This conference, sponsored by the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education, was held in Cambridge, MA, April 11-13, 2002.

Conference Sessions

Overview

Lifelong Learning—What Do We Expect?

The Campus as Classroom: Issues and Opportunities

Sustaining and Promoting an Educational Facilities Design

Keynote: Lifelong Learning on a 21st-Century Campus

Learning from Living

Technology: The Unifier in a Multidiscipline Educational Environment

Equity and Excellence-Making an Urban School System Work

Sustainability-Massachusetts Sustainable Schools Pilot Program

Planning at MIT

Tours at MIT

Dreyfus Chemistry Building

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Distance Learning at MIT

TEAL Room (Technology Enabled Active Learning)

Albert and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center

Simmons Hall Undergraduate Dormitory

Ray and Maria Stata Center

Technology: The Unifier in a Multidiscipline Educational Environment
Robert Pahl, AIA, Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Inc.

Robert Pahl discussed three universities that have recently undergone either renovations or new construction to meet the needs of new technologies and learning methods: The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, Suffolk University Law School in Boston, and the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington.

Mount Sinai, faced with accreditation issues, created a timeline to update themselves. They found that there's a move away from large lectures and toward active learning with complimentary labs and online work. Their 92,000-square-foot, $30 million renovation is scheduled for completion in 2004.

The Suffolk University Law School in Boston, a 293,000-square-foot new construction project, was completed in 1999 for $41.4 million.

The University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, also a new construction project, will be completed in 2004. It will be 80,000 square feet and is expected to cost $15.8 million.

Each of the facilities was designed to include the following features:

• Experiential learning-real or simulated situations
• Library learning centers-walk-up email, accommodation of different work and study styles
• Skills assessment centers-places where experiential learning can be assessed
• Conference facilities-good in university, interaction with students
• Multi-modal classrooms-this means different sizes
• Work style accommodations-for a range of group sizes

Experiential learning
At Suffolk there is a moot courtroom with 2,500 net square feet. This includes space for 108 observers, 14 jurors, 14 alternates, and 5 judges. It was built to federal court standards and can be monitored, taped, and taught throughout the school.

Mount Sinai has a human simulator lab. It has 6 stations; OR, ICU, inpatient; floor fed services; a control room; and plasma screens. Also, there is a robot patient that the students can practice on. In addition, the school has a virtual surgery education center with 8 OR stations, 6 dry stations, a universal precautions area, a surgical robot, and a 52-seat classroom.

Library learning centers
Suffolk's law library has one seat per student and space for group study. In addition, it is fully wired and has a computer service center.

At Mt. Sinai, the medical library learning center is 30,000 square feet, which includes an 8,000-square-foot reading room, 24/7 access, 235 wired seats, 6 study rooms, and vending and café tables.

Skills assessment center
At Mt. Sinai's Morchand Center for Standardized Patient Care, students can practice their skills on actors pretending to have a specific illness. There are 14 exam rooms, separate entries, an observation room, and video and audio to capture the interactions.

Conference facilities
The University of Vermont's College of Medicine's conference facilities include a 150-seat auditorium, a 150-seat flat-floored conference room, and 6 breakout rooms. Everything is wired for AV.

Multimodal classrooms
Mt. Sinai has a room that can seat 120 as a full class, or it can be broken up into three 52-seat, 50-seat, and 40-seat spaces; or 13 12-seat spaces. Suffolk has a 90- to 130-seat tiered classroom, 45-seat tiered classrooms, 24-seat flat-floored classrooms, 108-seat moot court room, and a 16-seat moot court room.

At Vermont, the small group rooms are 16' x 24', accommodate 14 students, have 2 zones of activity (group learning and simulated exams) and dedicated AV storage. The furniture is flexible, wired, and interlockable. Its simulated exam space includes a mobile exam table, video monitoring, and direct exam lighting.

Work-style accommodation
To accommodate work styles, everything, including cafeterias and lounge spaces, is wired. These facilities have fully wired furniture that is also easily removable. The components should be plug-ins. In addition, all three new facilities have staircases that are commodious to allow for unexpected interactions.

What are the costs?
Suffolk (new construction) cost $204/square foot. Mt. Sinai (renovation), which is a tight site with difficult construction constraints, cost $340/square foot. Vermont's College of Medicine (new construction) was $198/square foot.

In addition, noted Pahl, electronic classroom budgeting is typically $1,200 to $1,800 per seat in architectural costs, $856 to $1,000 per seat for data, and $1,200 to $1,600 per seat for AV.

In conclusion, Pahl listed the do's and don'ts of integrating the latest teaching technologies and systems:

Do:

• Benchmark prototypes
• Standardize teaching spaces
• Design for different modalities
• Explore shared use
• Understand AV and IT requirements
• Test the design with 3D models
• Resolve 24/7 access and security issues
• Watch for daylighting and shading
• Anticipate continuing education programs
• Design interaction as net program

Don't

• Mix water and computers
• Let technology take over
• Forget that there will be "seat creep"
• Limit white boards
• Loose sight of viewing distances
• Block seats with instructor's podium
• Obscure teaching wall with screen
• Mess up on the podium
• Forget the human element

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.