Research Education for Architecture Students – Case Study of an Academic Reading Circle

This paper describes Tyson Seburn’s (2016) Academic Reading Circle (ARC) groupwork model applied on an introductory research course taught online at the Aalto University, Department of Architecture since 2021. The model was adopted to respond to an increasing demand for research skills among architectural professionals, to support academic literacy and an architect-researcher identity, to lower the threshold between academia and practice, and to cater students with knowledge of the rich methodological opportunities in architectural design fields. The experiment indicates that the rigorously structured ARC model provides an efficient framework for analytical and discursive reading and is highly adaptable to online education on the Master's and Doctoral level. According to both the teacher's experience and the students' feedback, the model increased student collaboration and peer-to-peer learning and enhanced positive attitudes towards advancement of architecture through research and analytical thinking. The model also entailed some risk elements especially if the overall course programme is complex or the group size too large. The paper describes the pedagogical setup, explains the implementation and adaptation of the ARC model, and discusses some ideas for further development.