Examination of formal education and pandemic period internship practices in architectural education

Professional practice studies, it is divided into two programs as internship practices in the architectural education curriculum and professional practice experiences attended by candidates who have completed their academic education. It is thought that internship practices and/or professional practice experiences, in which architect candidates are required to participate before they are authorized to practice, are a great opportunity for candidates to improve their professional knowledge and skills. Internship practices in the architectural education program ensure that the theoretical lessons learned are combined with practice. However, when the architectural education processes in countries around the world are examined, it is understood that there is no standard for professional practice studies. A similar problem is observed in Turkey, and it is known that each architecture department prepares and uses its own internship instructions. As a corollary, it is seen that there are differences in the duration, type and functioning of internship practices. Besides, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, some innovative approaches have been implemented in the field of architecture education. To better accommodate the students during the pandemic, architecture departments offered various alternatives for mandatory internship practices such as online platforms. Within the scope of the thesis, prepared by using the descriptive analysis method based on literature review according to the data of the 2021-2022 academic year, it has been determined that there are 105 universities in Turkey actively providing architectural education. Internship practices, performed in 30 architecture departments selected among these universities, were analyzed. By examining the formal education and pandemic period internship practices of the universities that make up the sample group, the methods deemed useful for architectural education were determined. Thus, to comprehend the place and importance of professional practice studies in architectural education in Turkey, it is aimed to determine the differences in the internship instructions. Based on the obtained data, it has been determined that there is no standard and accreditation for internship practices in Turkey. The type of compulsory internship practices, the number of working days and the order of priority vary among universities. It has been determined that there are also differences in the activities implemented during the pandemic period and that each university performs various methods in internship practices in line with the decision taken within own itself. Following the assessment of the study, some suggestions were made to improve the professional practice studies and for future research in this field.