Justify
Our design philosophy details a variety of concrete, tangible elements in the classroom. It also justifies those elements, pedagogically, in a persuasive fashion. Although it’s written in a Q & A format below, it’s a script we all know by heart, as we have repeated it many times throughout the year. Whether we are talking to our students, instructional technology staff, administration, architects, facilities, or faculty in other departments, we make a habit of telling everyone that we, as a department, are committed to digital innovation and collaboration with our colleagues, our students, and our community. Our objective is to build hands-on learning spaces that help us work together to reach those goals.
Why do you create a studio environment?
We value active, hands-on learning
Our curriculum, centered on digital production, emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning. All students in our Communication Studies department combine theory and practice as they “learn by doing.” A studio setting is important because we believe theory isn’t enough; students must have practice applying the skills and knowledge they learn about in class. Class projects focus on the creation of media-convergent texts that combine multiple modalities including sound, image, and user interaction. Students build their knowledge of techniques and media to develop a digital portfolio over a number of years. Open studio hours are an important part of the learning process, as students have a place to practice new skills and abilities.
Why do you need small class sizes?
We value contact between instructor and student
Teachers and scholars of multimodal composition recognize production-oriented work as labor intensive. When asked to produce multimodal compositions (e.g., video, audio production, web design), students are often required to work in new, unfamiliar, and shifting spaces. The work of producing these compositions requires a range of learning activities, including close interactions between teacher and student (e.g., tutoring, training, and mentoring), peer-to-peer interactions, collaborative group work, lecture, seminar, and discussion. Small class sizes ensure that students receive the support they need as they explore new rhetorical genres and experiment with new technologies.
Why do you use large display screens?
We value collaborative work
Collaborative group work is a way for students to pool resources and skills to complete complex tasks (that they might not be able to accomplish alone). Peer-to-peer interaction enables students to work within their own zone of proximal development (Vygotsky 1978), and helps them navigate unfamiliar terrain with more confidence. Our pedagogical directive is to provide the space and guidance necessary for rigorous student engagement. Multiple large-panel display screens ensure that students have an optimal experience and are not crowded around one small screen while working together. Multiple laptop/tablet inputs mean that each student is part of an active, hands-on experience, even in a group setting.
Why is your furniture mobile?
We value learning in communities
Rather than knowledge being something that is “discovered,” we believe knowledge is socially constructed. To that end, we seek to design spaces that encourage students to engage in the process of learning together. Learning communities are defined as “groups of people working together with shared interests, common goals, and responsibilities toward one another and the group as a whole” (Brophy 2004, 27). Movable, ergonomic furniture allows students to assemble in multiple configurations to complete shared tasks and achieve objectives, while the professor moves among them interacting, facilitating, and fostering opportunities for engaged learning. Moveable, reconfigurable tables and chairs allow students freedom to explore possibilities; learning can happen in unstructured, non-predictable ways.
Why is your technology on the periphery?
We put learning first (technology second)
We believe the focus of classroom design, even technology-rich classroom design, needs to be on students first, not technology. When the focus is placed on fostering active, social, experiential learning, technologies often move into the background. While students have access to cutting-edge resources as they make and reflect upon media, our core learning outcomes are based not on ever-changing technological skills, but on effective communication, teamwork, innovation, design thinking, and social entrepreneurship.