Empowering Education
Light-touch Manager-Faculty: Teaching a Solar Decathlon Studio
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session N Jonathan Unaka
This paper is partially a survey of various strategies and techniques used in teaching an architecture design studio for entry into the Solar Decathlon Design Competition. Faculty members who have taught design studios that entered the Solar Decathlon were surveyed and interviewed to understand adjustments to their teaching philosophies while conducting the studio. Also discussed were tools employed, such as software and representational formats. Success in the studio, and in the competition itself, was correlated with the expertise of the faculty and the strategies they employed. However, the independence afforded the learners was pivotal to managing the wide range of multi-faceted issues that competitors must contend with. Teaching strategies for design must encourage greater empowerment of learners, with an explicit transition from pedagogy to andragogy.
Diversifying Sustainability Education : Making Solutions Relevant
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jacqueline Salmond
Education for Sustainable Development is a key goal of the SDG's and there are many ways to approach this aim. Florida Gulf Coast University was one of the few Universities in North America requiring a single sustainability course of all students prior to graduation. However, this “one size fits all” approach led to a number of issues which reduced the effectiveness of the course and conflicted with the aims of a sustainability education. Over several years faculty developed targeted discipline specific courses and in 2024 the sustainability education aims were diversified to enable a more directed and solutions-based curriculum. This case study compares the results of student learning from both types of sustainability education and makes suggestions for others considering similar avenues for education for sustainable development.
