Evaluation is an important component in the architectural curriculum process and can be one of the vulnerable parts of the education process. Most of these damages are related to the evaluation factors, criteria, and rules used in the educational program. The educational program model of the thinking cycle in architectural design has been presented and developed, but evaluation based on this model has not been examined. Therefore, the main goal was to present an evaluation model for architectural design courses. The present study is of a mixed type (qualitative and quantitative). In the qualitative part, data sources included scientific resources and articles related to the topic of the thinking cycle, as well as experts in the field of architecture. Participants in the qualitative part were selected using a purposive sampling method (6 people). The statistical sample of the quantitative part included 15 instructors of architectural design courses 1-5. Data analysis was performed in the qualitative part using content analysis and Delphi methods and in the quantitative part using SPSS software. The results of the qualitative part of the evaluation based on 9 thinking cycles were classified into two main themes: design quality (with eight sub-themes) and presentation quality (one sub-theme). The results showed that the designed model had appropriate conceptual coherence and its components were confirmed from the perspective of experts in the field of education and architectural design. Also in the evaluation model based on the thinking cycle, process evaluation (design quality) plays a more important role.