Departmental Assessment Update - Architecture Report
Department: Architecture
Program: Arch. D.
Level: Undergraduate
1. List in detail your undergraduate Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for each degree/certificate offered.
The School of Architecture (SoA) offers a single degree, the Architecture Doctorate (Arch. D.). The Arch. D. is a professional degree, and therefore has a practice focus. The Arch. D. is not considered a graduate degree, and must be differentiated from the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree which has an academic focus. The Arch. D. allows individuals to enter directly out of high school or as advanced transfer students who may hold undergraduate or graduate degrees. Prospective students apply for admission to the SoA through the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) Office of Admissions and Records (undergraduate admissions). The Arch. D. degree is not subject to the requirements of the UHM Graduate Division. However, it should be noted that Arch. D students are classified as graduate students for the purpose of tuition payment and financial aid after they have obtained 120 semester hours of academic credit. As a professional architecture degree, the Arch. D is subject to specialized accreditation by the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB). NAAB is in turn answerable to the other so-called “collateral organizations”, i.e., The American Institute of Architects (A.I.A.), The American Institute of Architects Students (A.I.A.S.), The National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB), and the Associated Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). NAAB specifies a number of conditions for accreditation (the “NAAB Perspectives”) that cover issues of program organization, fiscal strength, facilities, information resources, etc. In addition, NAAB requires an accredited program to submit evidence of students having satisfied 34 “Student Performance Criteria” which are as follows: 1. Speaking and Writing Skills: Ability to read, write, listen, and speak effectively, 2. Critical Thinking Skills: Ability to raise clear and precise questions, use abstract ideas to interpret information, consider diverse points of view, reach well-reasoned conclusions, and test them against relevant criteria and standards, 3. Graphics Skills: Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential formal elements at each stage of the programming and design process, 4. Research Skills: Ability to gather, assess, record, and apply relevant information in architectural coursework, 5. Formal Ordering Systems: Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two- and three-dimensional design, architectural composition, and urban design, 6. Fundamental Design Skills: Ability to use basic architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites, 7. Collaborative Skills: Ability to recognize the varied talent found in interdisciplinary design project teams in professional practice and work in collaboration with other students as members of a design team, 8. Western Traditions: Understanding of the Western architectural canons and traditions in architecture, landscape and urban design, as well as the climatic, technological, socioeconomic, and other cultural factors that have shaped and sustained them, 9. Non-Western Traditions: Understanding of parallel and divergent canons and traditions of architecture and urban design in the non-Western world, 10. National and Regional Traditions: Understanding of national traditions and the local regional heritage in architecture, landscape design and urban design, including the vernacular tradition, 11. Use of Precedents: Ability to incorporate relevant precedents into architecture and urban design projects, 12. Human Behavior: Understanding of the theories and methods of inquiry that seek to clarify the relationship between human behavior and the physical environment, 13. Human Diversity: Understanding of the diverse needs, values, behavioral norms, physical ability, and social and spatial patterns that characterize different cultures and individuals and the implication of this diversity for the societal roles and responsibilities of architects, 14. Accessibility: Ability to design both site and building to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities, 15. Sustainable Design: Understanding of the principles of sustainability in making architecture and urban design decisions that conserve natural and built resources, including culturally important buildings and sites, and in the creation of healthful buildings and communities, 16. Program Preparation: Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architectural project, including assessment of client and user needs, a critical review of appropriate precedents, an inventory of space and equipment requirements, an analysis of site conditions, a review of the relevant laws and standards and assessment of their implication for the project, and a definition of site selection and design assessment criteria, 17. Site Conditions: Ability to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and the design of a project, 18. Structural Systems: Understanding of principles of structural behavior in withstanding gravity and lateral forces and the evolution, range, and appropriate application of contemporary structural systems, 19. Environmental Systems: Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of environmental systems, including acoustical, lighting, and climate modification systems, and energy use, integrated with the building envelope, 20. Life Safety: Understanding of the basic principles of life-safety systems with an emphasis on egress, 21. Building Envelope Systems: Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of building envelope materials and assemblies, 22. Building Service Systems: Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of plumbing, electrical, vertical transportation, communication, security, and fire protection systems, 23. Building Systems Integration: Ability to assess, select, and conceptually integrate structural systems, building envelope systems, environmental systems, life-safety systems, and building service systems into building design, 24. Building Materials and Assemblies: Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of construction materials, products, components, and assemblies, including their environmental impact and reuse, 25. Construction Cost Control: Understanding of the fundamentals of building cost, life-cycle cost, and construction estimating, 26. Technical Documentation: Ability to make technically precise drawings and write outline specifications for a proposed design, 27. Client Role in Architecture: Understanding of the responsibility of the architect to elicit, understand, and resolve the needs of the client, owner, and user, 28. Comprehensive Design: Ability to produce a comprehensive architectural project based on a building program and site that includes development of programmed spaces demonstrating an understanding of structural and environmental systems, building envelope systems, life-safety provisions, wall sections and building assemblies and the principles of sustainability, 29. Architect’s Administrative Roles: Understanding of obtaining commissions and negotiating contracts, managing personnel and selecting consultants, recommending project delivery methods, and forms of service contracts, 30. Architectural Practice: Understanding of the basic principles and legal aspects of practice organization, financial management, business planning, time and project management, risk mitigation, and mediation and arbitration as well as an understanding of trends that affect practice, such as globalization, outsourcing, project delivery, expanding practice settings, diversity, and others, 31. Professional Development: Understanding of the role of internship in obtaining licensure and registration and the mutual rights and responsibilities of interns and employers, 32. Leadership: Understanding of the need for architects to provide leadership in the building design and construction process and on issues of growth, development, and aesthetics in their communities, 33. Legal Responsibilities: Understanding of the architect’s responsibility as determined by registration law, building codes and regulations, professional service contracts, zoning and subdivision ordinances, environmental regulation, historic preservation laws, and accessibility laws, 34. Ethics and Professional Judgment: Understanding of the ethical issues involved in the formation of professional judgment in architectural design and practice. The SoA uses the 34 NAAB Student Performance Criteria as a primary means to define SLO’s.
2. Where are these SLOs published (e.g., department web page)?
The SLO’s are published in the SoA’s NAAB APR. The NAAB requires the following statement to appear in official published or online material describing the SoA and Arch. D. program:In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees; the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards. This notification serves to notify current and prospective students of the accreditation standards. This notification appears on the SoA website, published promotional materials, and in the UHM Catalog. A copy of the latest NAAB Conditions for Accreditation for Professional Degree Programs in Architecture, which contains the Student Performance Criteria, and a copy of the NAAB Procedures for Accreditation of Professional Degree Programs in Architecture, is available at the SoA Office or at www.naab.org. The NAAB Student Performance Criteria are published in the SoA Policies and Procedures which are distributed to all SoA students at the beginning of each academic year.
3. Explain how your SLOs map onto your curriculum, i.e., how does your curriculum produce the specific SLOs in your students?
The SLO’s are mapped onto the Arch. D. curriculum primarily by the assignment of specific NAAB Student Performance Criteria to specific required courses. These assignments are tracked on a matrix showing each required Arch. D. course along with the Student Performance Criteria that the course is mandated to satisfy. NAAB requires the matrix to be included in the APR.
4. What specific methodologies were used to collect data? In developing your response, consider the following questions:
Data is collected by reviewing student work and course/instructor evaluations. Data from the course/instructor evaluations is analyzed as part of the Faculty Personnel Committee’s annual review of faculty. Student work is reviewed by the SoA NAAB Committee. As most architecture projects are highly complex and are subject to varied interpretation, the evaluation tends to be more interpretive and qualitative rather than quantitative.
5. How were the assessment data/results used to inform decisions concerning the curriculum and administration of the program?
The most recent assessment of the Arch. D. program occurred during academic year 2006-2007 and is ongoing. The Curriculum Committee will be using the data and results to inform decisions regarding any needed curricular changes. The Curriculum Committee Chair is also a member of the SoA NAAB Committee. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs is a member of the Curriculum Committee and the SoA NAAB Committee. As a result of these two people having overlap on the respective committees, the assessment is readily transferable such to allow curricular and administrative change.
6. Has the program developed learning outcomes? Please indicate yes or no.
Yes, the SoA has developed SLO’s. The Arch. D. program uses the NAAB Student Performance Criteria as the primary means to define learning outcomes. The SoA is planning to implement additional learning outcomes in addition to the NAAB Student Performance Criteria. NAAB accreditation standards set the minimum criteria for accreditation. The SoA desires to set standards for learning outcomes which exceed these minimums, and to add learning outcomes that are unique to the program and not covered by the NAAB standards. The Arch. D. program is relatively new, and is constantly undergoing refinement. It should be also noted that the SoA has a new Dean who started his tenure on July 2, 2007. The SoA expects that the new Dean will have new ideas and propose new initiatives to the faculty with regard to curricular change for the Arch. D. program, as well as for the initiation of new programs.
7. Has the program published learning outcomes? Please indicate yes or no.
The SoA has published SLO’s. Please refer to the response for question 2 above.
8. If so, please indicate how the program has published learning outcomes.
Please refer to the response to question 2 above.
9. What evidence is used to determine achievement of student learning outcomes?
The primary evidence used to determine the achievement of SLO’s is the student work that is collected each semester. This work is stored in the SoA archives and is used for NAAB accreditation purposes and general curricular assessment.
10. Who interprets the evidence?
The SLO evidence is interpreted by faculty, two committees, and the NAAB. First, each instructor at the SoA is required to include each specific NAAB Student Performance Criteria covered in each course taught and to state the criteria in the course syllabus. Therefore, SoA instructors serve to interpret the SLO’s in each course each semester while grading and evaluating student work. Second, the Curriculum Committee and the Faculty Personnel Committee review the performance of each instructor based on course/instructor evaluation forms and on review of student work. The Faculty Personnel Committee tabulates statistics based on the data given in the forms and compiles written student comments. Third, the SoA NAAB committee reviews student work in preparation for NAAB accreditation. This process involves a careful review of specific student works to ensure that they demonstrate ability or understanding as it pertains to particular NAAB Student Performance Criteria. Fourth, the NAAB interprets the SLO evidence during each Team Site Visit through their examination of student work. The NAAB conducts an interpretation using a similar method to that used by the SoA NAAB Committee. The findings of the Visiting Team are given in the Visiting Team Report which is sent to the SoA and the UHM Administration. The SoA is required by NAAB to write responses to any program area that is deemed by the NAAB to be “not met” as indicated in the Visiting Team Report.
11. What is the process of interpreting the evidence?
The process for interpreting the SLO evidence is described in the response to question 10 above.
12. Indicate the date of last program review.
The Arch. D. program was reviewed by the SoA during academic year 2006-2007 in preparation for a NAAB Team Visit that is scheduled for this coming fall 2007 semester. The NAAB required the SoA to submit an Architecture Program Report (APR) last March. The SoA program review was conducted as a necessary part of writing the APR. The last NAAB accreditation visit occurred in 2001 and the SoA was granted the maximum 6 year term of accreditation.