2. Education Process

So, in an education process, there are 3 things; one is the cognitive aspects and the psychomotor aspects and the affective aspects. So, cognitive is talking about the mental capacities which talks about the skills and the knowledge which you learn through the brain and whereas a psychomotor, how you learn through the hand and effective which you learn which goes into your heart you know which had some value of your education.

The education process consists of three main components: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective aspects. The cognitive aspect refers to mental skills and knowledge gained through thought and study. The psychomotor aspect involves physical skills learned through practice and hand-eye coordination. Lastly, the affective aspect relates to emotions and values, demonstrating how education influences our feelings and attitudes.

Think of learning to play the piano. Cognitively, you learn music theory and read notes. Psychomotor skills come into play as you practice pressing the right keys with your fingers. Affective learning is reflected in how playing music can make you feel joy or sadness, which adds deep personal value to your education.

A lot of taxonomies which has been developed; Bloom's taxonomy is one of it, Blooms have developed 1956, where there is a lower order to higher order, the evaluation was on a peak but in 2002, he brought the synthesis and then the creation into the top in the summit.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a framework for classifying educational goals, created in 1956. It organizes learning objectives from lower-order thinking skills, like remembering facts, to higher-order skills like creating new concepts. In 2002, revisions were made, emphasizing higher-order skills such as synthesis and creation as the peaks of cognitive development.

Imagine a ladder where at the lower rungs, you are memorizing facts about a topic (like historical dates). As you climb higher, you begin comparing and contrasting those facts, and eventually, at the top, you create a project or presentation that demonstrates your understanding—like creating a new historical event by synthesizing existing information into a new narrative.

And now, in the present generation of architecture, we are talking about not only the digital forms because of various fabricated models, where technology has been advanced and also we are looking at the digital processes as well. But in this process, what we are missing is the ground realities, in fact, there are many models like CAD simulation model, like this is one of my students work where they try to simulate the lighting aspects and as well as you know the climatic aspects of it.

In contemporary architectural education, there is an emphasis on digital tools and technologies, allowing for advanced simulations and models. However, this focus often leads to neglecting real-world conditions and grounded realities in architectural design. Programs like CAD simulations help visualize elements like lighting and climate effects but may not capture the complete experience of physical environments.

Picture trying to learn to swim using only a virtual reality simulation. The VR might show you perfect strokes and swimming techniques, but without actually being in the water, you miss the feel of the water currents, the temperature, and the weightlessness that are critical to truly mastering swimming.

an architectural education is a 5-year course and where it starts with a fundamental foundation elaboration, integration, advanced specialization and the last 3 E’s; exploration, evaluation and experience. Here, you start with the small things, basic knowledge of it and then you try to elaborate on further but here this is where we integrate structures, construction, quantity pricing, the financial aspect, so we start integrating.

Architectural education typically spans five years, beginning with foundational studies followed by deeper integration of knowledge across various domains like structure, construction, and economics. The latter years focus on advanced specialization, emphasizing three key components: exploration (experimenting with ideas), evaluation (assessing designs and concepts), and real-world experience in practical settings.

Think of architectural education as learning to build a house. Initially, you're taught about the different tools and materials (foundation). As you progress, you learn how to integrate these elements into a cohesive design (integration). Finally, in advanced studies, you may specialize in sustainable building or urban design (advanced specialization), exploring innovative building techniques and evaluating their environmental impact.

And then, we move on to the advanced specialization you know, your focus will be oriented but in the teaching you know, it is not just about what you teach, how much they have learnt, this is assess that it is not about how much you have thought but how much they have learned is more important.

As students advance in their education, emphasis shifts from merely delivering content to evaluating how much students truly understand and can apply their knowledge. It highlights the gap between teaching effort and student learning outcomes, indicating that effective education hinges on student comprehension and skill acquisition rather than just the volume of information presented.

Consider a teacher explaining complex math problems to students. If the students can't solve similar problems on a test, it illustrates that the teacher may have taught well, but the students didn't learn effectively. It’s like a coach teaching basketball plays; if players don’t perform well in real games, the focus shouldn't just be on the coaching, but on how well players understand and apply the strategies.

Today, because of the various tools which we are doing, we are having many tools like the CAD simulation tools and energy efficiency orientation today, we are not having anyways, the final year students are not at all using their hand skills which they learned in first year but eventually, they forget about it you know, this is one problem.

Modern architectural education emphasizes digital tools like CAD for design work, which is advantageous for efficiency and precision. However, there is a concern that as students advance in their studies, they neglect the manual skills learned in earlier years. This lack of balance might lead to an educational experience that misses the tactile, hands-on aspect of architecture that is critical for developing a holistic understanding of design.

Imagine a chef who knows how to create complex dishes using advanced kitchen gadgets but has forgotten how to cook over a campfire. While the gadgets may make cooking easier, if the chef cannot handle simpler cooking methods, they might struggle in unexpected situations like cooking outdoors, where basic skills become invaluable.

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