Architecture in school practice: possible tools for supporting spatial literacy

Abstract Laypeople’s participation in the planning of built environments is dependent on their spatial literacy, and it is therefore important to develop this through general education. In Norway, architectural assignments in the subject of Art and crafts are aimed at enhancing spatial literacy, but not all activities are equally educative. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) can contribute to students’ understanding of and engagement with spatial properties, but few studies have been conducted at the lower secondary school level. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore how pupils in a Norwegian lower secondary school reflect upon and use floor plan drawings, digital 3D models, and VR in architectural assignments aiming to support their spatial literacy. Although VR has the potential to facilitate activities that support the pupils’ spatial literacy, the pupils in this study tended to use VR to a lesser extent, mostly towards the end of their projects. We suggest that the finished look of the VR visualisations, conceptualised herein as ‘perceived finishedness’, may have contributed to this. This highlights the use of VR as a visualisation tool rather than a design process tool.