Learning Resources

Abstract: The demand for graduates and technicians in the academic fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is influencing the design of specialized educational facilities in community colleges. Community colleges are increasingly aligning their academic programs to the specific economic development priorities and projected demand for skilled labor in the geographic regions they serve. It is expected that partnerships with local industry will increasingly shape curriculum development and facilities design. This trend is rapidly developing in California, where community colleges are incorporating sophisticated simulation laboratories, makerspaces, and innovation centers outfitted with advanced infrastructure and equipment, along with spaces that support the full spectrum of competencies required for graduates to succeed in the STEM labor market.

Abstract: A mid-century campus confronted issues of aging infrastructure and tectonic shifts in pedagogy by implementing a comprehensive modernization plan focused on enhancing the student experience. Working with a limited budget, Laurentian University managed to transform its facilities through selective revitalization of nine buildings and some discerning construction to create a new identity, greater connectivity, and a new campus heart to support student interaction and engagement. The creative impetus stemmed from a holistic approach to rejuvenation rather than straightforward expansion—of choosing to build in, not out. This architectural response will enable the university to plan for the next 50 years with consistency and design continuity.

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: A critical concern of universities today is ensuring that students remain in their selected major and graduate promptly. In addition, there has been a renewed emphasis on scientific education presented to non-science majors. Through the renovation of the Ritenour Building, Penn State’s Eberly College of Science created an Academic Support Center as a hub of advising and assistance for prospective students, science majors, and science education. The center’s layout provides opportunities to share knowledge of science teaching with advising staff and the online learning department. The design of this space has been crafted to enhance these retention and educational goals.

Abstract: Transdisciplinary learning is the next frontier in higher education. Our innovation economy is applying tremendous pressure on all types of organizations to innovate and re-innovate at increasing speed. Transdisciplinarity requires us to engage and co-depend on others to co-identify humanity’s challenges and co-investigate and co-implement solutions in integrated and collaborative processes. To adapt and succeed, higher education needs to shift to a transdisciplinary mind-set model of learning in new environments. The Transdisciplinary Atelier is a concept for understanding space as a facilitator of disciplinary integration that can be used by all universities and colleges whether in new or existing buildings.

Abstract: The College of DuPage (COD) is a two-year community college located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. COD leaders and administrators believe that the whole team’s understanding of the “why” behind the planning and design process is vital to ensuring the achievement of a higher-quality “what” after construction. Employing an integrated project team approach by adding a construction management group to the design and facilities team, COD completed $550 million in capital projects from 2001 to 2014. The final element of COD’s most recent master plan was the development of a prototype renovation for its four satellite campuses. The goal of the prototype was to elevate the classroom experience to state-of-the-art instructional and educational standards, improve the energy performance of the facilities, and offer the same services provided at the main campus. The overarching challenge was for the planners, facilities staff, and construction managers to work together to fit a large campus educational program into a single-building prototype.

Abstract: Aged buildings, streets, alleys, back lots, a dense neighborhood, and historic landmarks—can these puzzle pieces add up to campus opportunities? The University of Chicago conceived an unexpected and dynamic new campus destination, gaining 150,500 sq. ft. of academic space and creating a new landscape with 36,000 sq. ft. of new open space and 60 new trees. Neighbors, aldermen, administration, and faculty shaped a campus planning process applicable to large and small colleges and universities, developed from creative and sustainable planning principles.

Abstract: Student learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom, yet a general understanding of student-user experiences in spaces outside of a classroom and the effect of those spaces on student experiences is limited. A collaborative research project conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Herman Miller, Inc., aimed to understand the modes of use and behaviors among students at the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons (Clough Commons). In particular, researchers wanted to study the relationship between physical space and the user experience in that space. Researchers referred to this as the “lived experience” of Clough Commons. The research took place over the course of a semester, and methods included the application of digital ethnography tools, observation, walk-up user interviews, and analysis of existing building-use data. From our research, we developed 11 use modes that describe the user activities and behaviors in Clough Commons. The use modes are meant to help designers take a more empathetic approach to design and problem solving by understanding the lived experiences of students within physical spaces. Use modes can also uncover opportunities for improving the environment to best serve student engagement and interaction. In this article, we discuss the use modes and design recommendations from our research at Clough Commons and how they may be applicable to other learning environments.

Abstract: This report was produced by the research team awarded the M. Perry Chapman Prize for 2013–2014.

As the recipients of the 2012–2013 Perry Chapman Prize show in their report, Research on Learning Design: Present State, Future Directions, the study of learning spaces in tertiary education is an emerging field in which the key issues are to “establish a body of knowledge that will guide the design, remodel, and use of new and existing learning spaces” and “evaluate these learning spaces by developing research to determine whether and how they fulfill their purposes.”

This report aims to produce complementary work by addressing the larger context of the university campus and students’ perceptions and experiences of their learning at the tertiary level more generally. Rather than starting from environmental psychology or behaviorist models, it explores the value of applying contemporary approaches from the social sciences to learning space design, an approach increasingly being developed. This, however, is not just a matter of applying a different research method; it also concerns the underlying problem of how we conceptualize relationships between material space and its occupation both generally and specifically in relationship to learning. In fact, over the last few years, theorists across many disciplines that deal with material space—such as geography, anthropology, and science and technology studies—have been critically examining precisely this issue of rethinking how to conceptualize the interrelationships between space, people, artifacts, and activities.