The Design of Educational Spaces in Higher Education

The Design of Educational Spaces in Higher Education Megan Simmons

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with honors from the department of EDUCATION

Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Education Thesis Advisor: Dr. Mark Hogrebe Thesis Reader: Dr. Cindy Brantmeier Thesis Reader: Dr. Rowhea Elmesky

Washington University in St. Louis

St. Louis, MO April 15, 2016

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Abstract This thesis addresses how the design of schools, specifically in higher education, impacts learning. By questioning how architects, educators, and students understand the relationship between educational theory and the design of learning spaces, I investigate the similarities and differences between how each tries to maximize learning. I use these findings as a springboard to determine what factors need to be reevaluated when architects design educational facilities, focusing on priorities from teachers and students. I study the communication process between the three parties in order to determine the gaps and perceptions of each group and demonstrate that when educators, students, and architects work together, optimal learning environments can be designed for a variety of content areas and age groups.

Specifically, the purposes of this project are: •

Study how architects, educators, and students understand the relationship between educational theory and the design of learning spaces

•

Compare the similarities and differences between how each tries to maximize learning opportunities

•

Determine what factors are important to both architects, educators, and students

•

Describe the communication process between the three parties and how to improve it

I discovered that when the three parties communicate and collaborate, the possibilities for understanding educational practices and the opportunities for learning

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vastly increase. I also make recommendations for changes that Washington University can implement in order to improve learning spaces and embrace the shifts towards technology, collaboration, and how students learn best.

Current Problems and Designing Well Planned Classrooms In the 1900s, there was a movement to humanize and personalize education.

Nair and Fielding (2007) recognized comfort as a prerequisite for success while some argued it works counter intuitively against the ideals of efficiency. In reality, comfort does matter and has positive results on productivity, creativity, and learning. In all other aspects of the world, homes, offices, etc., comfort is a top priority but that is not the case in schools.

Schools get what they pay for. Educational spaces are an investment and while the building itself is important, furniture should also be factored in as a worthwhile expenditure. Comfortable air quality is imperative to performance and quiet mechanical systems are critical. Acoustic rooms with thick insulation, irregular shapes to dampen vibrations, inaudible air conditioning units, and eliminating bells make classrooms more comfortable learning environments.

CafĂŠ and informal spaces are excellent alternatives to more formal classroom environments. They provide inspiring spaces; encourage collaboration and working together through ideas and concepts. Additionally, they provide all day access to healthy foods and comfortable work areas in a low risk environment. Multi functional and flexible options are very important to provide spaces that accommodate individuals, small, and large groups. This involves eliminating underutilized, huge open hallways

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and instead making them more intimate, programmable spaces. Smooth transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces create a natural connection to sunlight and alternative exterior usable learning areas.

Perhaps the most pressing issue is breaking down large classes into smaller learning communities. This creates environments where students can feel confident and relevant while also eliminating anonymity or getting overwhelmed and lost. These smaller environments can be incorporated through classroom design, by eliminating a front and back of a classroom, preventing a hierarchy of attention and eradicating students hiding in the back. By creating flexible spaces that divide the class into smaller groups and fragmenting large lecture courses into sections of studio or lab groups, students have a chance for deeper understanding.

Attention in Classrooms According to Steelcase Education’s research (2015), a third of executives surveyed do not believe that colleges do a sufficient job at preparing their students with skills that translate well into success at post-graduate jobs. The main problem is that students are not engaged in the classroom. According to this research, only about half of students in fifth grade are involved in and excited about school, with those numbers steadily declining as they progress through high school. Researcher Andrew Kim states, “A big problem is that traditional learning experiences do not align with how the brain works, particularly as it relates to attention. This is a critical factor because engagement begins with attention.� With the new age of technology, instant gratification, and multiple things constantly vying for their attention, students are less focused.

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Attention is a variable commodity that waxes and wanes over time. Steelcase Education’s research noted that in the first thirty seconds of a lecture, students’ attention lapses during a settling in period. These intervals continue to occur five minutes into the lecture, eight minutes, and ten minutes. By the end of the lecture, attention lapses every two minutes. Humans really can only pay attention to a single thing for up to an hour. This may vary a slight amount based on the level of coursework, personal connection and interest level of the student, and how conducive the classroom environment is to engagement. However, many college courses are set up for lectures on a single topic for hours at a time. This is not favorable for learning. WorkSpace Futures researchers found students are more easily and successfully engaged when using active learning strategies.

Active learning lessens the number of attention gaps. It is important to engage attention initially and then refresh it immediately after with questions, discussion, and activities. Novelty helps the brain seek new perspectives and that curiosity is rewarded with dopamine and opioids, making the student physically and mentally feel better.

Similarly, repetition reinforces connections between neurons. By organizing information across multiple networks in the brain, memory and understanding are improved.

Working on a group project, watching teammates draw on a whiteboard, while debating a topic, and building a model, engages multiple senses and improves learning and understanding. Opportunities for physical movement and hands on experiences are better than sedentary classrooms, keeping students engaged on the task at hand.

Projects with social interaction, movement around the classroom, to the board, and

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collaboration, are all excellent ways to get students moving and consistently paying attention to what they are learning.

Seat location significantly affects how students pay attention. Students seated in the front and middle are significantly more engaged than students who hide in the back.

This can be alleviated by teachers moving fluidly around the classroom, avoiding the stage affect, having a clear front and back of the class. Mobile and flexible seating and multiple or movable content displays offer more options and classroom arrangements, eliminating the hierarchy within the classroom and making sure no student is anonymous.

Experiential and Active Learning Strategies A case study done by Oblinger (2006) on George Washington University’s development of an evolving classroom focuses on experiential learning and its enhancement of student engagement and success. In his research, he found that students fail one and a half times more in lecture courses than in active learning environments and their grades were six percent higher when instructors had them use active learning strategies. His analysis concludes that over three thousand fewer students would have failed STEM courses if their instructors had used active learning curriculums.

Teaching strategies must adapt to accommodate this changing best practice of learning as well as the rapid development of technology. By hybridizing technology with classroom elements, such as furniture, writing surfaces, and lighting, teachers are able to move with ease from one mode of learning to another. By employing all of these

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methods, the novelty of change engages students, keeping them actively involved in absorbing content through these various means.

Some disciplines have specific needs to accommodate and some are more physically engaging than others, notes Garrett (2014). For example, math is often mostly writing on paper but a teacher could include drawing on individual whiteboards, chalkboard walls, Smart boards, or even clicker technology. However, an art studio is a much more tactile learning environment. A teacher could have students draw, build by hand, then work on a computer model, print, present, draw on those, and work fully through the creative process in multiple modes of visual engagement. These transitions allow students to flesh out their ideas fully and understand what they are learning at a variety of scales and methods.

According to a survey of student engagement at University of Texas Austin, “student learning and retention are strongly correlated with student engagement.” The more interested students are, the higher the likelihood that they will continue to pursue their college studies and succeed. Students are more likely to thrive in creative and dynamic environments that integrate technology and experiences into the learning process. Faculty must embrace the most up to date and appropriate methods for varied hands on learning styles and focus on creating a culture for the success of students, intermingling the college setting with meaningful experiences and opportunities. By incorporating these active learning strategies and creating connections to the students, they will engage more with the material.

Chickering and Camson said “Learning is not a spectator sport…[Students] must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to

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their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves.� This is spot on for active learning. A study at national training laboratories found that active teaching and learning methods directly correlate with engagement and higher retention rates.

Community learning keeps members in check and encourages them to consult their peers and research before going to the teacher. This increases the level and depth of student and faculty interaction, since students have to flesh out ideas with each other and develop a greater understanding of concepts.

The intentional flexibility of learning studios supports multiple modes of teaching and learning. This includes, lectures, discussions, group work, facilitation, hands on learning, and independent work. Mobile display products such as corkboards, blackboards, and whiteboards are a simple way to divide a large space into smaller ones. This flexibility and reconfiguration integrates technology. By using a laptop instead of a computer monitor, it is both mobile and easier for students to see each other. Wireless access gives freedom to move throughout the classroom.

Tables, rather than individual desks, in organic spatial organizations rather than linear ones, promote more comfortable, group learning and promote interactive discussions beyond just lecture style teaching. By decentralizing the teacher zone and role, these methods promote student leadership, teamwork, communications, and relationship management. Students found that the design of space helped create an inclusive environment of people participating and engaging in class and helped with technology access.

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Classrooms to Learning Spaces The National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (2004) researched how spaces can enable or hinder teaching and learning styles and determined learning strategies should be what shapes learning space design. Learning spaces are defined as regularly scheduled, physical places for face-to-face interactions between students and instructors. It is important to visualize what the student experience will be like. Is it based on just covering content or allowing students to take the lead? Is it problem centered, collaborative, individualized, technology centric?

Learning is a social process and spaces must allow group work, cooperation, collaboration, dialogue, debate, presentations, and feedback. Active and experiential learning involves data collection, problem solving, field trips, research, interaction, and analysis. Knowing involves using a well-organized series of researched facts to solve complex problems, giving it critical thought, using persuasive expression, and then utilizing that knowledge to solve new problems.

Classrooms must be designed differently than they were twenty years ago. With the boom in development of wireless technologies, spaces must focus on human interactions with each other as well as humans interfacing with technology. With new research on how students learn, there are new patterns of both intellectual and social interactions. Flexible seating arrangements are crucial so that students can participate in face-to-face conversations, work in groups, and engage in dialogue. On a larger scale, the entire campus serves as an interactive learning space.

Another consideration is deciding what learning activity should occur. In many cases, certain disciplines need specific spatial qualities and resources in order to

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function properly and enhance the learning experience. Massachusetts Institute of Technology defined learning modes based on four attributes: size, length of time (single class session, semester long), space type (dedicated, flexible), and interaction (individual, group). By observing these factors in addition to where learning takes place on campus, if classrooms are used beyond class time, and when they are used, we can gain major insight into how a new space would be used.

Mackey Mitchell Architects Principal Marcus Adrian notes that college campuses are truly an enticement strategy to draw students to a university. He found that this is consistent with the goals of the institution, building it around the idea of aspirations to attract the best students. Adrian observes the three major components of campus life: academic, living, and social. Putting a social commons and cafĂŠ in the first floor of a laboratory building, can draw students from other areas of study, encouraging interdisciplinary interactions and informal learning from each other. Similarly, with a rise of small group spaces and variety of types of study areas and making them feel comfortable and at home, these more informal spaces are attractive to students and make them want to work together and learn.

Gensler Education Environments Index, Student Survey Gensler surveyed over two hundred fifty college students to find what spaces and attributes support effective higher education environments. They asked questions regarding five aspects of learning: lectures, time between classes, independent work, group work, and collaboration. Follow up questions included where these activities occurred, how spaces best supported each activity, and their on-campus experiences.

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Gensler recognized the transition of students towards technology centric and noted that teaching and spatial styles are adapting to accommodate this change.

The results showed that spaces on campus have not caught up to the needs of the students yet. Overall, campuses are not promoting collaborative learning and most education is independently focused. While students find collaboration helpful in the classroom, they are not seeing it implemented. Lecture halls do not provide the interaction that students need and technology does not tend to actually play a key role in improving the overall experience.

Gensler concluded that campuses must evolve in order to keep up with the student needs and desire to incorporate collaboration into both the design and implementation of classroom settings. Flexible spaces that support multiple styles of teaching and learning are critical. Students do work well independently, so architects must design and provide spaces that hold single students to work through things on their own as well as larger, movable spaces for group work and collaboration.

Additionally, it is important to delve deeper than just designing for the newest technology to vastly improve the overall experience of students, as technology is constantly changing and developing.

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Milken Institute School of Public Health Modular Classroom

Case Study: George Washington University SCALE-Up Spaces George Washington University created participatory learning classrooms for physics, engineering, and astrophysics (Garrett, 2014). There are hexagonal tables with built in power and internet adaptors that can be organized for group and lab work or rearranged into rows for lectures. This flexibility allows teachers to move back and forth between providing information and students analyzing and synthesizing the content, learning it thoroughly. Laptops and lab equipment plugs into an overall AV system projecting onto multiple displays, allowing students to see from different parts of the classroom and distributing the “front” across multiple areas.

This classroom design followed a faculty member’s vision to create flexible seating arrangements for students to engage with each other and work collaboratively.

The teacher wanted to employ students to solve their problem and utilize active learning

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strategies. The technology integrated into the classroom design offered interactive workspaces for the students and allowed their work to be displayed from anywhere in the lab, bringing in a presentation and collaborative component, so students could work together in groups of different scales.

Classroom Seating Physical learning environments highlight an institution’s educational primary interests and philosophies. However, the decisions about the design of learning spaces tend to be made by professionals far removed from classrooms, teaching, and learning.

There must be a universal design approach that builds on and maintains a consistent series of learning environments for both students and faculty. There are many criteria to consider when designing and selecting furniture for such a space, including maintaining seating capacity, providing enough surface workspace, and long-term durability. Other important considerations are movability for collaborative and active learning environments, aesthetics, comfort, and personal storage. Selecting chairs is important for flexibility, multiple means of engagement, and facilitate changing tasks or purposes.

These factors are unforgiving and each plays into the interests and needs of a university, as well as individual teacher and student needs.

Buffalo State Facilities Master Plan: Seating and Surfaces Kenyon and Harvey at Buffalo State (2014) compared five types of seating and surfaces for their master plan renovations. They considered rectangle tables with standard chairs, trapezoid tables with chairs on casters, tablet-arm chairs, fixed-tiered

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seating with tablet arms, and the modern mobile chair. After testing out and surveying students, the least popular chairs were the ones with tablet arms, traditional chairs and fixed tier seating. This is due to a lack of flexibility and once a student is in the seat, they feel trapped and uncomfortable. It makes it challenging to collaborate and move around, making it an inactive class session. The rectangle tables with standard chairs were somewhat well received, with some opportunities for flexibility but also when students are seated on the ends they can be closed off. Additionally, the seats were not very easily movable. The most well received options were the mobile modern chairs and the trapezoid tables. Both have wheels, which move easily on any surface and make collaboration easier as well as provide a flexibility that accommodates many different group sizes and classroom organizations.

The most important factors to students were comfort, mobility, and flexibility.

They wanted options that had adjustable personal work surfaces, swivel, move around quietly and easily, and have open lines of sight to the instructor. The lack of mobility in other arrangements hinders opportunities to collaborate. Mobility encourages active and dynamic settings and allows students to move around in their seats and be more comfortable. The biggest flaw with movable chairs is that they tend to decrease seating capacity, which is a problem at most universities who are trying to maximize the use of spaces. However, this type of seating encourages active learning strategies and classrooms, which improves learning outcomes overall.

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Flexible Classrooms Dr. Homero Lopez is the founding president of Estrella Mountain Community College. He encourages the concept of radical flexibility, “freeing up faculty and students to customize the learning environment to meet the teaching and learning pedagogy, delivery system, and technology needs on demand.� This includes movable furniture, wireless networking, adaptable lighting, and infrastructure put in for technology elements. Lopez promotes learning studios, informal learning spaces within formal instructional settings for collaboration on small group work and peer assessment.

Information commons serve as open access learning spaces that integrate information resources, learning support, and access to computers. There are specific areas for advanced functions of technology, spaces for students and faculty to interact

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and engage, collaborative group work areas, studio environments and presentation spaces. This multidisciplinary and collaborative space appeals to many types of learners. Its flexibility encourages students to make the space their own and learn through different methods and avenues.

Oblinger (2006) recognized that by creating a sense of place in the community or a hub for learning, an information commons uses “historical and cultural values of the surrounding communities while providing students with creative and dynamic learning environments.� By fitting this learning space into the fabric of the community and working to integrate it well, it becomes a community hub for students to come together to learn as well as an informal environment to interact, making the space more casual, comfortable, and a space students enjoy working in.

Learning spaces need flexibility and easily movable furniture in order to accommodate multiple courses or a variety of classroom activities. The design of the rooms influences how students and teachers behave in that space but also designing for certain conditions do not guarantee that they will interact exactly as anticipated. This is why it is so critical to provide lots of options for arrangement and flexibility in order to accommodate these adjustments.

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Flexible and mobile seating on left is much better for learning than fixed seating on right

2 row tiered seating allows easy collaboration with students able to easily turn around to their neighbors and work collaboratively in groups

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Round tables work well for collaboration, especially when technology is infused.

Multiple projection options remove single focal point in classroom

Case Study: TILE University of Iowa Bruff (2013) researched a case study at the University of Iowa that developed a space to Transform, Interact, Learn, and Engage. It hosts tables for eight students, chairs with wheels and the option to put student laptop displays on any projector in the room. A major concern was cord management, but that problem is solved with wireless technologies or in floor plug systems. There must be multiple front spaces in the room with unimpeded sight lines for every student, decentralizing the classroom. Even though it is understood that the design of classrooms will influence how teachers and students behave in that space, Bruff found that is not always the case. Architects design with the best intentions in mind and try to match up with professor and students for feedback.

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However, what people think they want is not always what they actually need and how we think we act is not always consistent with our actual day-to-day lifestyles.

Classrooms are not always used as teachers and architects project they will be

Collaborative Classroom Spaces With a shift towards collaborative group work as an alternative to independent learning comes a new way to design spaces that support these new formats. This moves away from lecture style classes, allowing interactive study and a flipped classroom, where the speaker no longer the focus and students are empowered, providing multiple opportunities for emerging alternative learning processes. This supports a “student-centered model based on collaborative knowledge, discovery, and creation.� Team-based work encourages discussion across multiple models and becomes the primary way to learn and engage. By working in groups, students have

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hands on experiences and become more intimately engaged and active in the learning process than in a lecture hall, holding each other accountable, sharing ideas, and fully fleshing out concepts.

Active inquiry applies abilities and knowledge in tasks that enhance learning. To make furniture group-friendly, tables and seating should be set up at a wide range of sizes, accommodating four to twelve students at a time, allowing small and large group work. Ideally, both students and teachers can move easily and work on multiple surfaces and devices, putting projectors, whiteboards, tablet, and laptop technologies at multiple interface points around the classroom. Mobile technology is an excellent tool for collaboration, providing opportunities to easily share documents, project on screens or whiteboards, and smart board annotations (7 Things, 2013).

There is a clear framework of characteristics that defines successful collaborative classrooms. Perimeter walls serve well as writing and pin up surfaces, whether it be whiteboards, blackboards, Smart boards, corkboards, or magnetic walls so students can hang projects and brainstorm collaboratively and visually. Electronic display surfaces projecting onto said walls or onto transportable flat panels are excellent ways to integrate in technology and layer analysis written on top. Furniture must be easily movable and adjustable and accommodate groups of a range of sizes and the classroom must be a size and shape that allows this level of flexibility. Thus, the furniture must be lightweight, on wheels, and the floor carpeted or a quiet, smooth material for easy and non-disruptive navigation. The floor must have easily reachable power and data outlets and rooms must be wirelessly Internet accessible. Power outlets

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in walls and floor are a must for easy movability and allowing large quantities of students to work on technological devices simultaneously.

Lighting fixtures should be put close to projection screens for easy power access.

Indirect lighting and natural sunlight are more comfortable than harsh lighting. To reduce energy consumption, sensors can be installed to automatically turn lights on or off when room is or is not in use. Classrooms should be well insulated so that classroom activities, especially group work involving constant communication, do not disturb neighboring classrooms. There should be interconnectedness and flexibility so rooms can be opened up to hold larger classes or interdisciplinary collaboration between classrooms. However, each room should have their own set of mechanical comfort systems and power controls to accommodate individual rooms in but also supporting the larger intention of the space.

Instructors should mobilize and supervise the classroom, answering questions and supporting student-led learning. By listening to the students’ discussions, he or she can keep them on track but also allow them to draw their own conclusions and go deeper, synthesizing the information more fluidly than in a lecture style format. Small group activities in classrooms are important to increase individual learning by actively engaging students in the learning process. By increasing collective learning, individual assignment performance improves (Collaborative Learning Spaces, retrieved March 2016).

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North Carolina State University: SCALE-UP

The Student Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) is a restaurant style, team-learning space at North Carolina State University. Beichner’s (2000) case study on this classroom intends to serve large introductory classes at research universities, such as NCSU’s ninety-nine student introductory physics and chemistry courses. They minimized the need for lecture and instead broke down each class session into three parts: tangibles, ponderables, and labs. Teachers facilitate interactions among students who work in pre-assigned teams.

Tangibles involve hands on observation, measurements, and use of basic equipment, only lasting around fifteen minutes. Ponderables have groups dive into solving real world, applicable, complex problems. This involves making approximations, assumptions, and doing research, similarly spending about fifteen minutes. Labs are hypothesis driven and take longer to complete. These are the synthesis aspect, drawing conclusions and creating a final product, typically a write up or visual project.

After testing many different sizes and shapes of tables, the university deemed seven-foot diameter round tables the most cohesive for both large group table-wide discussions as well as small group work. Each student has space for a nametag and the circular tables and removing a stage-like space and front/back sides of the classroom makes it impossible for students to hide or remain anonymous, facilitating participation and engagement. Each table is able to seat three teams of three students and each team is provided with a laptop to support their research and to utilize a web based interactive question delivery system. Computer projection capabilities are in multiple spots in the classroom for easy viewing and moving away from a single focal point for

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the class. Whiteboards cover the walls and create public thinking spaces, making it simple to present information to larger groups, supplemented by lap sized whiteboards for small teams to brainstorm together. A teacher station is in the center with a tablet and document camera for quick presentations, instructions, and explanations.

SCALE UP Classroom workspace Vygotsky’s social learning concept is central to this approach. The table shape, spacing, and whiteboards activate discussions and debate and encourage collaboration.

This holds individuals accountable for their own work, improves interactions, interpersonal skills, and empowers students to take charge of their learning. This form of active learning hits upon the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, encouraging synthesis of material and evaluation.

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Library Spaces for Collaborative Learning Libraries are shifting from traditional book filled silent spaces to keep up with current learning pedagogies, based on collaborative and technology-centric environments. Sinclair (2007) observes that libraries now provide common spaces for students to access and work with digital collections, creating an information commons.

By creating flexible workspace clusters that promote interaction and collaboration supplemented by comfortable furniture, team based problem solving becomes the focus. Libraries now shift to encourage creativity, discovery, inspire users, and offer services and resources that differ from residence halls and computer labs.

This human-centered design shift must be flexible to fit lots of students needs easily. Using modular clusters rather than rigid rows allows students to pull up chairs and create larger movable group spaces. If the tables have organic or round shapes, it invites inclusiveness and participation, giving everyone a seat to engage at the table, rather than being pushed to the corners. By offering open spaces with cross disciplinary opportunities and many options for technology, docking, printing, and comfort, all different types of learners with different learning styles choose to utilize these spaces because the flexibility and collaboration provides something for everyone.

Students on Libraries: Gensler Survey Gensler, a large global architecture firm, surveyed over 1,200 college students in the United States to learn more about their study habits and how they use libraries as a resource. Colleges are trying to keep libraries relevant, despite the growing need for

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technology and the slow out-datedness of books. So, libraries are adjusting how they function to align with student goals and learning styles. Through this survey, Gensler found that students consider the library a key component in their college experience.

The library was a preferred spot for both individual and group work and the most important part was offering quiet spaces for students. Looking to the future, digital technology’s role will continue to rise but quieter study areas are still the current priority.

This aligns with how students spend their time, averaging 13.5 hours/week working independently on campus, versus only 4.3 hours/week participating in collaborative group work. While there is a developing shift towards collaboration both in and outside the classroom, individual work is still a frontrunner. With this knowledge in mind, library space design must design to accommodate both type of learning and design in a way flexible and quiet enough to allow both types of work to comfortably utilize the space.

Case Study: Northwestern University Information Commons Northwestern University’s Information Commons is a technology space designed to encourage and improve research and collaboration. This case study done by Davis and Shorey (retrieved March 2016) is a joint venture between Northwestern University Information Technology department and the library services. Its variety of configurations provides individual workstations, booths for small group study, and group presentation rooms. The space is technology heavy, with over fifty new computers, wireless access, data ports, and printers. The formal project rooms host multiple digital whiteboards that

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connect to laptops for annotating on the screen as well as a conference table for formal group discussion and collaboration.

What is unique about the Information Commons is that there are no formal boundaries from the main library corridor, rather small enclaves of privacy within a completely open area. It becomes a social space and informal space, a place to gather and do work and makes the students more comfortable. The learning environment supports Northwestern University’s focus towards interdisciplinary programs for undergraduates, emphasizing flexible programming, collaboration, and technology.

Enclaves of Privacy in Public Spaces, Round Table Facilitates Group Discussions

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Open and public spaces with individualized workspaces, modular and flexible furniture

Group Project Room with Conference Table and Projector

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Case Study: Carleton College Studio Teaching

Carleton College took alternative classroom design to another level, introducing the concept of studio style learning in a science class. Perkins (retrieved March 2016) researched the classroom, which places the responsibility to learn on the students, using collaborative strategies instead of lectures for personal intellectual development and content learning. Carleton College found that interactive engagement is key to meaningful learning and that active learning in groups promotes higher order thinking skills, developing excellent habits and skills to become lifelong learners.

Typical classes involve group projects, discussions, reports, and some brief lectures. “To maximize higher level learning, it is absolutely necessary to take time to review and discuss outcomes at the end of each project.“ These dynamic learning environments are supported with round or lab tables so students can work together on large workspaces. This hands on and collaborative approach takes longer time blocks, a recommended two sessions per week of three hours each, and need seats to be comfortable and movable. Furniture must be flexible and easily rearranged for students to shift in these different learning roles. Individual learning and responsibility results from interactive engagement, where students must be prepared and participate, to create a holistic learning environment.

Technology in Teaching and Learning The way we think of classrooms is evolving and expanding as technology is incorporated into teaching and learning. Brown and Lippincott (2003) emphasize collaboration and group projects that need network connections and spaces that

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facilitate group interactions. Mobile computing is making collaborative and synchronous learning opportunities possible. In order to make these spaces successful, however, there must be the appropriate resources and support readily available. This includes training faculty on the technology available to them so they are comfortable utilizing them in the classroom, exploring them as an extension of the class’ purpose, teaching students and improving digital curriculum materials. Additionally, hardware and software maintenance, wireless connectivity, and help desk support must be available at all times.

This should be a campus wide initiative using a single strategy to streamline all technological efforts, equipping at least one technology focused small or large classroom per building. In regards to social learning, wireless technology makes it easy, with group study rooms and rentable laptops to use. Collaboratories encourage peer learning where formal and informal learning takes place. These tend to be technologically fueled, with unique and innovative tools help discover extensive knowledge. Technology centers can become hubs as collaborative initiatives that combine a computer center, a library, media center, and instructional technology center.

Since they are all encompassing as far as knowledge base goes, they have many opportunities for learning and teaching in multiple scopes.

One limitation to using technology-based spaces is the planned obsolescence of new products. In a constantly changing world, technology aims to solve problems and accommodate evolving needs. However, in order for educational institutions to stay relevant, they must keep up with the current times. Constantly buying the newest product is not typically a budget effective strategy, rather it is crucial to design spaces

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that can host these technologies but are also flexible enough to adapt when educators choose to make the switch.

Case Study: Olin College of Engineering Kossuth (retrieved March 2016) did a case study on the Olin College of Engineering, a private undergraduate engineering college in Needham, Massachusetts.

Olin had the opportunity to create its campus from scratch in 2002, accommodating three hundred undergraduates and emphasizing independent learning, science, and technology. They recognized a need for campus wide wireless access, a solid technology infrastructure, environments for learning and experimenting, as well as 24/7 student access. Olin included motorized screens, connectivity to all spaces on campus, easily accessible AV control station, speakers, and lighting. Each classroom is fully stocked with tablets, DVD players, audio connectivity, laptops, and a document camera connected to screens.

Supplementing the technology component, Olin invested in mobile and comfortable furniture. Lounge chairs host reversible tablet arms and knife, puzzle, and oval shaped tables let teachers and students customize the space. A combination of whiteboards on 2-4 of the walls and movable whiteboards, students are encouraged to work together and work through things dynamically and visually. The classrooms focus on more of a lab style setup, with projects, teamwork, design, research, presentations, and collaboration.

A library and knowledge lab was developed to meet the needs of the students at the university. It consisted of five group study rooms, twenty-two study carrels, twenty-

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four lounge chairs, and tables to host twenty-one students. These spaces alone can host a third of the student body population at any given time. What makes them unique is its series of collections and inspirational tools to emphasize creativity and design, strengthening their learning capacities. These include chess, puzzles, drafting supplies, modeling clay, Legos, and building toys. Additionally, recommending students invest in a personal laptop computer means the school does not have to provide and update them for the entire school. Instead, they offer a computer lab with 24/7 access to supplement students’ personal computers, wireless access points, and four public laptop stations.

The demand for fully media equipped classroom is on the rise. Mobility, anytime anywhere accessibility, sophistication of technology, up to date resources, flexibility, and usability are crucial in this developing world. These types of technologies promote project oriented, group work, hands on opportunities that without them, the school could not provide.

Reconfigurable Project Lab

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Case Study: Virginia Tech Math Emporium

Virginia Tech’s Math Emporium is a sixty thousand square foot lab, hosting five hundred fifty Mac computers. Typically, it hosts over eight thousand math students each semester. It is open 24/7 and is staffed by resources and experts to fit students’ needs: math faculty, advanced undergraduate students, and graduate students. Open areas host computers in six-station circular pods, great for online courses, group projects, and tutoring.

Robinson and Moore (retrieved March 2016) emphasize that this type of space encourages a unique sort of learning. Online, self-paced math courses are a way for students to learn actively and independently. Online video lectures, quizzes, games, and projects are great for students to learn on their own schedule, receive immediate feedback, and get informal, individualized coaching from a variety of resources.

Generous workspace is given around computers for work by hand, group work, and giving students ownership of their individual space.

Web-based teaching and testing systems were created with mathematic templates. They focus on practice quizzes that cover the skills students must learn and develop in courses. The computer generates a large number of variations for each problem, so that students can continue to practice their skills until they master it. The emphasis is put on active performance, rather than only passively listening to lectures.

The delivery of consistent math quizzes and exams each semester clearly show improved understanding of content.

This environment is considered a major success, developing a nonthreatening, cooperative space. Resources are easily available to insert themselves at specific times

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when personal interaction is most needed, instead of the less successful lecture model.

The space “delineates expectations and provides comfortable and effective mechanisms to support learning.� The Math Emporium hosts regularly updated, high end, Mac OSX computers because they have lower support costs, needing to hire only a single support system. This reduces the cost of a quality education significantly. In fact, it is seventy five percent less expensive because personal assistance or tutoring requires a much less experienced and expensive background than the need for traditional professors and lecturers. However, it is important to note that this also has limitations as far as variety of experiences, research opportunities, and knowledgeable resources.

The renovated, off campus space has a flexible design, including long interior walls that invite displays by the community and graphics of projects students previously created. Carpeted floor tiles are offset three inches for ease of wiring and acoustical ceiling tiles minimize noise for a quiet work environment. By replacing broadcast education with one on one coaching and programs, passive spectators transform into active learning participants.

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Virginia Tech Math Emporium Computer Workspaces

Engaging Faculty and Students in the Design Process The concern of Britnell, Andirati, and Wilson (2009) is that campus planners tend to guide the process of designing and planning university learning spaces but exclude the stakeholders in the matter, the students and teachers. This is problematic because the space needs to be designed to facilitate teaching and learning, rather than fight against it and make students adjust their learning process to accommodate the assigned space. Space planning is a multidirectional concept, with constant feedback between designer, student, teacher, and incorporating technology to enhance student engagement.

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It is critical to engage the stockholders to accommodate the changing needs of students and faculty (Oblinger, 2006). Teachers need to take the lead so that learning is the primary focus, especially during challenging planning stages including budget, furniture, infrastructure, space, and technology. Aesthetically pleasing and comfortable spaces must be created via equipment, arrangement, colors, etc. so that students want to be present and learn.

Case Study: Ryerson University, Toronto Over a two-year span, an interdisciplinary committee at Ryerson University spearheaded by Britnell, Andriati, and Wilson (2009) guided the redesign of a classroom space to maximize flexibility and create a multipurpose classroom. In order to emphasize collaboration, the university transitioned from using individual tables to rolling chairs and tables to easily push together and do work. Emphasis was put on using whiteboards, chalkboards, and Smart board technology surrounding the classroom, removing the concept of a front and back of the room.

The university highly recommended the multidisciplinary and collaborative approach because of the complexity of teaching practices and understanding of how students learn best. By involving learning strategists, instructional designers, media specialists, technology planners, faculty, and students, the group was able to draw conclusions about what is important to emphasize and support learning. It is also crucial to assess the professional development needs of faculty and students with respect to technology in order to determine the best support for them. In order for teaching to remain effective and responsive to a diverse student body’s learning needs, faculty

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must have opportunities to learn. They must engage with each other to collaborate on learning space design and be informed by a growing compilation of research and literature. This thorough, dynamic, and multifaceted team with a wide range of perspectives, experience, and knowledge, creates engaging spaces for teachers and students.

Ryerson University Classroom

Case Study: Texas Wesleyan University The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Texas Wesleyan University asked teachers and students in a series of different disciplines to collaborate and design their ideal classroom. Collier, Watson, and Ozuna (2011) incentivized the exercise by making it a competition; the winner gets their dream classroom built. The projects focused on flexibility and interactivity, fueled by collaboration. The goals were to endorse innovation in learning space design and improve instructor’s understanding

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of classroom design’s influences on learning. Five groups submitted proposals as follows: A faculty member and three students proposed the Write Stuff classroom for collaborative writing courses. Desks have storable computer space are arranged in a semicircle or U shape to make each student feel valued and maximize participation in classroom activities due to visibility. The color schemes are blue, grey, and yellow with murals on the walls as well as dimmable natural lighting. On the outskirts of the room are small, round tables for team collaboration to work through the writing process.

The InterACTIVE Classroom was designed by three kinesiology faculty members and a student to promote physically active learning in classrooms. It consisted of notebook computers, rolling computer stations, treadmill podiums, balance ball chairs, Smart boards, and motion game systems. This classroom focused on keeping students moving and engaged.

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Three faculty members and a student from the School of Education designed the Enhancement of Signature Student Experience Classroom. It is full of student learning hubs and round tables for up to nine students, a replica of University of Minnesota’s active learning classrooms. There are interactive Smart boards on each wall. The classroom is very flexible and moves away from teacher centered instruction, placing learning in the hands of the students.

Two English professors, a Communications professor and a student designed C5C Next! It focuses on connection, creativity, care, confidence, and comfort. The

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flexible space is conducive to multiple kinds of learning activities. It emphasizes implications of learning in contexts both within and outside of the classroom. The design, while simple, calls for color, texture, and visual elements to engage students.

A faculty member and five students created the winning design, Radically Flexible Classroom. It is arranged for small group work and inquiry-based learning for student engagement. The four piece tables are divisible into separate desks but then can be easily pushed together for studying and socializing in groups. Portable whiteboards are used for easy group brainstorming and idea sharing. There is a seamless integration of technology, with mobile laptop cabinets, Smart boards, projectors, and printers in the classroom. Radically Flexible Classroom decentralizes the room so there is no single front and back or focal point. This concept won because the classroom easily adjusts itself to whatever subject matter or method of teaching the instructor would like to use.

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This study clearly demonstrates that while teachers and students do not all have a formal design background, they do know what they need in order to be engaged and active learners. By having designers speak directly to their client, the people using these classrooms, there are opportunities to tackle challenges proactively, rather than dealing with them retroactively.

Collaborative Partnerships Garrett (2014) claims the ultimate goal is to design environments that encourage teachers to fully use a wide breadth of teaching tools to endorse students wanting to learn. Rather than asking what teachers and students want, architects and designers should ask what they are trying to do. By asking faculty members to explain their course vision, instead of identifying the tools needed to accomplish it, there are more chances for innovative solutions. Teachers and students know what they need in order to effectively teach and learn in a space. However, a lot gets lost in translation or is just not communicated to the designer. A crucial component is collaborating between the two groups to maximize the learning outcomes and improve student engagement. If students are comfortable, collaborating, and in flexible spaces, they actively learn and are more engaged in lessons. From a pedagogical perspective, this matches well with how teachers are turning to a more student led classroom, where students take initiative and delve deeper into topics that they find connects to themselves and their passions.

It is critical to engage teachers in the design process and create long-term partnerships. Workshops could help create a vision for how faculty can use technology to attain learning outcomes and design customized interactive learning programs.

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However, the newest technology does not always apply to every classroom and must be evaluated as it comes out. Teachers who are struggling with embracing these new innovative technologies can partner with leading faculty members who have already opted into those systems to learn more about how they have positively aided learning.

Washington University Case Study Washington University in St. Louis is made up of 4 schools: Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Olin Business School, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences. This variety of coursework options accommodates a wide range of passions and learning styles. Sam Fox courses are more studio-based, while engineering and arts and sciences work mostly in labs and lecture halls. Business school students learn in mid sized discussion based classrooms, all facilitating a certain type of learning.

In Sam Fox, the freshmen and sophomore architecture studio in the basement level of Givens Hall has an open floor plan for easy collaboration and community building. The hard surfaces and style of studios make the space constantly loud and often overwhelming. There are fifty-five desks on both the North and South ends of the room, organized in rows facing each other. Professors meet with students in three-hour blocks twice a week and tend to have a group discussion and then circles through a section of desks providing feedback and critique.

This style of learning is very active and hands on and in that respect, the space is perfect. Desks are high enough for students to sit or stand and work, with medium sized, flat surfaces and the ability to see other projects provides inspiration and opportunities to push each other’s ideas forward. However, the seats are very

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uncomfortable, and often unstable stools and there are only two drawers, not enough storage space for the vast amount of architecture supplies needed for model building.

The room is at basement level, with clerestory windows but not great light getting to the north side consistently. Additionally, desk spaces are too small for the projects professors are often assigning and the studios do not become formally collaborative and team projects until upper level courses senior year.

Ultimately, while the style of learning is very active and working through ideas via drawing, modeling, and computer work, the classroom space is not particularly conducive to creating. While they do an excellent job at creating a peer feedback driven community, suggestions to improve upon are whiteboard walls surrounding the spaces, larger workspace areas, and more comfortable seating. Additionally, in order to encourage the use of technology and innovation to design, power outlets must be incorporated into desk spaces or come from the ceiling or floor to the center of the room. These easy fixes alone would make the Givens basement architecture studios more appealing to engage and create in.

Givens Hall Basement Studio In the School of Arts & Sciences, it is very common for science students to take a course in Laboratory Science large lecture classroom. Research shows that large

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lecture courses encourage passive learning and by putting a teacher on a front stage, students who sit in the back are significantly less engaged. The classroom seats three hundred fifty eight students in fixed, auditorium style seating. The seats are comfortable but have a table arm that swings up and around, providing slight flexibility and a medium sized work surface. This encourages individual note taking and a style of teaching that is not matched well with learning the content. In these classrooms, where teaching large groups is a necessity to accommodating enrollment, students have a hard time learning information.

This is assisted with a series of nine movable vertical sliding chalkboards as well as three projectors that connect to a computer, providing both visual and audio learning, catering to multiple senses. However, this does not entirely mitigate the stage effect for the professor and students taking notes on too small tables either by hand or on computers. A major improvement to the classroom would be technology involvement.

With the transition to computer note taking and influences of technology and research, more outlets must be installed encouraging students to sit in the central aisle rather than around the few spaces on the outskirts. This classroom also has no natural light coming in, providing a darker space and a major elevation change, putting students very far from the teacher and a sense of anonymity. By breaking this class down with labs and hands on activities, the content and understanding would vastly improve.

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Laboratory Sciences 300 Lecture Hall

Writing One is an introductory course that all new students must take during their first year at Washington University. The three-credit course is about twelve students each and meet three times a week for an hour each. Desks are arranged in a donut shape, emphasizing the discussion based workshop style of teaching and learning. A chalkboard covers one wall of the room with projector capabilities but the general floor plan encourages students to discuss with each other, participate and engage in the material.

This setup works well for collaborative writing workshops and small group work.

Since the groups are so small, students cannot hide and are encouraged to participate.

The classroom designs could be updated and improved with whiteboards on multiple walls to draw out concept maps, work through plot lines and grammatical structure.

Additionally, technology could be easily infused into the curriculum, as most of the course’s writing occurs on computers. So, an addition of outlets in more wall spaces would be very useful.

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Eads Hall Classroom arranged in U shape to facilitate discussion and workshops

Seigle Hall Classroom with movable chairs and work surfaces The Olin Business School works incredibly collaboratively to do research, brainstorm creative problem solving strategies, and give presentations. These goals differ vastly from the Sam Fox School’s pedagogies and thus have developed very different spaces. These small lecture and discussion-based classrooms are a series of large, U-shaped tables arranged on tiered levels. The tables provide outlet access, encouraging the students to use computers or tablets for research, group work, and learn background information. These can be easily connected to a projector at the front of the classroom for presentations or showing visual graphics to other students. Each

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student has their own comfortable chair on wheels for easily moving into groups as well as ample room under desk space and between levels for storing personal belongings.

These spaces are pretty new and thus are in much better shape than the Givens Hall space. The classrooms fit the needs of the school very well and help students develop teamwork, communication, and professional skills. Additionally, small lecture courses are excellent for the professor to adjust from lecturing on the task or project at hand, to individual work, to group work, and back. This novelty maintains student engaged and allows opportunities for active styles of learning. The only major flaws to this classroom are the lack of flexibility in seating and creating a hierarchy or stage effect for the professor, even though that shifts with student group work.

Simon Hall Large Lecture Space Engineering students take a lot of lecture courses and then are supplemented with wet and computer laboratory work. This style of absorbing content and information and then applying it in a hands-on setting matches excellently with the desired takeaways from the courses. A very popular classroom style is a medium sized lecture hall with ribbon tables and then students sit in rolling chairs on tiered levels. This allows them to speak with other students near them during class to confirm a subject, but still puts the focus at the front of the room on the content being taught. Conversely,

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computer science courses work out of computer laboratories, in a very collaborative environment.

In Urbauer Hall, students in clusters of 4 work on individual monitors at a table, sitting next to each other in pairs. A larger screen can plug into any of the computers to project what they are working on and students can talk through how to do problems together. This encourages working in groups and discussing how to solve problems while also working on independent projects. This fits well with the style of learning for students in BioMedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering who work often with data analysis software to make plots and analyze programs. These are open 24/7 and are highly used at all times of the day. The computer and technology aspect is supplemented with whiteboards on all sides of the room for students to easily and quickly work visually in a different medium.

Lopata Hall has an open cafeteria space that is a great laid back, collaborative study environment. It also hosts the three main lecture halls as well as small classrooms, all with whiteboards and chalkboards in the front of the classroom and rows with platforms as desks and rolling seats. The lecture halls have individual plugs for each seat, which is very helpful, since there is an expectation that students work on their computers in class. This appropriately fits the needs of engineering and makes the space more user-friendly.

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Urbauer Hall Group Work Collaborative Space A very successful learning space within Washington University is the Olin Library Whisper’s Café. This very informal area hosts many small tables and booths that can easily be pushed together to work together in groups. The seating is comfortable and there are in floor outlets to plug in laptops. There is food and slight chatter is allowed, making it a space that students can take ownership of and work together in a much more informal “classroom” setting. Similarly, there are more floors above and below the space, with lots of different types of workspaces to accommodate different needs. On the second floor, there are large tables that can hold up to eight students for independent and quiet group work. Each seat has an outlet and a shared lamp, making it a technology friendly and well-lit place to be. Comfortable chairs and large tables allow students to spread out and feel comfortable in this environment.

Whispers Café, in Olin Library: flexible, informal, collaborative work space

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Washington University would greatly benefit from updating their buildings to accommodate changing learning strategies. As more technology based learning techniques apply, in most cases it is as simple as incorporating more outlets for students to utilize in classrooms. Flexibility is key and allowing students to move around the classroom keeps them engaged and allows them to work in groups, providing feedback and a variety of skillsets to delve deeper into topics. Washington University must make the transition towards group based collaborative learning spaces rather than larger lecture halls that provide outlets for active and engaged learning. While there is a long way to go, steps are in place to move towards better learning environments to improve learning outcomes.

Methodology and Data Collection To compile the data, I used Washington University as a case study. I reached out to experts in their respective fields from both the education and architecture sides who designed for or teach at WUSTL. I looked at what kind of research and preliminary work architects do before they begin to design as well as what students and teachers are looking for out of a learning space.

On WUSTL’s campus, I studied at how different classrooms are intended for different learning outcomes—especially looking within the schools—Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Olin Business School, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Arts & Sciences. Observing the differences in design to accommodate variety of teaching and learning methods, I determined what spaces actually accommodate learning and how to maximize that campus wide.

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I contacted teachers and students to learn their perspective. By discussing recent school projects with teachers, I gauged their likes and dislikes and things they want to change and improve upon. I suspected a huge problem is that teachers know what resources they need to teach effectively but it is not always communicated to the architect who needs to accommodate the intention of the teacher. I reached out to the firms that designed each and determine their process, what they would have done differently, and how they will proceed differently in the future.

With IRB approval, I held structured in person and phone interviews with both architects and professors and asking targeted questions. Some examples are: Architects •

What kind of research do you do before beginning the design process?

•

How does educational research and learning theory influence the design?

•

What types of classrooms/learning spaces have you designed in the past? o How did the school receive them?

•

Did you communicate with professors and students when designing a classroom for a specific subject area? o What was the intended outcome?

Professors and Students •

Are your current classrooms conducive to learning? o What is working? o What would you improve?

•

Which factors from educational research and learning theory do teachers and students think are important?

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•

What is your ideal classroom like? How would that maximize your learning?

•

How do you think intended learning environments differ between Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Business, and Art/Architecture? Do the classrooms fully reflect these different learning styles?

While asking the above questions, I interviewed experts in these fields and those connected to Washington University in order to use it as my higher education case study for how university design works. WUSTL had a few recent design projects: Hellman Hall, the Athletic Complex Addition, and an upcoming Sam Fox School building. By interviewing the architects and educators, I can draw conclusions regarding the design process. A technology classroom was recently introduced, as well as a style of engineering classroom to assist working in teams. These concepts could extend between the schools and overlap to combine with other learning spaces. There is potential that a unique style of learning space is the answer for a specific content area, but what is important to note is the overlap between what both designers and teachers are trying to accomplish.

Interview Results I interviewed students in all the different schools at Washington University, professors in a variety of subjects, and architects who specialize in educational spaces.

This culminated in results that help to draw conclusions regarding how students learn best, how professors teach best, and how architects design to accommodate that. I consider who the client is, whom architects are talking to, and whom they are designing for.

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Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts I spoke with four architecture students, a sophomore (Architecture Student A), and three seniors (Architecture Students B, C, D), one senior art student (Fashion Student A), and one Architecture faculty member (AF A). They provided feedback on their current and previous studios, the style of learning encouraged in Sam Fox, teaching styles, and pinup spaces.

Fashion Student A said the work is very independent, self motivated, and self run. Classes are mostly one on ones with the teacher, rather than a collaborative course. Most studios have teachers serving as consultants providing undivided attention and answering questions. FS A’s courses are all held in the basement level of Bixby Hall, not allowing great lighting in. All rooms are 24/7 access, but are locked at all times.

There is no real front of a classroom or lecture style at all since this style of teaching and learning is mostly small group or independent work rather than lectures or presentations.

There is not a lot of consistency in studios, students have to transport their materials from room to room but have a home base studio space. FS A wishes it was more like a painting studio, with lots of pinup wall spaces and visual aids. Space is very limited with materials everywhere and a third of the room taken up with inflexible, locked down sewing machines. However, regarding the styles of teaching in the curriculum, it is pretty organic, progressing from fundamentals taught in small lecture style classrooms to independent student driven work, supplemented with demonstrations.

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Architecture Student A’s studio is in a large room on the basement level of Givens Hall. There is a lot of light coming in from windows surrounding the space used by approximately one hundred freshmen and sophomores. Desks are arranged in row groupings by professor, helping students easily see what their peers are doing around them. Washington University gives students the foundation of skills and you build on that, developing a style. “It is great to have an open space and the opportunity to look at other people’s work and see projects in a way you would never have considered.” A concern is that it could cause students to be competitive, but AS A thought it was more of a collaborative space to work together and improve. AS A’s major problem with the studio classroom was a lack of wall and storage space and no flexibility, as the studios are maxed out.

An ideal space would include whiteboards or vertical drawing spaces to sketch things out with a professor easily on a larger scale and corkboards to pin up precedents or inspiration. The studio gets dirty quickly, so AS A recommended a designated work station to handle making large models or messy projects. This way, the mess was condensed and easily cleaned instead of making the rest of the space unworkable.

While AS A has a locker to store materials, they would like thin horizontal shelving spaces to store the larger building materials that quickly get dirty at a desk or on the floor. Another key piece missing is no place to gather or project. In order to be taught in a more traditional classroom, students have to leave this space, deeming it inflexible.

As far as more traditional classrooms go in the architecture school, AS A was relatively satisfied with all walls serving as pinup spaces. The flexibility of these classrooms is greater, with opportunities to pull out more pinup space walls and easily

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movable desks that can be arranged for a lecture or discussion based course. AS A appreciates that the function of these classrooms as review spaces clearly reflects the intent and goals of the architecture school.

Architecture students B, C, and D agreed that freshmen and sophomore year studios are better designed because they emphasize collaboration and interaction between students, creating a comfortable learning community. However, junior and senior year the dynamic drastically changes, with studio spaces spread out over multiple buildings. They also noted the transition from underclassmen all working on the same projects and having an adequate amount of uniform spaces to a wide variety of projects but participating in a diverse type of studio projects. This is especially the case in group projects, where collaborative spaces would be incredibly valuable, desks facing each other. The current setup of desks in rows is not conducive to group work and there is a major lack of flexibility. However, AS C noted that this could be a financial decision, with students overenrolled and a lack of space in the current Sam Fox buildings. AS B and D agreed but were disappointed that they had to take a studio at an off campus site the previous semester, due to not enough space.

Regarding pinup and interactive spaces, AS B noted “my favorite space in the Sam Fox area is the a flexible pinup space in the entry stairway of Givens. While it is not great for sound and formal reviews, it is great to walk by and constantly see what people are doing.� Architecture students thrive learning from each other, often in an informal, collaborative setting. AS C mentioned the improvement of the Steinberg pinup space, a recent renovation in the past couple years. It is better lit, more places to hang up and display projects, and more movable walls, providing more flexible opportunities

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within the space. However, a huge limitation is that it is adjacent to the most heavily trafficked space in the Sam Fox quadrant, an informal café area.

AS D sums it up excellently, “there is a lack of variety of spaces in the School of Architecture, one size does not fit all.” Steinberg lecture hall accommodates about 250 students, but many Sam Fox courses only have 70-80 students. Some small discussion sections are held in a lecture hall, not properly accommodating the needs of students.

Options studios working on a variety of projects are boxed into the same set of spaces.

As architecture students grow as designers and makers, the space must be flexible and collaborative enough to grow with these developing needs.

AF A thinks that based on the cost of tuition and the financial standing of the university, classroom spaces are less than ideal. There is a lack of collective gathering spaces within studios. While the desks have wheels and are intended to be flexible, they are locked into row clusters to fit in as many students as possible, due to lack of space in the buildings. AF A wishes spaces were more inspired and notes that the art students have significantly more space per student to produce work and there should not be that large of a discrepancy. Review spaces are inadequate and there are not enough places in the studios to pinup work and work through them.

Studio spaces are good as a raw concept to encourage this style of making, developing ideas, and learning. However, the lack of flexibility is the greatest impediment to the faculty’s ability to do what they want to teach their students. AF A would like to adjust the organization of their section’s studio space to accommodate collaboration with one another but there is not enough space to be flexible. While AF A

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recognizes a good intent, an increase in matching the Sam Fox School style of learning in collaboration and working together.

Arts & Sciences I interviewed two arts and sciences students (A&S A, B) and a professor (A&SP A). A&S A felt very disconnected and detached from the teacher in large lecture classes, including general chemistry and biology. The large classroom sizes made A&S A less inclined to learn since he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of students and size of the lecture hall. However, A&S A did recognize that Washington University does try to address this problem by using interactive clickers, recitation sections, discussion sections, and office hours. These make a large environment small, more personalized, and hands on, encouraging thorough understanding of concepts and utilizing multiple resources. A&S B wishes laptop use was discouraged for class because students get easily distracted by the variety of options on computers. By limiting use for specific exercises and programs, attention and learning vastly increases.

The A&SP A emphasized that the opportunity to be flexible within a classroom space was a nonnegotiable as far as teaching and learning goes. This instructor taught small courses in multiple classroom settings on campus, some with fixed desks, stand alone tables, desks, or conference tables. A big factor for A&SP A’s workshop style class was the ability to move from one large discussion group to smaller groups or to independent work. Movable furniture and multiple sizes for work surfaces around the room facilitate this goal. Another mentionable was the teacher not looking for what is

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most conducive to her teaching style, rather her students’ learning styles, and how to teach to that best.

A&SP A typically teaches in Eads, where most classrooms have a computer, projector, and blackboards. This allows a very user-friendly visual aid and incorporates technology use as a resource. As far as what is actually offered in the classrooms, she really appreciated what exists, in the form of typically circular or U shaped classrooms where students face each other, excellent for workshops and discussing projects.

However, moving forward, she would also operable windows and the opportunity to expand classroom learning to the outdoors as well as informal learning spaces to increase inspiration and attention.

Eads Hall Classroom with Flexible Individual Desks Business I met with two business students, a sophomore (Business Student A), and a senior (Business Students B). They offered input on their classroom setup, the teaching styles in the business school, and encouraged learning strategies.

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Business Student A has most courses in Simon Hall and thinks that business school classrooms work very well for the intended learning outcomes. The classrooms are set up in tiered semicircles, with the professor centralized at the bottom and students able to easily face the professor or other students in the classroom, facilitating both learning and discussion. Most classes are team based and the professor moves around the classroom, decentralizing it. Additionally, group work keeps students moving and energized with the novelty component.

Most rooms are well fitted for the number of students in the class. For example, a sixty- person capacity lecture hall hosts classes for fifty to sixty students. This encourages students to sit closer to the front, bridging the gap between professor and student. BS B explained the emphasis on participation, counting for at least twenty percent of a student’s grade, so teachers regularly call on and engage students, helping them stay focused, talk through ideas, and connect with the teacher.

Mandatory nametags make it harder to hide in the back, creating a more personal and intimate setting. BS B agrees that the nametags are a cornerstone to the community efforts, helping connect students to both the teacher and other students. BS B wishes classes were a bit smaller so students could make eye contact and be less distracted. However, BS B recognizes that the business school’s smaller size makes it much easier to interact both socially and academically than arts and sciences.

Additionally, a wide variety of public spaces within the business school provide multiple opportunities to socialize and learn in more informal settings.

There are ten to fifteen private study rooms in Simon Hall basement, with whiteboards, outlets, markers, and a conference table. These can hold groups of up to

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six and while there are similar ones in the second floor library, these are less often taken, with exclusive access given to business school students. They are quiet and great for private, focused study. The Kopolow Library on the second floor of Simon Hall changed a lot after a recent remodel and has a variety of study spaces, including private rooms, booths, open tables, small private cubicles, silent rooms, and collaborative areas. This variety makes it a hot spot for students to study solely based on the variety and flexibility of options. On the main floor, the BSBA lounge was designed and intended to serve as a relaxed, social environment but instead takes on a more open, quiet, group study space. The area is very spread out with multiple size tables and workstations to collaborate and work quietly without disturbing other students.

On the more informal side, Einstein’s Bagels is a distinctly more social space.

People frequently meet there for interviews, one on one discussion. It is very open, so when students walk by they can survey the entire space and since it is a small, close community, there are a lot of familiar people. This makes it great for informal studying, relaxing with friends, as well as very close proximity to food.

The business school does an excellent job with making classrooms an excellent space to practice skills they would like students to develop. Flexibility allows easy collaboration and work in teams and the semicircle discussion based approach encourages students to practice their communication, participation, and critical thinking skills.

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BSBA Lounge: Informal Learning Group Work Space in Simon Hall

Engineering The engineering quadrant is about to go through some major changes, with a new building being added to the east side of Danforth campus. A guest speaker presented to Washington University engineering student mentors and faculty to show blueprints of new spaces and discuss visions for moving forward. Some major themes were collaboration rooms, implementation of laboratory spaces, and furthering engineering concentration classrooms. Additionally, the three eastern buildings are relatively newer (Whitaker, Brauer, Green) and add a new mix and diversity of classrooms to the pre-existing buildings (Urbauer, Lopata). I spoke with two engineering students, a senior in BioMedical Engineering (ES A) and a sophomore in Computer Science (ES B).

ES A believes that the classrooms are definitely equipped for the correct style of learning but is not particularly conducive to independent or small group work. ES A wishes there were more informal private rooms similar to the business school for groups to meet and work outside of the classroom. ES A also drew a lot of parallels between engineering labs and Sam Fox studios, collaborating, working through problems, and creating a final product or result.

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ES B’s ideal classroom is a lecture with break out sessions every twenty minutes to either physically test the concept or test it out on the computer. This way, working through the process in class helps students understand the content they are trying to listen to, but by making it more interactive, students will stay more engaged. Also, students can collaborate better, if one understands and another does not, the student can explain what they did to get their and the class can rotate between lecture, independent, and group work. Flexibility was also critical to ES B, who enjoyed working in these different styles to get a holistic understanding of what she is learning. ES B appreciated theoretically having both a lab and lecture as components of a course but often found major disconnects between the two. If they could be hybridized into one classroom and moving between the various forms of taking in the information, it would significantly strengthen understanding.

Architects I spoke with three architects, one specializing in higher education spaces (Arch A), one partnering with Washington University (Arch B), and a practicing architect that teaches at Washington University (Arch C).

Arch A explained that the research for a client begins before the project can in order to understand as much as they can about a client (typically a university). The firm hosts a visioning workshop, to learn about the university and set up a design user group. This group is crucial to get the correct people in the room, basically a cross section of the university, including the administration, faculty, staff, professors, and sometimes students. They need innovative thinkers that are considering the future.

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Rather than asking what the client wants, Arch A considers what they have and how the world is changing and questions what types of environments the client wants to create.

The group develops an overarching goal and then a series of project goals that then develop the program for the building. This is when detail components, including understanding how many classrooms of what type are needed come in, but it is important to incorporate longevity, as these buildings will likely not be renovated for over fifty years.

Another crucial component is when working in groups, there will often be a lot of people with varying opinions and an architect’s job is to get them all on the same page with both the vision and concepts. It is very collaborative and communication is huge for engaging this group of eight to twelve people. These people also give feedback and work through the vision in detail, since they know explicitly how much space they need and specific accommodations necessary. Since the architect does not know how the classroom will be used, they must talk through with teachers and students what activities will happen. They also must be designed to support multiple modes of learning and easily changeable and flexible.

Moving forward in learning styles, Arch A recommends less standard lecture halls and rather moving towards the two rows per tier model, where students sit in movable chairs at ribbon desks and can easily turn to their neighbors or turn around to work collaboratively. Another interesting mention is the “Flipped Classroom” idea where students listen to a lecture as homework and then come to class and work in small groups. This idea came from a Chicago high school in a low-income area and students’ learning improved dramatically. The idea that the lecture can be paused, listened and

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talked through in groups, and rewound to repeat a concept makes it easier to understand and then the opportunity to work through the ideas with peers supports the learning process.

Arch B emphasized the importance of flexibility in a space and designing to accommodate an overall excellent place that facilitates learning, rather than designing to fit the needs of a specific person. Since teachers move around regularly, the space must be usable by a range of teachers and styles and able to host different types of learning. Arch B believes comfortable and movable furniture, natural lighting, and acoustics are all critical elements of students enjoying their experience in the classroom. When designing for a space, Arch B goes and observes the school to see what is working and how spaces are used. If the school is looking to do something entirely new from the current spaces, Arch B seeks out a precedent space to understand how that is used and what is working well. This background research component of understanding how spaces work previously is critical to take steps working forward and making sure it is a good fit for the school.

Arch C explained the process to design new buildings at Washington University from the school’s side. The southeast corner of Washington University is getting a new building and initially there was an open call for suggestions and then narrowed down to three finalists who gave a public presentation. A committee appointed by the Dean of the Sam Fox School consists of the chairs, undergraduate deans, graduate deans, and administrators. In building a campus, it is critical that all pieces tie together and the timing must be done in less than two years, pushing the project very quickly.

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Faculty had some pushback on the space planning and schematic design because it did not seem to reflect the pedagogy of what it means to be a practicing architect or an artist. Delving further, the most recent iteration has a stronger conceptual framework about what it means to be a maker or fabricator. The campus architect and facilities department also played a major role in the direction and facilitation of moving this project forward.

Conclusion Design and education must be thought of cohesively in order to understand how they affect each other. The design of educational spaces has huge impacts on how space is utilized and how students learn. On the other hand, the way people learn is revolutionizing how architects design for people to engage in that space. With the development of active learning, experiential formats, studio courses, and technology, architects have to design to accommodate these new pedagogies of education.

Meanwhile, classrooms are becoming more informal, moving away from more rigid lecture halls, and embracing flexibility and collaboration. These provide opportunities for students to learn from each other, drive their education, and maintain engagement. The options for more unique learning spaces and environments are now a very prevalent force in students’ education, providing space for different ways of thinking and learning in a hands-on setting.

Most importantly, a lot of disconnect comes from a lack of direct communication between the teachers and designers. The teachers know what they need in order to have a successful classroom that embraces, inspires, and encourages learning

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opportunities. Designers have ideas in mind of what works, but do not tend to see them in action to understand how the space is truly used. By taking on this partnership and chance to collaborate directly, classrooms will move towards being better planned and adaptable for a range of topics and learning opportunities.

Specifically, in the case of Washington University in St. Louis, flexible classrooms are important to accommodate different types of teaching strategies. With the move away from lectures and towards more student driven, interactive, collaborative and technology based learning, classrooms can handle the movability. Making students comfortable and taking ownership over the spaces they learn in encourages them to work on what they are passionate about. This makes their learning much more engaging and helps them pay attention. In a lot of cases, classrooms need to be designed for a certain type of learning, to accommodate the school they are in and the intended learning outcomes. However, the school wide transition towards flexible and collaborative spaces infused with technology was a strong decision and one that continues to update, improving school wide learning outcomes.

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Acknowledgements This thesis became a reality with the help and support of a large group of individuals.

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to my parents, Stacey and Michael Simmons, for their endless encouragement, proofreading, inspiration, and love.

My sister, Amanda Simmons, for her late night pep talks, memes, and constant smiles.

My advisor, Mark Hogrebe, for his support and teaching me professional persistence.

My teachers, for their endless knowledge and passion for education.

My interviewees, for enthusiastically sharing their experiences.

My friends, for keeping me positive, determined, and well fed.

My family, for being a strong backbone through my entire college experience and life.

Thank you everyone, it has been quite a journey!

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