The relationship between the level of interest-ability-creativity when entering architectural education and design performance

This research which examines the level of interest ? ability ? creativity of individual when entering architectural education and their correlation with performance in design studio, contains a theoretical section examining career selection, factors affecting career selection, individual differences in education (motivation ? ability ? values) and the phenomenon of creativity. This longitudinal study based on six years of gathered data, focuses on a sample of first year students entering Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Department in the 2004/2005 academic year, and final year students of the same period. In addition to the use of quantitative measures accepted in the scientific literature for validity and reliability, visual research techniques used in environmental psychology and also measurement tools developed by the author are employed to gather data from the study comprised of 262 individuals. The Individual Recognition Form, The Self Assessment Inventory, The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Aptitude Evaluation Exercises, Quantitative Evaluation of Academic Design Achievement and the Design Problem Performance Evaluation Exercise comprise the instruments used in data collection. Findings, while verifying the profile of students selected using current admittance methods, are used in particular to answer the question ?can creativity be developed?? in self assessments regarding architectural education. Although one goal of education might be the standardization of the student body with regard to motivation, ability, and creativity, the development of especially gifted students, and the factors affecting architectural education and its environment are the principal focus areas of this study. It is thought that the findings and conclusions presented by this study may form a basis for future research on this topic, may aid in the development of more effective student selection criteria, and in the development of architectural programmes. Keywords: Architectural education, architectural design, creativity, psychology of design, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.