Author(s): Margarita McGrath & Collin Caywood
In Spring 2024, twenty-five advanced students participated in a reimagined professional practice course that leveraged artificial intelligence to transform learning. By focusing on developing ‘intelligences’ rather than traditional content-heavy objectives, the course aimed to cultivate crucial 21st-century skills. This innovative approach applied contem¬porary learning theories to a typically information-dense subject, creating a ‘safe environment’ for students to engage with AI outside the design studio critically. Our case study prepares future architects for an evolving workplace and offers insights applicable across disciplines, demonstrating how AI can be harnessed to transform higher education learning paradigms. We begin the paper with a concise overview of traditional professional practice courses, providing context for readers outside the discipline. The discussion then pivots to the chal¬lenges the course redesign aims to address: how to adapt architectural education to meet the evolving demands of the Future of Work and Innovation. Our theoretical framework draws on current research in learning sciences, informing the core principles and teaching methods that shaped our course redesign. We then detail how we integrated both Human and Artificial Intelligences into the curriculum, creating a forward-looking educational experience. The paper also outlines our assessment strategies and their outcomes, concluding with a critical reflection on the course’s effectiveness and implica¬tions for architectural education. By reimagining professional practice, we aim to better prepare students for the rapidly changing landscape of architectural work while also contrib¬uting to the broader conversation about the future of professional education.
Volume Editors
ISBN
978-1-944214-49-4