The effect of using e-learning of contemporary structures on improving the quality of learning in the field of architecture

E-learning, as one of the distance learning methods, has been rapidly expanded in most educational systems. Teaching contemporary structures and learning them effectively and practically to architecture students is one of the most important subjects of architectural education programs. Virtual reality is a new tool that makes it possible to imagine abstract concepts by using the computer and its capabilities, which have a positive effect on learning and knowledge transfer; accordingly, the student is actively involved in the learning process. The present research was conducted to investigate the effect of electronic education of contemporary structures on the improvement of the learning quality of architecture students.

This research is exploratory and descriptive-analytical in terms of its nature, survey method data analysis method. To reach the results, two types of specialized and general questionnaires were prepared. The statistical population of the specialized questionnaire was 33 professors and experts in the field of architecture and multimedia education and the general questionnaire; Two groups of students who had completed the course on contemporary structures in the form of face-to-face training and electronic training in a specific period, were selected in the number of 50 people. Validity was measured based on content validity and confirmed by professors through the Delphi method and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha method at 0.756. Data analysis was done through factor analysis and regression and Friedman tests with Spss and Lisrel software.

The confirmatory factor analysis test of the 4 components of the effect of e-learning and teaching on improving the quality of students' learning was identified and confirmed with a factor loading of over 0.4. The adjusted coefficient of determination was determined, the indicators predict 53% of the variance of learning quality improvement. Based on the regression test; The component of using digital technology has the highest effect on improving the quality of learning (beta=0.788). The results of the correlation coefficient test show that among the types of interaction, "learner-learner" has the most importance. The prioritization of the components of the effect of electronic education and learning on improving the quality of learning and students' progress according to Friedman's ranking test the use of digital technology (8.96), self-immersive (8.82), virtual reality (8.7), interaction (8.06).

According to the results, the indicators of simulation, motivation, the active role of the learner, synchronicity, content-content, student-content, skill, content transfer, creativity, knowledge construction, student-student, thinking-decision, achieving content, student-teacher; According to priority and correlation, Pearson's test has a positive effect on the improvement of the quality of students' learning. As a result, the electronic education of the course of contemporary structures using the virtual reality method improves the quality of students' learning compared to the face-to-face method in the field of architecture.