Improving the General Understanding of Architecture by Educating Adolescents Case Study: A Short-Term Educational Experience at Damghan High Schools

This article discusses public education of architecture as an important aspect of improving public knowledge. Assessing public understanding of architecture is itself an emerging field of study. In this research, educational content was prepared to introduce criteria of fine architecture, and after the completion of the course, the general understanding and knowledge of adolescents in six boys and six girls high schools in Damghan regarding architecture was measured and compared with the results of the assessments before taking the course. Data from a previous study in the same field was used as the data for the control group. The results of this survey show that the training was effective in improving the link between architecture and people and confirm the role of educational content in changing views, refining attitudes toward architecture, and transferring cultural values and architectural identity. This effectiveness means an introduction to compiling or editing textbooks for secondary school, leading to further research in the field of adolescent understanding of architecture.