Usefulness of computer modeler for the education of architectural form design projects

The study focused the usefulness and its need of computer modeling/rendering programs for the curriculum of architectural design education. The main interest of the research was to find out whether the active usages of the program for the form and space design projects would activate the enhancement of students´ three-dimensional design capabilities. This study also invested much time to clarify some other facts with respect to the level of interest (LOI), level of difficulty (LOD), and level of will (LOW) when using the computer program for their projects. For the research, seventy beginning architecture students were divided into two groups including an experimental group of thirty-seven students and a control group of forty-three students. The experimental group only used the computer program for their two form and space design projects (Project 1 & 2) while the control group carried out using only traditional design tools such as pencils and papers. With two intensive evaluations and discussions of the panels consisted of three senior professors of design major, the research results revealed using computer programs for the three-dimensional form and space designs had no direct relationships with the improvement of students´ design capabilities as well as their ultimate project qualities. Regardless of the results above, the research asserted that architecture schools develop sophisticated educational methodologies in the light of the young-generation students´ intimacy of computer.