How do we know when we and others understand something?

(COPYRIGHT © 2010 MIKAEL POWELL. All Rights Reserved)
The question “How do we know when we and others understand something?” is very interesting to me because it actually queries the depth of learning and the validity of the knowledge. This week’s readings and discussion cites the inability of students to understand the lesson well enough to apply it outside of class and the absurdity of trying to teach the totality of human knowledge to the detriment of focusing on the important.

Likewise, in university arts and design education, while each professor has an opinion as to what is most valid to learn and how deeply the student must grasp the concepts, the final arbitrator is the college accreditation boards (CIDA for Interior Design and NAAB for Architecture). CIDA describes understanding as “a thorough comprehension of concepts and their interrelationships… [as] demonstrated in completed student work, or may be found through student interviews” (CIDA 2009 Standards).

Validity is prescribed in the framework of interior design practice and the historical, theoretical, and technical contents of interior design practice. Likewise, NAAB describes understanding as “the capacity to classify, compare, summarize, explain and/or interpret information” which is evidenced by proficiency in using specific information to accomplish a task, correctly selecting the appropriate information, and accurately applying it to the solution of a specific problem, while also distinguishing the effects of its implementation” (NAAB 2009 standards).

With both standards seemingly aligned with the tenets of teaching for deep understanding, it seems strange that significant teaching practices in university arts and design are rooted to the practice of didactic instruction with coursework from the History of Architecture to Building Construction Technical courses delivered to present an overview of the world and assess rote responses. Perhaps this is because most architecture professors have no formal training in teaching. The terminal degree in architecture and design is the Masters and most instructors were project architects or project designers that led teams of designers at a firm. Master degrees in design and architecture do not include teacher training, but rather, offer specialization in a project type. Many professors rely on their university experiences as a student in the latter 1970’s and 1980’s. Even a PhD in architecture does not include instruction in teaching at the university level.

Regardless, with accreditation standards that set application as the test for determining how we know when we and others understand something, pedagogical practices should eventually revise themselves.

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An Environmental-Behavioralist Case Study for an Education facility

(COPYRIGHT © 2009 MIKAEL POWELL. All Rights Reserved)
Cherulnik (1993) reports on the Jones dormitory redesign case study for Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. It was conduct by Andrew Baum and Stuart Valins, researchers who have studied crowding behaviors in human populations. Over a period of three years, they studied two areas of one floor in the existing dormitory at the university. The spaces varied in social density within their residential units. The researchers incorporated observation, questionnaires and discussion groups to obtain their data. Results were used to influence the re-design. Cherulnik reported:
The project succeeded in demonstrating a promising approach to environmental-design research, one rooted firmly in the traditions of social science. It began with a sophisticated conceptual analysis bringing together several separate theories and extensive supporting research from such diverse traditions as ethnology, laboratory experimentation, and naturalistic quasi experimentation. It continued with dedicated research in the context for which new design solutions were sought, research that was conducted using state-of- the-art methods. Finally, the design inferred from that research was evaluated with the assistance of careful arrangements that provided experimental comparisons in a natural setting. (Cherulnik 1993, p.129)
Much like the architectural case study model for academics, the purpose of this case study is to inform the new redesign and it was essential in the theory supporting design of the new space. Likewise, this study goes beyond simply documenting existing fact. For the architectural practitioner, the case study is specific and comprehensive, delivering research information without inspirational appeal. In addition, unlike tenets of the architectural case study model for practitioners, the physicality of the layouts is illustrated in one simple line drawing.
However, the Jones dormitory redesign case study is a good example of Environmental-Behavioralist research in that it is detailed in context, description of place, method, and results. It goes on to provide favorable comments from students after the dormitory had been renovated. Directly, results of this study were incorporated into the six-stage research that culminated in a post-occupancy evaluation, but a greater audience of professionals will find this work beneficial.

References on the Case Study Method

References
Amaratunga, D. & Baldry, D. (2001). The debate about quantitative and qualitative research in the built environment: A question of method or epistemology? Refereed paper in the Proceedings of Bizarre Fruit International Postgraduate Conference, The University of Salford, Salford, UK, 129-149.

Architectural Record (2008). Schools of the 21st Century: the latest thinking and best ideas on the planning and design of K – 12 school buildings. [Supplement], New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from http://www.architecturalrecord.construction.com/schools/0712_casestudy_intro.asp

Architectural Record (2006). Architectural Record Editorial, New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from http://www.architecturalrecord.com/advertise/2006/AR_Editirialpdf.pdf

Architectural Record (2009a). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from http://archrecord.construction.com/community/

Architectural Record (2009b). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from http://www.magazinesubscription.co.uk/subscribe-to/Architectural-Record-Magazine.html

Cherulnik, P. (1993). Applications of environment-behavior research: Case studies and analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Filemyr, A. (1999). Interdisciplinarity as a commitment to social change. Network Issues and Ideas, 16, 1, 8-14.

Grannis, P. (1994). Postoccupancy Evaluation: An avenue for applied environment-behavior research in planning practice. Journal of Planning Literature, 9, 2, 210-219.

Hamilton, D. K. & Watkins, D. (2009) Evidence-based design for multiple building types. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lackney, J. (1999). Assessing school facilities for learning/ assessing the impact of the physical environment on the educational process: Integrating theoretical issues with practical concerns. Paper presented at UEF21 New Jersey Institute of technology conference, Newark, NJ September 17, 1999.

Lattuca, L. (2001). Creating interdisciplinarity: Interdisciplinary research and teaching among college and university faculty. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Pol, E.(2006). Blueprints for a history of environmental psychology (I): From First Birth to American Transition, Medio Ambiente y Comportamiento Humano, Vol. 7, 2, pages 95- 113.

Pol, E. (2007) Blueprints for a history of environmental psychology (II):
From architectural psychology to the challenge of sustainability, Medio Ambiente y Comportamiento Humano, 8., 1y2, pages 1 – 28.

Stake, R. (1997). Case study methods in educational research: Seeking sweetwater. In Jaeger, R. (Ed.), Complementary methods for research in education, second edition. (pp.401-414).Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Stake, R. (1997). Introduction analyzing the case study. In Jaeger, R. (Ed.), Complementary methods for research in education, second edition. (pp.423-424).Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Ulrich, R. (2006). Evidence-based health-care architecture. Lancet, 368, S38–S39.

Upitis, R. (2007). Four strong schools: Developing a sense of place through school architecture. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 8(Interlude 1), 1 – 15.

Architectural Ethnography and Case Study

(COPYRIGHT © 2009 MIKAEL POWELL. All Rights Reserved)
Wolcott (1997) says that the use of ethnographic techniques alone does not make an ethnography. Ethnography is the sum of the parts – it is both process and product and they are employed to give a robust and complete picture of a way of life.
For my work in evaluating the influence of architecture on individual learning outcomes, there is a big difference between the use of ethnographic techniques such as in a case study and ethnography.
Case study -The manner of case studies of architectural facilities vary and so the determination of a successful one is transitive. I believe that A Case Study should highlight a process which: identifies values, sets programmatic objectives, develops the architectural design, guides through construction, and formally assesses whether objectives have been realized and the values have been supported. Please see the attached graphic. If I was conducting a case study of a new University building the manner of research might occur as illustrated. For instance, consider the following variables:
Major Value – school is being renovated to increase learning proficiency.

Objective - Jetson (2012) says daylighting increases achievement by boosting each student’s attentiveness, therefore students must be subjected to 50% more daylight.

Architects designs skylights in classrooms and administers building construction contract.

Formal assessment documents skylight installation and proper functioning. Formal assessment verifies that student attentiveness is boosted 50% and learning proficiency has increased.

An ethnography would be quite different. MIT was the first school of architecture in America. Its archives have student projects and biographies of students and professors from the late 19th century. The majority of existing university buildings in the US were constructed just after that era (the early 20th century). Therefore discovering the way of life that was the impetus for the educational facilities that we ‘inherit’ would enrich our understandings of the spaces that we continue to inhabit. An historic ethnography would be conducted in a way far less linear than the case study method. (See figure 2.) Perhaps it would follow the progress of one student through architecture school at that time into an architectural practice that designs university buildings or perhaps it will focus on the deveopement of the MIT campus from the inception of the architecture school to the early 20th century.
(COPYRIGHT © 2009 MIKAEL POWELL. All Rights Reserved)