Active learning for the promotion of students’ creativity and critical thinking : An experience in structural courses for architecture

Recently it has become increasingly common amongst universities to incorporate Active Learning strategies into lesson plans to involve, stimulate and motivate students in developing creativity and critical thinking. This paper describes an active learning experience of structural engineering addressed to students of Architecture and performed at Politecnico di Milano, Italy and Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Architecture students were asked to investigate the lateral instability of beams, in qualitative and quantitative terms, using a silicon pot mat. The complexity of the problem and the unconventional approach adopted allowed the students to actively engage in a research-like experience, able to stimulate creativity and critical thinking