At the core of architectural teaching is the Design Review or Critique in which students present their work to both their tutors and peers to receive immediate formative feedback.
1. architectural design reviews
a collaborative system between Liverpool and XJTLU
Funded by the eLearning Steering Group
Mike Knight, Andre Brown and Martin Winchester
School of Architecture
3. teaching of architecture
professionally validated degree
Royal Institute of British Architects qualification stages...
Part 1 BA (Hons) Architecture 3 years
Year in practice
Part 2 MA - Master of Architecture 2 years
Year in practice
Part 3 Professional Practice exam
Advanced Diploma in Professional Practice
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
4. teaching of architecture
Liverpool School of Architecture is the oldest RIBA course in the world
with the pattern of education established here ...
• 50% taught modules
• 50% studio based
• studio design teaching is based around small group teaching and the
design review or ‘critique’
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
15. design review (or ‘crit’)
• students present their work to tutors and their peers
• mimics what happens in practice when presenting clients and internal
design processes
• a ‘crit’ is a dialogue between student, critic and peers
• Cultural differences evident in performance at a crit
• length varies according to year of study
First year : 15mins
final year : 45mins - 1 hour+
• work presented
verbal presentation plus analogue and digital drawings / sketchbooks /
physical models / digital animations etc
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
21. XJTLU
• common foundation first year
• subject specific second year - mirrors Liverpool BA1 modules
current numbers
first year : 128
second year : 101
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
22. XJTLU
• common foundation first year
• subject specific second year - mirrors Liverpool BA1 modules
current numbers
first year : 128
second year : 101
September 2102 :
160 XJTLU students join BA2
current research is allow XJTLU students to experience design reviews in
Liverpool before they arrive
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
24. low cost eCrit solution?
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
25. problem definition
mobile solution to give student experience of Liverpool teaching
before they arrive
video feed
3 cameras required ...
camera 1 : student (tripod)
camera 2 : critics (tripod)
camera 3 : work (mobile)
audio feed
2 microphones required ...
microphone 1: student
microphone 2: critics
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
26. • System diagram
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
27. Liverpool Suzhou
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
28. solutions
‘standard’ video conferencing
+
high quality and proven
-
expensive
fixed location
does not give the atmosphere of a studio based review
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
29. known problems
• design reviews are noisy and busy
• students unfamiliar with being filmed
• time difference to Suzhou is 8 hours
• Skype bandwidth can be unpredictable
• Chinese government control of internet
• small amount of money available
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
30. system
Software (all streaming to Skype)
• Vidblaster (vidblaster.com)
podcasting software and digital stream mixer
• Xsplit (xsplit.com)
record and stream video streams
hardware
• 3 high quality Logitech webcams
• 2 hand held microphones (later wireless)
• audio mixing desk
requires a powerful laptop to stream and record simultaneously
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
32. testing process
step 1 : local recording
step 2 : test with known quality source
step 3 : initial tests with XJTLU
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
33. step 1 : local recording
test of hardware, software and logistics
test recording of crit and tutorial recording of MA group
current MA is 97% Chinese
testing of hardware and software
looking for unforeseen logistical problems
assessment of student feedback
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
46. stage 1 : results
• overall, better than expected
• noise : Chinese students are noisier in crits than UK students
• setup and moving of equipment needs to be quicker and simpler
• students need to learn a slightly different process
• minor changes to hardware and software configurations
unexpected feedback from students :
students found recording process useful to assess their own performance
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
47. step 2 : test with known quality source
Technical University of Graz
crit of undergraduate architecture students who were designing a
scheme in Liverpool
known excellent network link quality
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
57. step 2 : results
• some good, some problems
good
• hardware and software largely worked well apart from connection
problems to old projector
• use of Skype shared desktop for digital presentations
problems
• intermittent and unpredictable Skype line quality
• dropped connections
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
58. stage 3 : testing with XJTLU
original plan was to test with the final crit in XJTLU
but ...
logistical problems (crits at incompatible times/dates) and other staff
commitments resulted in a full crit test not happening
measurements have been taken during regular Skype meetings
line quality is mainly average and frequently poor.
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
59. overall conclusions
• hardware / software worked more smoothly than anticipated
• software has a fairly steep familiarisation period
• student feedback has been largely positive, but some prior
education/familiarisation is necessary
• Skype maybe not the best solution so other networks are being
tested
oovoo oovoo.com
vsee vsee.com
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
60. future work
hardware
consolidate and rationalise hardware to make more portable
build into laptop and mixer in to system case
Mike Knight : School of Architecture
61. future work
departmental plan is to have a full working system in 2012-13
• full testing with XJTLU
• recording and streaming of lectures in Liverpool
• back-to-back comparison of different networks
Mike Knight : School of Architecture