Course Coordinator 
Professor Samer Akkach

Teaching Team
The teaching team includes:  
The teaching team changes from year to year and details are provided on MyUni.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the social dimensions and implications of architectural design.

2. Develop a stong sense of social responsibility. 

3. Analyse and evaluate architecture in relation of the tangible and intangible aspects of its context. 

4. Produce architectural design propositions that interpret and contribute to the project's geo-physical, urban, social, and historic contexts. 

5. Develop skills in defining a design brief and an architectural program the materialises the brief.

6. Demonstrate confidence and self-motivation as a designer with sophisticated visual and verbal communication skills.

Learning resources will be made available on MyUni.

Project-specific resources will be provided as needed during the course.

Academic Support:
The Professions Learning Centre (PLC) provides postgraduate coursework students of the Faculty of Professions free academic skills advice on critical analysis and structuring assignments, paraphrasing, referencing, oral presentation skills and other skills to assist with success at university. You are encouraged to take advantage of the service to enable you to improve your performance in your studies. To contact a Learning Advisor please send an email to professions.learningcentre@adelaide.edu.au.

Lecture recordings, hand-outs, links for further reference and additional material considered of interest will be posted on the MyUni course website.

A Discussion Board and ability to share and build Group work will also be available on MyUni for students to use.

University Email:
The school uses the University email system to get in touch with the students. So it is imperative that you check your email regularly and keep up to date with any new announcements.

Noticeboard:
General information about the activities at the School is available online from the Student Noticeboard which can be accessed at https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/professons-student-architecture/current-student.

Active Learning

Design Studio III promotes an approach to teacher-student intellectual interaction and knowledge exchange, wherein knowledge transaction is not viewed as occurring through a simple, one-way, linear process from an active source (the teacher) to a passive recipient (the student). Rather, it is viewed as a complex, two-way, dialectic process aimed at dealing with, appropriating, and managing a large body of knowledge that exists in the public realm.

Today, the nature of expertise and ownership of knowledge have changed dramatically with the innovations of the World-Wide-Web and advanced information technology. The conventional mode of design studio teaching, which is based on the old master-disciple model of professional training, has become outdated and imposing many leaning limitations.

In Design Studio III, students are viewed as active learners, and as such are encouraged to be actively engaged the generation, dissemination, and appropriation of design-enabling knowledge. They are expected to participate in discussing and negotiating the appropriateness and relevance of the theoretical strategy proposed, in promoting alternative theoretical strategies for dealing with the complex design issues of the proposed project, in debating their ideas confidently in the lectures and studios, and in negotiating an appropriate approach for the articulation of their design ideas.

This is a 6 unit course. Students in this course are expected to attend 6 hours of lecture/tutorial/seminar each week and allow for 18 hours of self-directed learning each week. That is a total of 24 hours a week for 12 weeks. The tutorials and other activities, including reviews of work in progress are an important component of learning in this course. The communication skills developed by regularly and actively participating in activities and discussions are considered extremely important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies.

The University expects full-time students (ie. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote at least 48 hours per week to their studies. Accordingly, students undertaking this 6 unit course are expected to devote 24 hours per week to contact activities and self-guided studies.

Based on this framework here are some figures that might assist workload management:
Total workload hours: 24 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 312 Hrs
Total contact hours: 6 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 72 Hrs
Total self-guided study: 312 Hrs – 72 Hrs = 240 Hrs

These 240 hours should be used towards preparation of weekly tasks and for completion of the various assignments associated with the course, including development of various skills required to complete the same. Please organise your time wisely.

Learning activities change from year to year. Check detailed Course Outine provided by Course Coordinator on course website on MyUni.

Specific Course Requirements change from year to year. Check the detailed Course Outline provided by Course Coordinator on the Course website on MyUni.

Design Studio III provides an opportunity for Small Group Discovery Experience through the collaborative work required within the small Design Groups. For details, please check the Course Outline on MyUni.

Assessment exercises (or Assignmnets) are project related and will change from year to year. Details of individual Assignments are given in the detailed Course Ouline Available on MyUni.

Attendance and completion of weekly tasks are essential for passing the Course. The weekly tasks are project related and vary from year to year, please check the detailed Course Outline availabe on MyUni.   

Details of each assessment task are available on MyUni.

Subnission modes, dates, and times vary from year to year, please check the detailed Course Ouline available on MyUni including all the School's rules concerning submission.