Methodology for Teaching Human, Nature and Architecture’ Course

Courses in Architecture can be classified into three categories; Knowledge, Skill, and Attitude. The "Human, Nature, Architecture" course, which falls into the attitude category and is one of the basic and specialized courses in teaching architecture, is supposed to be a preface to basing students’ general approach to this area of expertise. So far, nonetheless, this course not only has not moved in this direction but has also caused feelings of demotivation and indifference in students. Current methods in teaching the course often depart from the general content and objectives of the course, thereby reducing the intended impacts of the course on students’ attitudes. The present study investigates the impacts of effective presentation of this course via reintroducing the course and emphasizing the significance of environment in architecture education. Using a questionnaire survey, this study was conducted based on the comprehensive examination of the basic features of the course and comparative analysis of its different teaching methods. The participants of this study include 35 teachers and 180 students from five architecture departments in different Iranian universities. Various teaching methods with authorized syllabuses were investigated comparatively. Results of the study led to the development of a coherent method for teaching the course Human, Nature, Architecture, which is expected to be employed by teachers in recognizing a comprehensive method.