Increasing Creativity and Community Responsibility through the Interactive Learning at the Schools of Architecture in Jordan

This paper sheds light on the application of non-traditional methods during the teaching of architecture courses at the Jordanian universities, and shows its effect in refining the students' personality and increasing their community responsibility. The creativity in architecture depends on the ability to design a unique work that balances the architectural vision and the users' requirements. This comprehensive understanding of design raises many questions about the contribution of architectural education in the refinement of interactive thinking for the students of architecture - the architects of the future - and in the development of the students' sense of community to recognize the design process as a creative process that meets the needs of society. Therefore, it was necessary to develop some teaching methods in architecture and design that focus on the social dimension of the built environment. This paper aims to create interactive learning environments that empower the youth and enrich their personalities at the schools of architecture in Jordan. Traditional teaching methods, based on memorizing and using the existing media such as diagrams or pictures, have proven deficiency in transferring the architectural knowledge from the teacher to the students. However, the proposed interactive methods will bridge the gap between theory and practice by encouraging the students to interact with the design environment and members of the community to understand their needs prior starting the design. In this research, the concept of interactive learning is not limited to the use of the new interactive technology such as multimedia software, and Virtual Reality, but it is widen to include the notion of the human interacting with the designed environment by visiting the site, communicating with the users of the space, and enhancing the public participation.