BIMIC 2019

Architecture design courses typically face severe time management challenges. The creative nature of the subject often makes both students and teachers focus on the concept phase leaving materialization to the last minute. A common emphasis on striving for originality carries a tendency to favour time spent in exploratory processes over project definition. And yet, students’ exercises are invariably judged on final results, not on their aims. Originality, innovation, and similar qualities can only be evaluated when displayed on highly elaborated designs that show not only the student’s creative ambition but also his or her capacity to solve other aspects such as geometry, structure, construction technology, etc. The inevitable paradox any design course teacher faces is therefore how to manage time in order to maximize students’ creativity without compromising design development. A possible management tool now at hand is online tutoring. The purpose of this study is to point out ways in which blended learning can contribute to improve students’ performance in architecture design courses by enhancing time management.