Design and validation of Cognitive Education model based on Thinking Cycle in architectural design process

Introduction: The movement of architectural education towards cognitive processes is one of the newest and most efficient educational approaches that emphasizes the use of teaching-learning strategies with the aim of developing and strengthening the systematic processes of understanding and receiving, thinking, learning and problem solving. Based on this approach, thinking is one of the important structures in education. The purpose of this research was to design and validate the method of cognitive teaching the thinking cycle in the process of architectural design and its effect on the idea generation of architecture students.

Method: The method of this research was mixed (qualitative and quantitative). In the design and internal validation stage of the model, content analysis and Delphi methods were used, and in the external validation stage, a semi-experimental method was used with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included professors of the department of architecture and educational technology and architecture students. Data analysis was done using Spss software version 22.


Results: The results of developing the model of cognitive education based on the cycle of thinking showed that this model included 4 axes, 9 categories and 27 components. The internal validity of the model was checked by Delphi method,2 components were removed and Kendall's coefficient of coordination was found to be 0.84 based on the opinion of 11 judges for the components of the training model was significant. In terms of external validity. The results of covariance analysis showed that this developed model has validity and can be used in the field of teaching design courses

Discussion and conclusion: The thinking cycle method is effective in improving the creative skills of learners. It also increases the amount of learning and creates new knowledge by creating new scientific concepts and ideas. In other words, it increases the reasoning abilities of the learner and leads the learner towards thinking skills in designing analysis (proposing problems to make students think deeply and critically), composition (proposing problems to guide students to creative thinking) and evaluation (proposing problems to guide students to evaluate an idea, a solution or an aesthetic work). This stratification of thinking in design process education shows that the learning process in design courses includes stages of analytical comprehension, critical thinking and creative decision making. The results of this research showed that teaching 9 stages of the thinking cycle helps to develop the student's cognitive abilities in the three higher levels of thinking and can finally present a good plan and idea. By analyzing students' designs in four indicators of idea quality, idea innovation, idea similarity type and idea concept, the quantitative results were also confirmed. The examples of the presented sketches show that the cognitive training of the thinking cycle has influenced the students' idea creation and they have been able to present ideas that have quality, innovation, and meaning and are not similar to each other.