Slavica Stamatović-Vučković, PhD, on functioning of the classes at the Faculty of Architecture

The corona virus pandemic has led to a new, hitherto unknown to some professors, way of working, many challenges but also useful skills. What was the situation during the online classes at the Faculty of Architecture, how did the students and the professors manage, professor Slavica Stamatović-Vucković, PhD, told us.

It has been almost a year since the appearance of the pandemic and the change in the way of working at the faculties. What has changed since then and how demanding have the changes been?

The changes were demanding, first of all, on a mental level, and then, of course, on an organizational level. At the Faculty of Architecture, everyone, both students and lecturers, are digitally literate at a fairly high level. It is impossible to study architecture without the use and knowledge of computers, from the first year of study. In addition, a large part of the knowledge is acquired visually, through pictures, drawings, graphics, so it was not so complicated to organize online classes, which allows it. It can even be said that, in part, it even had some advantages. However, it is much more complex to conduct practical classes both online and in classrooms in these conditions, and this required additional, really not small, effort of all participants, especially teaching associates who conduct several hours of exercises. The necessary division of students into smaller groups required a much larger expenditure of time and energy, both during the semester and during the January exam period, which was therefore extended. The exam deadline ended on Friday, and the summer semester begins on Monday. That’s all, I have to admit, pretty demanding. But we all love our work and working with students very much, thus establishing the much-needed balance and maintaining the necessary enthusiasm for further work.

How did you, from the professor's point of view, get used to the new way of working?

At the beginning, I was quite critical and suspicious, even reluctant, because everything seemed quite complicated. However, the adjustment was quite fast and I think that, like other colleagues from the Faculty of Architecture, I was surprised at how much it is possible to achieve online. After a one-week break in the March quarantine, we all switched to online teaching and really successfully realized all segments of teaching, both lectures and exercises. I was especially surprised by the good results of the first year student in the subject Digital Methods in Architecture (DMA), because the final product is 'digital production', i.e. a type of model they were supposed to produce using drawing software and a laser / CNC machine (based on Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities", which was the theme for the year). They were great and we got phenomenal works from which, as soon as the conditions are created, I hope to make an exhibition. Also, as part of that course, we adapted the topics to the quarantine situation at the time, so the students had "View from the window" as a topic for practice in the application of Photoshop, so we had a lot of fun.

There has often been controversy about the quality of online teaching, as well as the credibility of the grades obtained in this way. How do you look at it?

In the previous two questions, it seems to me, I have partly answered this as well. It depends on the subject being studied, and thus it varies from faculty to faculty. At the Faculty of Architecture, the new situation did not create any significant problems, except in the part concerning greater engagement of employees. Most of the exams took place realistically, in the classroom, only it was organized in several smaller groups. Also, students were required to make models, which means that all segments of the exam were conducted, as in normal circumstances. Regarding the submission of graphic works, in some cases, printing was not required, but only digital preparation and presentation / defense, which took place online. Although the printing segment is also important, because it also shows knowledge related to graphics and presentation of projects, the digital version has proven to be good, because it has reduced the financial costs of students.

Did the students show the same level of effort as before, when classes were held at the faculties?

I would say they are. That is, better said, they had no choice, because we behaved in everything as in normal circumstances. So, the criterion was at the same level. Of course, as always, there are different students, those who work hard and are good in normal conditions, they are like that now, and vice versa.

Can online schooling become a new model of education, even when the pandemic passes?

In some areas, it probably can or does already exist as we know it. As far as architecture is concerned, I think it can only be partial, because the greatest amount of knowledge is still acquired through direct transfer and verification, so that a combined, hybrid model is possibly possible. It is clear that the examination of knowledge, as the crown of the educational process, is not possible in an adequate way online, unless it would take place in specialized conditions. At the Faculty of Architecture, especially design subjects, are taken by drawing in class and I do not see in what adequate way this could be changed, except to talk about reducing the criteria and opening opportunities for students not to do it independently, which would certainly not be desirable in permanent variants. However, the policy of education, like many other policies, is instructed globally, from some higher instances, and we are usually forced to comply with that. Also, according to some data, the so-called the "digital age" began in 2003, when the amount of digital data globally exceeded the amount of analog data, digital technologies are advancing faster, so we certainly have a lot of changes and innovations.