Individuals of 21st century experiences two extremes at the same time: exponentially increasing use of ICT and rapidly changing technologies, and exponentially increasing social, economic and environmental problems. Hence in order to survive in this new era, people should be furnished with new skills and education systems should be revised to help people to cope with all these changes.This project aims to develop a core curriculum based on STEAM education in architectural design schools to foster the students with digital and green skills. In the age of ICT, digital skills, which are closely related with being digital-literate, are accepted as the must for everyone. These skills should be broadening up to enhance the learning and problem solving skills of the individuals. In relation with digital skills, green skills, which are described as the skills for green economies, sustainable environments and to help individuals to sustain their professions enable them to cope with new challenges of their practices should be the subject matter of the curricula. In that sense, schools of architecture and architecture design education in its nature explicitly but mostly implicitly based on STEAM approach. Since architecture as a practice is usually carried on rather individually than as a corporate, and thus to sustain such a profession requires adaptation, self-learning, self problem solving in order to sustain the practice. Both digital and green skills require a holistic way of education. In this context STEAM is a very promising education approach. STEM and STEAM are mostly discussed in K-12 education and several projects have been proposed, but STEAM approach in architectural design education will be a new and inspiring example. Another important aspect of the project is the STEAM approach targeting higher education will have a direct impact on the practice, since skills gained in this level will be remembered by the learners more easily and the knowledge gained will be more up to date compared with K-12 education. It is also important to point out that the age group of university students (above 16) requires andragogic approach for which learning by problem solving is one of the core concepts. Hence, integration of STEAM in higher education in general will contribute to enhance learning and problem solving skills of these students as well as aimed in the present project. This project targets STEAM education in schools of architecture. However, the core STEAM approach and digital and green skills should be generic for all the learners since ultimate goal is to achieve sustainable green societies for which individuals can also be able to sustain their life and their profession. Therefore, in developing the STEAM curriculum for architectural schools, understanding the differences/similarities among educational backgrounds and approaches in different countries is crucial. This understanding will also help to develop a generic framework of STEAM in higher education level. Thus, the partners of the present project; architectural schools of Middle East Technical University, University of Aalborg, University of Bologna; represents such diversity both in education and society. The proposed STEAM approach is to be developed in collaboration with all the partners and applied to core groups in these universities through workshops in order to assess the impact and the method. In the course of the project, a curriculum based on STEAM approach in the schools of architecture is to be developed aiming to help learners enhancing their digital and green skills as well as to improve self-learning and problem solving capabilities which are essential individual skills in achieving the common goal of sustainable economies and societies.
1. Context: Starting with the first founded university in Bologna in the 11th Century, higher education has been evolving continuously, yet the pace of this evolution is not as fast as the changes that we observe in practice. Today, this discrepancy is not only limited to the content of the curricula but also the expected skills and competencies. Each and every discipline has been in continuous search of the “right” way of formalization of education both content and skill wise. This project is focused on architectural design education incorporating discussions on the role of STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). It is proposed that STEAM as a holistic approach provides a valuable structure for curricula of architectural design education and related skills and competencies. It is evident that 21st Century skills and competencies should be much different than the ones delivered in the 20th Century due to rapidly developing and spreading new design and information technologies. This project re-positions STEAM in architectural design education by contemplating 21st-century skills (a.k.a. survival skills) of architects. 2. Objectives ArchiSTEAM project aims to define and embed necessary survival skills enabling learners to work in collaborative and interdisciplinary ways into architecture curricula by means of STEAM approach. The proposed structure of the curriculum helps architecture students to have the necessary knowledge and skills to become proactive members of the knowledge economy and be able to cope with future challenges and sustain their professions. In this regard, as it is explored in the ArchiSTEAM project, skill sets that should be conveyed to students are as important as the knowledge that they should gain through their education. The main objectives defined to realize this aim is listed below: Assessment of STEAM skills in existing curricula in architecture schools. It is aimed to reveal the best practices on how STEAM skills are addressed and how the generic STEAM module can be developed in this respect. Delivery of Generic STEAM modules regardless of the discipline aiming to furnish students with survival skills in rapidly changing environment and technology. Adaptation of developed generic STEAM modules in the existing architecture curricula. Development of architectural education content matching the learning objectives and outcomes considering the STEAM skills developed during the project. Development of digital materials for dissemination along with the best practices in proposed courses and the workshops. 3. Main Activities: Within the scope of this project, to fulfill the stated objectives, a comprehensive field analysis is conducted via research and questionnaires. The outcomes of these analyses are synthesized and a new module including the proposed skills are developed together with the researchers of the partner institutions via gathering activities i.e. transnational meetings, short-term trainings, and online meetings. Then, the outcome of these discussions is reported in a collaborative environment which can be reached from the project website (http://archisteam.com/outputs/). The proposed STEAM approach and related skills are tested through not only the adaptation of the modules into the courses of partner universities but also with the workshops conducted in Turkey, Bologna, and Aalborg with 25-30 students from each country. As a result of the courses and the workshops the proposed module is validated. 4. Results and Impact Project is aimed to add valuecreate and impact in terms of increase in quality ofin education based on STEAM approach. With this project, an educational epidemic promoting creativity through science, technology, engineering, art and math skills is triggered starting from architectural education. The utilization of this approach throughout the education life of individuals may facilitate the paradigm shift in educational design. The initial impacts are measured through the workshops and dissemination events conducted in the partner countries. The written and verbal feedbacks from students, instructors and professionals attending the dissemination events reveals that the proposed STEAM modules enables new perspectives in the field of education. 5. Longer-term benefits The outcome of the project is not only focused on architecture education and covers generic STEAM modules which are applicable to any discipline facing the challenge of adapting itself t rapidly changing conditions. As a result, nextfuture generations are aimed to be capable of adapting new technologies from a creative perspective resulting in innovative perceptions with sustainable skills in the course of lifelong learning. The qualitative shift of future generations competencies will provide added value in local, regional, national and international levels.