Hands-on Teaching: The Significance of Introductory Courses in Building Architectural Engineering Curriculum

The implications of hands-on introductory courses in architectural engi-neering (AE) discipline influence students’ comprehension of the interdisciplinary nature of the field and help them build basic needed skills. This chapter reviews the recent inclusion of an introductory course to the Architectural Engineering Curriculum (AEC), at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), to provide general insights and to effectively engage teaching tools. Based on the program assessment in Spring 2018, a three credits course Arch 302: Introduction to Archi-tectural Engineering, designed to be taught in a studio format, has been added to the AE program. The course includes a brief introduction to the AE professions, AE design process, and communication skills and digital tools. Through small project design exercises, the course applies multiple hands-on teaching methods to provide students with basic design skills and formal visual principles with an emphasis on developing creativity and effective communication. In addition to instructors’ expe-rience in teaching the course, a survey has been conducted with AE students to collect insights on the course’s impact on their understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the AE, and the subsequent design and building construction courses. This paper evaluates the course development, significance, and interrelationships with other courses aligned with the achievement of the course learning outcomes. The outcomes of this assessment shed light on the significance of introductory courses in improving students’ achievement in subsequent courses in terms of understanding the AE interdisciplinary scope of work and gained skills.