Relationship Between the University Admission Score and Academic Performance in Architecture Studies. The Case of Plan 94 at the Barcelona School of Architecture

Abstract

Architecture studies have as the backbone of their syllabus the active methodology of Project-Based Learning (PBL). "Learning by doing projects" is related to the methodology that is being implemented in the learning environments of the preschool and primary education levels and that is applied less frequently in secondary and university education. Architecture studies are a paradigmatic example of how training is based precisely on practical workshop subjects where design studio is developed that integrate other disciplines such as construction, calculation of structures, history or representation, and that involve skills such as teamwork, creativity or social commitment. These workshop subjects do not have a simile in secondary education, which hypothetically causes a discontinuity between the university admission scores and the grades obtained during university. To demonstrate this hypothesis, a statistical study of linear dependence is carried out based on the Pearson correlation coefficient, through which the data of the of 3910 students of the Plan 94 of Barcelona School of Architecture ETSAB-UPC are analysed. This study effectively concludes by confirming the initial hypothesis, which was based on the fact that not the best pre-university records are the student population with the best academic performance during the career. In turn, these data allow us to reflect on the teaching curriculum of Architecture studies, the formulation of new syllabus and the implementation of a university orientation.