MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Abstract China currently faces a significant challenge in the educational field. The class-teaching system and its congruent educational architecture are out-of-date. This study aims to determine how modern educational architecture in China developed into the current situation and explore a new typology of classroom building layout that would enhance the teaching-learning efficiency and quality. The new typology is developed based on the ancient teaching philosophy, while also learning from the experiences of the development and changes of educational architecture in China in each stage for the past 150 years. In this context, a classroom building is defined as the building at a campus that serves the function of teaching and learning with other supportive programs, not a building with only regular classrooms. To develop this typological layout in a classroom building, besides a series of historical materials, an in-person survey was also distributed to potential users of the chosen site. High school students and teachers were randomly given the survey and asked to express their concerns and thoughts of current campus and school buildings. The results show that integrative and interactive spaces that would provide complex functions are needed.

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

BA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

Hallways (commonly termed `'in-between' spaces) in schools can focus on engaging students in learning, interaction, and socialization outside of the formal classroom. The underutilization of hallways and the demand for flexible learning opportunities call for reassessing the design criteria of these in-between spaces in the education facilities (Nair, 2014). Ray Oldenburg's (2001) investigation into environments outside the home and work revealed socially vital places such as cafes, libraries, restaurants, termed as `Third Places', support, and rejuvenate communities. This exploratory study poses the question: Can there be a paradigm shift in rethinking the hallways as third places for students? Can these third places promote collaboration and interaction, both formal and informal? What design factors can be utilized within the hallways to foster these opportunities? A thorough literature review and in-depth investigation of the four case studies, which used the hallways as an extension of the classroom, was conducted. The case studies present design solutions for active learning approaches, those that produce an environment in which useful interactions strengthen (Steel, 2015). The researcher interviewed designers from each case study to understand the strategies used for the design of the hallways. A set of design guidelines were developed after a content analysis of the interview results. These design guidelines contain programmatic concepts such as resources, classroom support, furniture, acoustics, lighting, and adaptability, which were further expanded by analyzing them through the lens of Oldenburg's Third Place design strategies. These concepts and strategies drove the re-design of the hallways in an existing school to show the opportunity for hallway spaces as third places. This exploratory study intends to develop a design toolkit and a prototype to engage students thoughtfully in their educational environments beyond the four walls of a classroom.

Committee: Tina Patel Ph.D. (Advisor); Jill Lahrmer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Katherine Rawson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Natasha Levinson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Design; Education; Interior Design

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

It is a question that has been asked by educators for decades—How do we educate those at the margins? The answer has never been simple, but it has been worth pursuing. The needs of diverse individuals are not easily generalized, but they do prove to be, in many ways, architectural. This is thrown into sharp relief as children with special needs are integrated into public schools through inclusion programs. Students find themselves in unfamiliar environments that were not designed to accommodate people who learn the way that they do. The new spaces that they find themselves in, rather than responding to a behaviorist educational approach, are designed to accommodate a more constructivist one, and some of the many benefits of inclusion are mitigated by this shift. Because this problem is one created by architecture, it is best solved by it. Through extensive affordance-based observation, classroom behavior reveals patterns of needs that can be addressed through architectural interventions. By grouping these patterns, four key objectives can be identified: -Reinforcement of Inward Focus -Construction of Centralized Transitions -Opportunities for Sequence -Opportunities for Sensory and Motor Stimulation Optimal architectural strategies for each of these objectives is examined at the scale of the individual, the scale of the classroom, and the scale of the school, and a specific, adaptable language is developed through the layering of these strategies. The diverse nature of existing general education schools mandates this adaptability, and to demonstrate it, College Hill Fundamental Academy, an elementary school in the Cincinnati Public School District, serves as a case study. The school requires and accommodates interventions through the employ of the developed language, accessibility improvements, and programmatic additions that inhabit an added structure.

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Thomas Bible M.C.E. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

The world is in the midst of an environmental crisis. Global warming and mass extinction are looming threats, which research has proven are the results of human activity. Specifically, human activities that deal with the construction and subsequent operational energy requirements of our built environment contribute more to environmental degradation than any other factor; more so even than automobiles and power plants. This is a fact that the general public often overlooks, largely because the damaging effects of our built environment are either completely invisible or immediately destructive only to distant locations. This results in a false sense of security that has become the foundation of a severe disconnection between humans and the natural world, as well as an educational gap between the general public and the tangible positive alternatives that currently exist. All of this leaves Architecture with an enormous opportunity to not only physically demonstrate best practices from a design and construction standpoint, but also to act as a tangible educational tool to encourage the behavioral changes that our society needs.

Committee: Dr. Jeffrey Tilman (Advisor) Subjects: Architecture

MS ARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

Combining a specific educational methodology with a specific approach to building can be an effective way to study the impacts of physical environment on learning capabilities. The outcome of this study will create a better understanding of the connection between Montessori teaching and the built environment. This thesis will investigate the relationship between the concepts of Montessori teaching and the process of building high performance sustainable facilities. The concept of combining Montessori teaching methods with high performance facilities will be investigated in this thesis to create a better system for learning. The result of this system will advance the Montessori teaching methods by better integrating the philosophies with the physical environment, which will make the overall learning experience more meaningful

Committee: Gordon Simmons (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Elementary

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Computer Science

With the rapid growth of Cloud Computing, the use of Clouds in educational settings can provide great opportunities for Computer Science students to improve their learning outcomes. In this thesis, we introduce Cloud-Based Education architecture (CBE) as well as Cloud-Based Education for Computer Science (CBE-CS) and propose an automated CBE-CS ecosystem for implementation. This research employs the Cloud as a learning environment for teaching Computer Science courses by removing the locality constraints, while simultaneously improving students' understanding of the material provided through practical experience with the finer details and subjects' complexities. In addition, this study includes a comparison between Cloud-based virtual classrooms and the traditional e-learning system to highlight the advantages of using Clouds in such a setting. We argue that by deploying Computer Science courses on the Cloud, the institution, administrators, faculty, and the students would gain significant advantages from the new educational setting. The infrastructure buildup, the software updating and licenses managements, the hardware configurations, the infrastructure space, maintenance, and power consumption, and many other issues will be either eliminated or minimized using the Cloud technology. On the other hand, the number of enrolled students is likely to increase since the Cloud will increase the availability of the needed resources for interactive education of larger number of students; it can deliver advanced technology for hands-on training, and can increase the readiness of the students for job market. The CBE-CS approach is more likely to allow faculty to better demonstrate the subjects' complexities to the students by renting he needed facilities whenever it is desired. The research also identified several potential Computer Science courses which could be launched and taught through Clouds. In addition, the selected courses have been classified based on three well- (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Hassan Rajaei PhD (Advisor); Guy Zimmerman PhD (Committee Member); Jong Lee PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science