5 years and you still don't understand that design is subjective and not easy-to-follow paint-by-number rule-driven? How have you not flunked out yet?

don't over think it - everybody had different approaches and your professors are not right or wrong.  The most important think you can do is try all techniques and see what resonates with you.  The emphasis on concept can sometimes drive a project from the beginning or the concept can emerge from process, by starting work first.  The important thing here is to always remember that your professors approach shouldn't become yours by default, remember to find your own creative process - that is the end goal.

Either's fine, no hard and fast rule. Nobody can teach you how to think or "design" so if you happen to stumble across one or another first, tell your professor this is the way you'd like to approach the brief and work your way from there. Ultimately, it's all about drawings and sketches in the conceptual stages until you find a way forward. Either get diagnosed and confirm if you have adhd or you're in the wrong major. If you can't focus on the task at hand after 5 years worth of education...shudder to think what you'll achieve in the working society. P.s.: Browsing through pinterest =! Research

The process is completely different from person to person, you just have to find your groove. Some people take longer than others to find their groove.

 Plan first. Starting with elevations, etc only wastes time. Surely you have read Sullivan's "Form Follows Function", or later Wright's "Form and Function are one."

architecture school is the best time to experiment, but after 5yrs you should hav a general idea how to go about a design process that works for you. like most have said im a little stuned that after 5yrs you still seem to be struggling with this.

what happens when you get a real job, were you are required to design a 2,500sf dental office expansion, which introduce a whole new set of design variables, such as regulating requirments, time, budget, materials, etc. and you have a week or less to pull something together.

if you start with floor plan first you can find a concept. if you start with concept first your floor plan is constrained to the concepts inherint language. in the real world you juggle multiple "concepts" - clients program, code, etc.... i always researched too much as well and then whipped out a design like 48 hours before jury. my rexommendation is just start drawing plans in the computer, sketching is to loose to really force resolve.

I always start with a pretty well-formed "image" in my mind of what I want the building to look like.  I usually think through a design in my mind before drawing anything.  Then I do a series of small sketches of that image.  After that, I'll sketch out plans, keeping in mind the "image". 

Don't let anyone sell you that "form follows function" crap. :)

Nutter said: "if you start with floor plan first you can find a concept. if you start with concept first your floor plan is constrained to the concepts inherint language."

But if you start with floor plan then your concept is constrained to the plan's inherent language.  :)

correct you are EKE.

and generally speaking, that type of architecture pays bills but isn't all that exciting, most the times...but then I think of the few quick lessons I've had on "Classical" architecture, and the plan does a lot more than stay at the 2D plane.

You do both simultaneously.  Takes two second to have a general idea of your concept.  Then test it out with basic scaled plans to see if it might work.  No use trying to force a football field concept into a tiny parking lot. 

so we have any floor plans yet?

Brief > Ideology > Concept/Plans either way.

I like that you are being exposed to more than one approach to design. Don't over think it. Enjoy it, learn from it. Then afterwards reflect on what you learned when using both approaches to design, then you decide that answer. I would say this one approach is more about optimizing the use of interior space and other other is more about optimizing the views from the exterior environment. Pavilions, Installations or similar structures may need the form/concept approach first. That is how they will be experienced. On the other hand, most offices, schools, homes etc will be experienced mostly from the interior, so your design decisions could start there, and then form will follow. The magic happens when you can do both, optimizing usage of space while also being aware of form and beauty...