The incorporation of construction history into architectural history education: The 'HISTCON' interactive computer program

Current teaching methods for architectural history seldom embrace building technology as being an essential component of architectural study; although it is generally accepted that architectural history is a fundamental component to the architectural learning environment. Accepting that architectural history is fundamental to architects it will be argued here that the study of construction history will further enhance student knowledge in architectural history and building design. This hypothesis prompted an investigation of the ways in which the study of construction history could be used to strengthen present methods of teaching architecture and architectural history. Prevailing strategies for teaching architectural history will be analyzed and compared with educational instructional design applications that use object-oriented programming and hypermedia. The development of the HISTCON interactive, multimedia educational computer program provides a mechanism to test the significance of construction history in the study of architectural history. Employing a quasi-experimental testing procedure, the study of architectural history, using a construction oriented methodology, will be shown to have a positive correlation to increased understanding of architectural components relevant to architectural history and building construction.