3.1. Summarizing Understanding and Keywords

And this is where how the tools; the digital tools are also conditioning your thinking and your understanding process and also your design ability as well.

Digital tools influence how we think, learn, and design. They shape our understanding and process in various fields, especially in design education. This points toward the idea that the methods and technologies we use directly affect our cognitive processes.

Think of it like learning to drive a car with an automatic vs. a manual transmission. Using an automatic transmission makes you focus more on the road and less on shifting gears, which can simplify your learning process.

Now, the one of the useful tools which have come up with the geographic spatial information technology; the GIS tools where you can see from one of my students work of the hazard landslip because the satellite imagery plays an important role but now to what extent, we have to include that satellite imagery at B Arch level or we plan because they deal with much more of a larger scale projects of city planning or the regional planning, for them GIS is already within the subject, in the curriculum.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) help in visualizing and analyzing spatial data. For architecture students, understanding GIS is crucial, as it allows them to incorporate large-scale information into their projects like city or regional planning. This requires knowing how to properly use these tools to interpret data such as satellite images and hazard maps.

Imagine trying to plan a big event like a concert. Having a map that shows not only where to place stages but also the proximity to emergency services, parking, and roads (similar to GIS) can make all the difference in ensuring the event runs smoothly.

Also, the GIS is one of the useful tool but one has to know that what scale you have to apply and what scale the macro-level scale to the micro-level scale, how one can understand, the moment it goes to your site-level how this information would be useful, I think that is where the gap comes in between.

Using GIS effectively depends on understanding the appropriate scale of the information. Macro-level data (large area analyses) must be tailored to micro-level applications (site-specific projects). The challenge is ensuring that students grasp how to bridge this gap.

It's like reading a recipe. If the recipe is written for a big dinner party, but you only need to cook for a small family, you must understand how to scale down the quantities of ingredients without losing the flavor.

So that has given, which is very indigenous but one has to learn that skill. Also, when I was a student in Oxford, my faculty have taken us to the centre for alternative technologies to test various technologies, the local technologies you know how we can make it work so, this is all the hands-on training which will remain in the students mind forever.

Hands-on learning experiences reinforce theoretical knowledge. Engaging in practical activities, such as testing local technologies, allows students to better retain what they've learned and apply it in real-world contexts.

Consider how cooks often learn recipes. It’s one thing to read a recipe; it’s entirely different to actually cook the dish. The sensory experience of cooking makes the knowledge more memorable.

Also, when I was doing my research, I used to engage some of the B. Arch students along with me, I should take them to the villages and they used to interact with the villagers, they used to interact with various council development activities and you know, the lot of discussions, living with the villagers and knowing their difficulties and that has really opened a third eye for them.

Engaging with communities exposes students to real-life challenges and perspectives. This interaction cultivates empathy, enhances understanding of local contexts, and prepares students for practical problem-solving in architecture.

Think of it like going on an exchange program. Living in another culture not only teaches you about that culture but also changes your worldview and how you see your own culture.

And similarly, some of the things what I also developed is; we have so much of information to read but how much to read and how to synthesize, it is a very important aspect, unfortunately, for each course there is a lack of reading materials for DRR and build back better and this is a very great need that we need to develop by topic by topic.

Synthesis refers to combining information from various sources to create a comprehensive understanding. In academic learning, especially in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and construction, it is crucial to guide students in how to filter and synthesize large amounts of information effectively.

It’s like gathering ingredients for a recipe. You can have all the best ingredients, but if you don’t know how to combine them, you won’t get a good dish. Learning to synthesize information is about knowing how to mix it all together effectively.

So, here for B plan students in SPA, Bhopal, what we did was we given them a task of a disaster context whether it was a village, under the dam and a flooded area and then we given them, make them into small groups and then we made into like community, engineers, planner, architect, NGO, district collectors, so there is a decision-making, there is a user group, there is a provider group, there is a technical group.

Group work simulates real-world decision-making scenarios, allowing students to put their learning into practice. By taking on various roles, they engage with multiple perspectives, enhancing their ability to collaborate and understand differing viewpoints.

Consider how a sports team operates. Each player has their role, whether it's the striker, defender, or goalkeeper. They must work together, understand their positions, and communicate effectively to achieve their goal—just like the students in the DRR project.

And then I asked them to read and analyse and make a critical review of their understanding, so then what I do is; I try to first this is a build back better and I leave this as an empty part first, I do not fill this so, this is the skeleton I give them.

Encouraging students to critically review and analyze material helps them develop higher-order thinking skills. Providing them with a framework (or skeleton) allows them to organize their thoughts and identify key themes or keywords effectively.

This process is similar to constructing a building. First, you lay the foundation and framework (skeleton), which ensures that as you develop the rest of the structure, it stands strong and makes sense.

And then we ask them a big poster, in that process, what happens is the people who do not just study their chapter and forget it, they will summarize it, they will portray it and it becomes a memory for them.

Creating a visual representation (like a poster) of their understanding reinforces learning. This method helps students summarize complex topics, making the information easier to remember and share.

It’s like studying for an exam by making flashcards. Summarizing information on flashcards helps recall when you need it for a test, reinforcing memory through active engagement.

So, and more importantly, I try to cover different geographical positions like Kenya, Pakistan, Australia or Turkey, China you know, the variety of geography conditions Lima, Peru, so how they have adopted, how they have faced, what kind of tools they have used, what are the successful things, what is not.

Exploring different geographical contexts broadens students' perspectives. Understanding how diverse areas address common challenges encourages innovative thinking and demonstrates the importance of adaptability in architecture and design.

It’s like cooking a dish using regional ingredients. A recipe might remain the same, but the way it's prepared can vary immensely depending on local flavors and customs, leading to a unique experience.

So, this is how I was trying to develop various methods and obviously, these are all my trial and error process, I am also learning...

Using trial and error is a vital part of learning and refining teaching methods. Acknowledging that both teachers and students are in a constant process of learning emphasizes a collaborative educational environment.

Much like scientists conducting experiments, they may not always get it right the first time, but each failure teaches them something new that leads them closer to the desired outcome.

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