Twenty-first International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This paper is partially a survey of various strategies and techniques used in teaching an architecture design studio for entry into the Solar Decathlon Design Competition. Faculty members who have taught design studios that entered the Solar Decathlon were surveyed and interviewed to understand adjustments to their teaching philosophies while conducting the studio. Also discussed were tools employed, such as software and representational formats. Success in the studio, and in the competition itself, was correlated with the expertise of the faculty and the strategies they employed. However, the independence afforded the learners was pivotal to managing the wide range of multi-faceted issues that competitors must contend with. Teaching strategies for design must encourage greater empowerment of learners, with an explicit transition from pedagogy to andragogy.