Stu, Stu, Studio

Question
How is one’s education affected by spaces in his/her environment (outside of the classroom)?

1. In our time, students are no longer being educated simply in school and by their parents. They are bombarded with vast amounts of information every day regardless of their age through television, advertisements, the radio, the Internet, movies, music, music videos, billboards...ect... How does this mass media influence the beliefs and values in a society and the education of its young people?

2. How do these beliefs, values, and assumptions created by the media affect a person as a student? (their goals for their future; what they want out of their education/ what topics are studied/ the value that they place on what they are being taught ect.)

3. How do students utilize, analyze, and critique information that is shared over the Internet?
-Is there an ethical problem with teachers assuming that students know how to use/have access to technology?
-Should teachers be wary of utilizing the Internet since there is so much faulty information and things not appropriate for their students’ viewing?

4. Given the same environment and the same information what makes people extrapolate different meaning? Is it partly due to what they have learned from their different environments?

5. How can the effects of these spaces be studied and used in order to incorporate their strengths into the classroom and be used to teach information in text books in a more effective and up to date manner?

Research Plan
The first tools I will need are books and any other published research that has been previously written about the topic.
After doing background research using these sources I will probably need to look into experiences of actual students of all ages, possibly with interviews, surveys, or getting volunteers to keep a log of their experiences and follow the integration of their environment in their education.
Reading List Possibilities

1. Children and their Environments: Learning, Using and Designing Spaces - Christopher Spencer

2. Inventing Better Schools, Phillip C. Schlechty
This book relates directly to a topic we have been discussing: changing education for the new information age. As I was flipping through, I found a part that discusses educators’ need to handle the vast amount information Americans are exposed to everyday. It states: “If our educational system does not prepare the citizenry to give meaning to this information to create knowledge as well as to use and evaluate knowledge created by others, citizens will feel overwhelmed by the information they are receiving...censorship and sponsor boycotts are not the answer to this problem; quality education is the only answer available in a democratic society” (pg 39)

The fact that we are all of a sudden being exposed to so much information that shapes our education is partly due to of the globalization of mass media and the internet – which is part of my topic....Here are some sources I found to go along with it:

3. Teacher Education for Critical Consumption of Mass Media and Popular Culture, Stephanie A. Fores-Koulish

4. Media Reception Studies, Janet Staiger

5. Literacy in multimedia America, Ladislaus M Semali

6. A handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, Asante

7. Cyber Spaces/ Social Spaces: Culture Clash in computerized Classrooms

8. Researching Children’s popular Culture: the cultural spaces of childhood

So, my major question:

How does the past provide us with a precedent of space for educational purposes?

Some subquestions:
- What were the movtivating factors behind classroom construction?
- In what environments did these classrooms exist and under what economical pretenses.
- How can these precedents be used towards a new "space"
- Moreover, should these precedents be re-used.

Reading Materials:
For the Class:
- Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain Compatible
Classroom
- The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Instruction
Para Me:
- The One-Room Schoolhouse
- The Problems of American Education
- Schoolhouse in the Woods
- www.sites.onlinemac.com/kcampbell/One_Room_Schoolhouses.htm
*This is a historical list of one-room schoolhouses
- edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=319
*This compares experience of attending a one room schoolhouse versus going to
school today.

-What are the major influences on a student’s education and how does space affect these influences?

I will examine the effects of the following:
-personal space
-class size
-class design (layout)
-medium of presentation of information
-digital space within the physical classroom (social forum)

The culmination of this research should address problems within the current system and offer solutions or an entirely new framework (implementing a social forum within education rather than top-down learning for example) for learning.

As far as a reading list goes...well it doesn't go very far. I'm having great difficulty finding anything beyond a single article here or there that does more than examine one facet of learning. I'm continuing the search however.

On an unrelated note, I won't be able to make class tomorrow. Instead I'll be in court for an accident I was involved in over the winter break =( Let me know what I need to do for next week and if there is anything I can take part in over the blog!

Ok, it seems that several of you . . . all but one in fact . . . weren't able to come to class today.

So, since we don't want to get behind, we would like you to do the following:

1. Post your (individual) major question and at least 5 "sub-questions" that you will be trying to answer within your majory question.

2. Post your reading list suggestions. Remember that at least 2 of the reading list suggestions should be applicable to the whole group.

3. Post your tentative thoughts about your research plan. We will talk about how to formulate a research plan on Thursday, but to prepare for that, please identify who/what will be your sources of information for the questions that you identify as your major and sub-questions. In other words, having identified the questions you need to answer, give your tentative thoughts about where you will find (and how you will find) those answers.

I too am wary of focusing our research and attentions fully on the classroom. I think this could be our main objective, how to improve this fundamental educational space, but it would also limit us to the details and fine-tuning of a classroom. Our time is limited and therefore I don't want to spend it focusing on the model of a classroom when this model may look fine and is presentable to a board, but would probably find its future in the back of a closet. I'm more interested in the fundamental ideas and theories needed in considering how space can be manipulated, if we would like to narrow this focus to space conducive to learning thats fine, but becoming extremely focused on creating the ideal classroom seems too specific. What about space in general? what type of lessons, moral, ethical, survival instincts, are nurtured by the space a person grows up in?
Perhaps this is simply where we split into two groups and can then present them as a whole and find how they interact or contradict each other.

I don't see why we would limit ourselves to only researching classroom spaces because learning how different types of spaces affect the exchange of deas can be utilized inside the classroom. Once we have a better understanding of how space is used, then we can take it and apply it to the classroom with more innovative ideas. And if we each take a different approach to the topic, we can cover more and produce a more complete & original project. More innovative ideas that incorporate research from more areas could have a more drastic impact on the design of a classroom.

Although I have no answers, I'm still mulling over the idea of what our final product will be. It seems that, even without much specific data of our own, we can create a presentation or report informing those in charge of the effects of space on learning, so if anything it will be acknowledged that you can't just throw students in a box to save money, design matters. Hopefully we can each pick a different facet of the overall effect of space on learning, as we've discussed, but it will be integral to pick the four most important facets (or more specifically, the most important yet researchable ones). I'll be thinking about this and see you guys tomorrow!

I think there are several premises raised in each of your posts that bringing us to a better understanding of the areas we want to explore. I like the idea of focusing simply on the classroom. That seems a wonderful way to limit our exploration of this complex issue. In reality, different classrooms would change how people view the whole process anyway. Since the classroom is the physical space where the "rubber meets the road" it seems like the most appropriate if we must limit ourselves a little physically.

Eric has brought up some interesting points on collection of data and availability of information. I think sources will become a little more apparent as we gain focus, but I doubt that we will be able to carry out any case studies or experiments to collect first hand observations. Perhaps, the answer is to go into this knowing that we can only create a map and point thought and exploration in a specific direction without doing any "real world" tests ourselves, (at least not within the confines of a semester or two). Maybe raising the questions and laying a foundation for their further exploration is enough of a goal at this point. Basically, we would make a full case for why this area needs much more study and what those possibilities might be.

It feels a little like stopping short, but the confines of this course and our current activities as full time students will force us to be a little more pragmatic then wildly ambitious.

Furthermore, I think this something we could all do as a group...I'm sorry to sound like a broken record, but I love the group dynamic!

I agree with Samantha because different spaces are going to effect students in different ways and changing the lay out of a classroom might simply benifit a different student rather than more students. I think the topic of research we all are hitting at is how space is used in the exchange of ideas and how this effects a student's education and capabilities for future employment. We need to be careful when talking about changing the current system of education because we might risk loosing essential and valuable aspects of education. We have discussed preparing students for a changing economy, but we still need students to have traditionally taught skills, because some jobs will always call for them. We must focus on ways to produce well rounded individuals who are able to adapt and think in different ways in different situations rather than habitually thinking one way or another. I think the best approach to this is to maintain a central idea, but the four of us should work on one/several question(s) that pertain to the this topic of research so we can cover more areas in more depth.

After today's class I feel fairly certain that the question I enjoy and am interested in is how space in the classroom can be manipulated to fit a changing economy and take full advantage of this century's developing technology. I have questions simply because I am completely ignorant in this topic; I know very little about the economical system, where its been and where its heading therefore i'm limited in how i can approach this topic. Creating an environment conducive to active learning for the majority of the students in the United States is a complex task, and I wonder how valid any of our research or assumptions would be, what responsibility would we hold towards those students who are the minority. On the flip side the traditional school-house setting leaves many students at a disadvantage, would we be simply shifting the focus group? These are a my thoughts on our central idea and some of the obstacles i believe we would face.

samantha cawthorne

I like the direction we're going in, especially if our research comes together in a presentable, functional form; however, I'm concerned about how we will actually gather data on this topic. I know of several scientific journals that I can scour in order to find some useable information, but as this topic is not straight forward, solid data may be difficult to procure. We are analyzing how people learn, and more specifically, how space affects the way in which people learn. Unfortunately, when conducting research it will be difficult to weed out confounding factors such as the medium in which information is sent (authority or lack thereof plays a large role here) as well as the intent of the students. It has been proven that a different portion of the brain is used when someone intends to recreate a scenario (do a math problem, a flip, speak, etc) that enables memory to be more hardwired. What I'm getting at is that we need to ensure that our questions, goals, etc are attainable and our conclusions will not be blurred or obviously errant due to the infinite array of people that take part in learning.

Here we are in our own little educational cyber space, talking about...well...educational spaces.
Things that make you say, hmmmmmmm!

The topic of this project, educational spaces, is difficult to get one's mind around. There are so many factors effecting this issue that I find it hard to really get locked in on one aspect. However, I think most people take it completely for granted without realizing how essential it is to the success of everyone individually, as communities, and even as a nation or culture. We obviously value education very highly as we spend a great amount of our resources on it, but what product are we getting for our investment?

I would like to take this opportunity (our project) to challenge many of the assumptions about current educational spaces, explore some alternative conclusions, and prepare a report that, in theory, could effect some real world policy. We won't be able to design the perfect high school or write a perfect curriculum, but we could share some research that might influence an architect designing a new school, a superintendent starting a building plan, or school board member voting on a budget to look at their situation in a new way.

We might need to scale it down a bit and really dial in our focus, but I think many of the things we are discussing could fit into this. Perhaps, through this discussion we could really focus on one aspect from four different perspectives.

I have to say I am really excited about working with everyone this semester. It is different...and a little scary...but I know it could be really rewarding.

Here is the Mind map from today's class.
Click here or on the image to make it larger.

For next time: Post your initial thoughts and/or questions about the research project--what we should be asking, what the "big questions" are, what necessary background questions we will need to ask and answer before making recommendations etc, and then your ideas for organizing, dividing, and coordinating the research. Try to have your initial posts by midnight tonight (Tuesday) then your secondary thoughts (after reading the others' initial thoughts) by 9:00 on Thursday.