A tool to assess architectural education from the sustainable development perspective and the students’ viewpoint

Abstract

Architectural education plays a fundamental role in achieving sustainable development by training future professionals who can contribute to sustainability through their practice. Never-theless, to ensure the introduction of sustainable development in the education of future architects, it is fundamental to understand what is being done and what could be improved. Despite this, a big gap has been detected in the assessment of architectural education in Spain and worldwide. Thus, a close-ended questionnaire for students has been designed based on the outcomes from a literature review, exploratory interviews with specialists, and the qualitative analysis of two schools of archi-tecture. Additionally, it has been revised by experts, through the pilot study of a preliminary ver-sion, and with the supplementary analysis of the answers to a final test with students from different schools. In particular, this questionnaire allows for comprehensively measuring the students’ perception of their sustainability learning outcomes, their learning experience, and the connection be-tween, with the aim of facilitating the adjustment of Spanish architectural education towards the introduction or enhancement of sustainable development by education managers, teachers, policy-makers, and professional associations.