Committee on Architecture for Education

  • 1.  CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: Higher Education Sub-committee

    Posted 05-12-2011 03:42 AM
      |   view attached
    The AIA CAE created the Higher Education sub-committee alongside several others in 2009 and charged it with the responsibility to create, gather and disperse new knowledge regarding the design of learning environments in tertiary educational systems.

    We've approached this task with two underlying premises:
    • That learning environments influence the learning process and
    • That learning environments and/or facilities should support (and not impede) the learning process.
    We carry out research initiatives in the following areas:

    a) Innovative Learning Environments and Bench-marking
    b) Higher Education Master Planning
    c) Design Process and Sustainability

    In the last year, our team -  which comprises of architects, academic researchers and university facility owners/managers - conducted a webinar on creating Net-Zero Campus Architecture in conjunction with the Society for College and Universities Planning and the New York Times Knowledge Network. It also reviewed a Steelcase Learning Labs webinar. The Steelcase Learning lab researches  learning spaces through observation and videography in order to create positive learning experiences in higher education facilities.

    Currently, we are working on an analysis of design responses to the SCALE-UP pedagogical approach in universities. SCALE-UP is an innovative and successful teaching method which uses large, medium and small learning groups to teach academic content and is gaining traction across the nation. It will also embark on post-occupancy evaluations of cutting edge, award-winning facilities to help identify and consolidate user responses and lessons learned to other designers.

    We need more volunteers across board - students, interns, licensed professionals, professors, facility managers etc - to help us continue the exciting work we have started.

    We meet just once a month via phone conference calls and communicate largely through linked-in and occasional emails.

    We keep our meetings brief and on time, and  attempt to have a little fun as well...well, as much fun as our nerdy research topics will allow!

    If you are interested in joining us, please reply to me (hit reply to sender) and I'll contact you with more details.

    PS. For the more nerdy version of this email, please see the attachement.

    Thank you.
    Bukky Akinsanmi,
    Chairperson,
    AIA-CE Hi-Ed Sub-committee
    CAE EdSpaces 2024 CFP