Learning Resources

Abstract: All learners are different. These differences—also known as neurodiversity—impact learning. Fortunately, the design of learning spaces does not have to be one-size-fits-all. We will discuss how learning spaces can be flexible and easily adapted to students' needs across the spectrum of neurodiversity, whether or not they are on the autism spectrum, manage learning disabilities, or have a mental health condition. Come learn how flexible learning space design can improve the experience of all learners.

Abstract: FLEXSpace—The Flexible Learning Environments eXchange—and the Learning Space Rating System (LSRS) are tools that can help you plan, design, assess, and improve learning spaces on your campus. In this session, you will learn about the newly released FLEXspace 2.0 along with the LSRS. We'll cover the features and benefits of both tools and how they can be incorporated into the planning process. Come learn how to use these tools to inform designs and support end users from planning through post occupancy.

Abstract: Institutions usually spend more on providing courses for some academic programs than others. Stakeholders need to decide where and how to allocate resources to support instruction. This session introduces recent best practices using the Delaware Cost Study data to facilitate 1) the identification of under-resourced academic programs and 2) decision making in faculty budgeting and staffing. You will leave this session ready to re-evaluate the metrics you use to support instructional budgeting decisions so you can identify under-resourced programs and accurately understand faculty hiring needs.

Abstract: Middle skills education, personalized curriculum, and student-directed training are playing an increasingly integral role in higher education. A new generation of students is already likely to hold different educational expectations and desires than their predecessors. Accommodating those trends means planners, architects, and higher education administrators will need to think differently about how they train skilled workers for the most needed professions.

Abstract: Educators in teacher preparation programs use a range of pedagogies to assist teacher candidates in developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to become reflective instructors. Participating in co-curricular service-learning (CSL) provides an opportunity for candidates to show initiative and step out of their comfort zones, developing cultural understanding by working directly with community members and their children (Bates 2009; Coffey & Lavery 2015; Harrison 2013). In this article, the authors explore the impact of a CSL initiative on the teacher candidates from Nipissing University and the Indigenous community they service. Using a case study design, data, in the form of anticipatory and post-CSL reflections and individual semi-structured interviews, were collected over three years.

Abstract: How can buildings be both flexible and concrete? It’s a contradiction in terms and a huge challenge facing university planners and facility managers as they try to keep up with rapid changes in technology, curriculum, teaching techniques, and student demographics. This article explores some of these trends in education and how construction techniques are evolving to meet the need for reconfigurable spaces.

Abstract: Makerspaces designed for collaborative learning are appearing on campuses throughout the United States, including at Drexel University. These spaces succeed because they permit students to collaborate, observe, and learn from professors and peers. Unique to the Drexel project is the intermingling of engineering undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and commercial interests in one facility with laboratories, machine-shop equipment, and informal study areas. Facilities that give students great visibility into nearby research, contain areas where they can take breaks without leaving the building, and lend themselves to informal encounters with peers, faculty, and others result in better academic experiences for undergraduates.

Abstract: Industry and academia are partnering like never before as entrepreneurship and maker culture become more important to our economy and a regular fixture in higher education curricula. With the influx of allied industry partnerships, evolving pedagogies, entrepreneurship programs, and a maker culture comes a pressing need for new spaces, ranging from fabrication and prototyping studios to innovation districts devoted to new kinds of research partnerships. Schools like the University of Washington, Babson College, and Arizona State University are leading the way on new collaborations. In this article, Sasaki planners and urban designers examine how design disruption will guide the development of campuses that enable 21st-century teaching, learning, and research paradigms.

Abstract: Leers Weinzapfel Associates recently talked with campus planners and facilities directors nationwide about the big issues driving campus planning. Rapidly evolving pedagogies are demanding radical rethinking of effective teaching and learning spaces. Better use and optimal configuration of these venues is key as the stereotypical “sage on the stage” mode of instruction rapidly expands through a wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings. Several examples of the firm’s work—the University of Massachusetts Amherst John W. Olver Design Building, the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Stadium Drive Residence Hall, and the Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston) Multipurpose Academic Building—substantiate these findings in practice.