Curricular Design

Collaboration

• Students in my civil engineering and architecture class worked in groups of two last Friday to create structures out of 12 cards and masking tape that were 8" tall (+/- 1/2") and could hold a minimum of 5 pounds. They collaborated to come up with a preliminary design and then test it.  After the preliminary test, they had the opportunity to refine their design before the final test. 
• Students learned the importance of strength in shapes and working through the design process
• Since they had the opportunity to work together, they could bounce ideas off each other and create a structure within the given time period 
• Groups of two created better structures for the most part. Almost all groups developed structures that could hold the minimum requirement with many holding much more

Creativity

• Students are working to create a library using Autodesk Revit. I have given them the criteria, constraints, and due date for the library. Now they are working within the criteria and constraints and using creativity to layout the floor plans and design the exterior of the building by the due date. 
• Students are more engaged when they have the opportunity to be creative within the framework provided. They also have a competition going within the classes to design the most architecturally interesting exterior and interior finishes. 
• I enjoy seeing the students challenge themselves. When I limit what they can do to the library, I feel like it limits what they want to learn. They only do the minimum. When I open it up for them to be creative, they push themselves to learn tools that they otherwise wouldn't do
• Students like the opportunity to show their creativity skills and personalize a project so it's their  own.