Learning Resources

Abstract: Higher education institutions, across nearly all socio-cultural cross-sections, are more diverse today than ever before. This evolution in campus demographics also coincides with the changing values, priorities, and needs of students. The bottom line for many of today’s students is clear: now more than ever, values matter when selecting a school. This article explores the programmatic and administrative responses as well as the physical planning and design opportunities associated with creating and sustaining more diverse and inclusive campus environments.

Abstract: Following decades of decline in perceived status and value, the university library has found new life as a center of the knowledge economy, of collaborative learning, and of creative production. The challenge of updating the library mission for the digital age is further complicated when that library resides within a 1960s Brutalist concrete structure. The revitalization of the Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons at the Wentworth Institute of Technology illustrates the process of transforming a foreboding, bunker-like space into a modern, vibrant campus destination.

Abstract: The study described in this article investigated diversity in a unit within a postsecondary institution using the model described by Cox in Creating the Multicultural Organization by verifying the unit’s view of diversity, examining existing strategies used for diversity, evaluating consistencies, and identifying areas of improvement. The study included an analysis of unit employees to verify broad diversity by race and gender and an interview with senior leadership about the strategic plan for the unit on matters related to diversity. Overall analysis showed that the unit is doing better than most peer institutions in hiring female and minority candidates for positions. However, there are gaps in the unit’s approach to diversity that impact its ability to be an effective multicultural organization.

Abstract: This article presents the research, design options, and space planning guidelines prepared for Montgomery College specifically for spaces designed to address the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. The guidelines cover gender-inclusive restrooms and locker facilities for transgender people, lactation rooms for nursing mothers, and serenity space for an increasing Muslim population and others. Extensive research conducted by Stantec and Inquiry2Solutions informed the guidelines. The research included a review of the college’s institutional policies and governance structure; interviews with students, faculty, and staff as well as colleagues across the United States and personnel from relevant professional associations; and discussions with associations that support the needs of LGBTQ students and institutions that have begun to address these kinds of space planning. Foremost, the planning team learned that there are few space planning guidelines to meet these needs.
Montgomery College is charting new territory with the adoption of these space planning guidelines and has helped establish an important benchmark in this emerging area of campus planning.

Abstract: University libraries nationwide are changing dramatically, and those at the University of Michigan are no exception. While this article focuses on the renovated Health Science Library, many other of the 19 U of M libraries are included in this piece. The Health Science Library boasts everything from futuristic décor and visualization workstations to a virtual cadaver, inviting students from across the campus.

Abstract: Recently, education researchers have emphasized the redesign of learning spaces to better accommodate pedagogical change. In particular, studies have found evidence of the relationship between the built environment and learning outcomes—however, no current studies have deliberately focused on the “minority majority” feature of America’s future student composition.

This pilot study was conducted to evaluate how space contributes to the learning outcomes of a demographically diverse class of students at Morgan State University, a Historically Black Institution. Based on the neurobiological literature on environmental enrichment, the authors hypothesized that an enriched learning environment will correlate with increased student activity (directed movement) and engagement (with other students, with room features) and result in significantly improved learning outcomes for an ethnically diverse student group.