts the small classroom teaching method, the content of the students’ lessons and the progress of the design are the same. The time limit of classroom teaching has made it impossible for teachers to adopt differential teaching for students. In the long run, the enthusiasm of students who have higher ability will get hurt, so it is difficult to realize personalized development, and it is not conducive to the cultivation of students’ innovative thinking.

2.5SingleexaminationmodeandimperfectassessmentsystemThe teaching evaluation methods of Architecture and most of the courses are the assessment of final success, mainly through examination papers or homework. This method has many drawbacks for the architectural assessment. The Architectural Design should not assess merely the student’s design level with the final result, but should also pay attention to the whole process of the design, including the extracurricular learning. Architectural Design is a process of repeated modification and perfection. This is also the teaching method for the design. It guides the improvement of students’ design meaning through the interactive process of repetition.

3 Characteristics of flipped classroom

The biggest drawback of the traditional teaching mode is that the students’ initiative is poor. The students’ absorption of classroom knowledge is mainly passive acceptance, and the knowledge is absorbed through the homework. Such teaching mode is not perfect for the cultivation of individual students. The communication between teachers and students is not good, so it is not favorable for teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. In addition, there are deficiencies and initiatives in students’ learning because of the disadvantages of stressing the theory, belittling the knowledge and results, which are not favorable for the cultivation and formation of students’ independent learning ability and independent thinking ability[4]. Students’ understanding of knowledge is mainly concentrated in the classroom. It is difficult to form deep thinking in a limited time, which will inevitably affect the understanding of knowledge points and fall into a cycle of stopping learning after getting a little knowledge.

In order to stimulate the depth of students’ learning, students must make more pre-class preparation and conduct deeper thinking. The flipped classroom is mainly to stimulate the students’ initiative and interest in learning, and form a problem-oriented teaching interaction process. In this teaching mode, students become the main body of teaching activities, and teachers are the planners and guides of teaching activities. The course setting of the teacher’s teaching and the development of the teaching process should be based on the students’ learning problems, to flexibly bring problems and solve problems.

In view of the wide range of Architectural Design knowledge and the limitations of teaching time, the use of "flipped classroom" related teaching methods can alleviate this problem. Through the early release of simple knowledge, the teacher arranges part of the teaching content to the students, and arranges the students to learn and digest them in the classroom. Using WeChat and other communication tools and applications, through the design of the topic, students can perform before the class, teachers can understand the main problems of the student’s learning, focus on the problems, solve the key problems in a targeted manner, raise general questions, and let off common sense mistakes. In other words, teachers should take control the big problems and let off small problems, and take advantage of fragmented time to organize the teaching. The biggest advantage of "flipped classroom" is the exchange of students and teachers’ subject status. Teachers undertake the work of teaching students to "fish", cultivate students’ active learning ability and self-thinking process. The classroom mainly plays the role of connecting knowledge points and solving problems. Thus, it is required to promote students to change from "passive learning" to "active learning" and from "mastering" to "being good at learning".

4 Organization and design of teaching

For the teaching mode design of flipped classroom, a very important point is to extend the traditional passive classroom teaching. For the Architectural Design course, it is necessary to incorporate the advantages of flipped classroom and combine with the characteristics of Architectural Design, to set up the organizational framework of pre-classroom, classroom, and post-classroom teaching stages. On the basis of making full use of the interactive advantages of the flipped classroom, the design of the teaching model should be combined with the characteristics of the Architectural Design course to create a pertinent syllabus.

Architectural Design course generally takes an eight-week design work as a complete period. The whole design task phase is subdivided into two stages: pre-research, thinking stage, design deepening stage and design expression stage. Each stage establishes relatively independent design themes and tasks, and sets a design task as a key process. The design process is scene type and interactive, so that students become the main body of tasks and teachers are only organizers and promoters. The eight weeks are designed into different topics. Through a series of rules and diversified content, it is expected to create the sense of freshness and not let students feel tired or boring.

4.1Pre-designstageAt this stage, the Architectural Design course mainly solves the problem of analysis of design questions and survey of the same type of design. At this stage, teachers can simplify the courseware and send it to students in advance to preview. Teachers should pay attention to the cultivation and guidance of students’ interests. Through some interesting stories and classic cases, teachers guide students to understand the design to be done, and then leave some simple homework to guide students to learn independently and provide directions for thinking. The analysis of design topics is not only to solve the problem of what to do and how to do, but also to encourage students to expand their thinking, to think from a broader perspective, and think more starting points. A good design not only lies in the final result, but also in the process and depth of thinking. Through some reference books, students can understand what the characteristics of this type of building are, how to proceed, and how to deepen the plan.

Design survey is divided into network survey and field survey. The purpose of the survey is to expand knowledge and understanding. In the flipped classroom mode, the teacher is no longer the main body, but should provide some directions for the students, some good ideas, and guide the students to choose. Students will certainly suffer a lot of setbacks in the process, but once the problem is solved, they will be deeply impressed. At this stage, teachers should also keep in touch with the students. They should not let students go, and they should interact with the students to solve the problems students found when they went deep. At this stage, the subjectivity of the students is completely highlighted. As a promoter behind the scenes, the teachers should promote the in-depth discussion of the problems through corresponding means.

4.2DesignstageThe design stage is a process making the design to come into shape through the first sketch, second sketch, and third sketch processes on the basis of understanding at the previous stage. Students are the main body of design, but because of the problem of design level and ability, students lack self-confidence, and it is impossible or difficult to penetrate into their own programs, often resulting in the halfway failure. In view of this situation, teachers should sort out relevant issues in a timely manner and provide one or two effective solutions. Alternatively, teachers may select some videos to stimulate students to think. In addition, we subdivided the weekly design into three phases, mainly drawing-asking questions, changing drawings-solving strategies, and improving-solving problems.

4.2.1Pre-class stage. Through student learning tests and problem messages, it is expected to promote students to become more pertinent and initiative. Students carefully think before class and raise problems. At this stage, it is necessary to introduce groups to discuss, arrange 4-6 students as a group to study problems, and firstly discuss the problems within the group. Then, students list problems and hand the list to the teacher, so that the teaching of teachers will become more pertinent and targeted.

4.2.2Class stage. This stage is the most important. Teachers should first sort out related knowledge points and connect them into lines. Since students have some understanding of the knowledge points at this stage, teachers do not need much time to explain the simple contents. The creation of the learning situation is conducive to the rapid entry of students into the learning state, teachers can use a variety of ways to create learning situations and import import teaching content[5]. Teachers should pay both attention and time to solve the problems raised by students and give reasonable solutions. In addition, teachers can divide class tasks into design key point analysis, program reviews, strategy research and other modules, instead of spending a lot of time for one-on-one reviews.

4.2.3Post-class stage. After class, teachers can use communication softwares to send electronic materials to individual students or groups, to help them solve actual problems. Students may not necessarily fully absorbed in the relevant strategies, but such method can help students to provide relevant ideas through the solution of similar program problems. In addition, teachers should consider the different students’ learning ability and style of work to provide relevant links, pictures or e-books, recommend an architect’s work or a specific architectural example for students to learn from.

4.3DesignexpressionstageIn traditional teaching process of Architectural Design course, the design expression is a part that is easily ignored. In flipped classroom mode, it is required to attach great importance to the design expression. Teachers can help students express their thoughts in the final stages of design in a variety of ways. Building takes picture as language. A good design is not just a verbal statement, but should be expressed in a plane, elevation, and cross-sectional relationship. At this stage, students are often tired of doing a lot of drawing work, but ignoring some conventional matters. In response to the characteristics of this stage, teachers use the method of inspection to check problems and organize special explanations. Besides, teachers can explain some methods of design expression step by step. In the middle and late stages of design expression course, teachers may collect common mistakes and related points that need to be considered, and organize them into courseware. Then, teachers ask students to solve these problems on site and stress some related knowledge points. Finally, teachers may encourage students to correct errors mutually, so as to promote initiative of students.

4.4DesigncommentstageDrawing comment is undoubtedly an important part of the teaching of Architectural Design courses, because the comment is a comprehensive interpretation of the various stages of student design. It is recommended that students sum up their own design sketches at various stages to talk about the overall concept of their design and the characteristics of the program. Making design is important, but the explanation is also extremely important, because a good design needs to be expressed more site-specific, which is more convincing. For the sketch comment stage, the first step may takes the on-line comment form, on-line forum, for instance, to attract more students to participate in the comment to express their opinions, and discuss the program from different viewpoints. Therefore, students can have opportunity to appreciate works of other students, so as to improve their learning. At this stage, the comment providers interact with the designers, to bring deep the design. The second step is site comment. Students make comment first, and then teacher gives comment, and students can obtain opinions of both teachers and other students. By these methods, students’ learning will become more interactive.

5 Conclusions

By using the flipped classroom, it is expected to effectively solve the problems related to the traditional Architectural Design teaching, enhance the students’ participation in the teaching process, but it also inevitably brings higher requirements for teachers. Teachers no longer have a fixed routine in the course design. They no longer just use classroom time to interact with their students, and they cannot solve design problems separately. The flipped classroom requires teachers to use modern means and continuously improve their overall quality. Teachers’ teaching will have to be more active, and should select appropriate electronic resources for students. Besides, teachers should be good at communicating with students, teaching in a way that students love, and promoting the atmosphere of learning.

The flipped classroom brings new methods and new ideas to Architectural Design teaching, while it also puts higher requirements on students and teachers. Therefore, there must be various problems in the implementation. In such situation, teachers should actively participate in the application of the flipped classroom, solve problems in the actual implementation process, and constantly explore methods, to make their teaching more conforming to the actual situations and promote students better to participate in the flipped classroom.