Practical Architectural Internship Course Development: Department of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

The primary objective of this article is to promote educational research derived from the “Architectural Practical Training” course taught in the Department of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The course aims at providing students with professional experience of the provision of architectural services as a profession.  By examining current issues and conditions found in architecture student internship in Thailand, this research seeks to propose a guideline to optimise benefits for both students and architecture firms involved in such internship.  Descriptive-research and documentary-research methods are used for collecting data from various sources from 2010 to 2014, which include the students’ architecture internship reports, the architecture firms’ evaluation forms, and primary data from the interviews with the student internship supervisors at the firms.  One finding from this research shows that student interns are given tasks involving the processes of pre-design, design and construction. With regards to the pre-design process, students are assigned to research supporting data for design.  Students are also assigned to do the conceptual design, providing architectural drawings and computer presentation materials for the design process. For the construction process, students are assigned to do site inspections with project contractors, proctored by the student internship supervisors. Amongst others, the most popular assignment given to the student interns is the architectural model making.  Student interns may benefit from architecture internship in two different aspects: academic knowledge and professional practice, which includes work coordination as well as work management.  Another finding of this research shows that the problems found in current architecture student internship is a pre-management, the random check or supervising processes and the internship duration.

The guidelines for improving architecture professional training course are, first, to increase the internship duration to 320 hours or approximately two months.  Second, to increase talk events about professional experience for the student interns.  Third, to hold pre-seminar and architectural supervising processes for the students before the internship period.  These guidelines lead to the better monitoring and evaluating processes of student internship, the growing network between academic and profession in architecture, and the improving course for architecture professional training that is responsive to changes and demands of architecture profession.  The guidelines are also to produce a manual for architecture student internship and a digital document or online database of the architecture firms that have provided student internship.