Architecture Design Software : A Qualitative Study of Adult Learners' Experiences
出版項
2019
說明
1 online resource (114 pages)
文字
text
無媒介
computer
成冊
online resource
附註
Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 81-02, Section: B
Advisor: Wellington, Eric
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Capella University, 2019
Includes bibliographical references
A qualitative study of adult learners' experiences of architecture software design is important because that technology plays a major role in our economy today, especially in education, trade, and industry. Higher-education schools of architecture have either replaced traditional hand-drafting with the use of computer-aided design (CAD) in the daily activities of their programs or added it. CAD programs (e.g., Revit Architecture, AutoCAD, Google SketchUp, Inventor and SolidWorks) are among the software being used in school design studios and laboratories. Adult learners, who are used to traditional hand-drafting methods and techniques, are challenged by the current fast-paced technological innovations, to learn these modern practices due to the need to compete in the highly competitive market. A basic qualitative design was used for this research. Further, this design involved observations and interviews in regard to participants' responses to particular situations with architectural design software. This basic qualitative research thus inquired about the daily experiences adult learners encounter with the state-of-technology software. The question that surrounds the daily experiences of the adult learners while using the architecture software was: What are the experiences of adult learners at a higher education school of architecture as they learn the use of architectural design software, such as user access, design platform tool ribbons, bar command prompt window, and all the other design tools? Furthermore, what are the problems they encounter with regard to workspace utilization for class assignments and projects and what are the pros and cons of the design software? Participants were pooled from adult learners who are 21 years and older from a community college's school of architectural technology. Twenty participants were selected for the research analysis. The selected participants comprised 12 men and eight women, 55% of whom were White, 20% were Black, 20% were Hispanic, and 5% were Asian. Participants' experiences and proficiency varied with respect to years of experience with the software and/or relationship with similar technology. Most participants with excellent proficiency had several years of experience, with some gaining experience due to CAD use in high school and or being in the professional field. Low proficiency included out-of-school factors (e.g., family responsibilities of adult learners who had been out of school for a while). Indicators from the research analysis showed satisfaction with the use of architectural design software for classroom assignments and projects, with increased production, collaboration among users, digital prototyping abilities, and being user-specific. It is recommended that the results of this basic qualitative research cannot be generalized because of the need for further research to involve more institutions and graduate students in the field of practice
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2021
