Plenary Presentation on Learning and Space with Wendy Newstetter at PKAL conference on planning learning spaces

1. LEARNING AND SPACE
Wendy Newstetter, Georgia Tech
Elliot Felix, DEGW
Plenary Session II
PKAL Fall ’09
1 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

2. INTRODUCTION
AGENDA
INTRODUCTION (5mins) What
are the key considerations when
Is this space thinking about the relationship
supporting learning? between learning and space?
GROUP EXERCISE (30mins)
Reverse engineering a problem
and its implications in teams of 3
REPORT BACK (20mins)
Reactions and conclusions across
the groups
IMPLICATIONS (10mins) What
this means in terms of people,
process, and place?
CONCLUSION (5mins) How you
can get started using this process?
2 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

3. INTRODUCTION
LEARNING AND SPACE
Georgia Tech PBL Room WHERE AND HOW LEARNING
HAPPENS: Across a range of
settings and unfortunately often in
spite of space not because of it
SPACE IS A MEANS: Space should
be considered a means, not an end
unto itself. It exists only to support
people and activities.
Google London (DEGW) DESIGN EXPERIENCES:
Understand the activities and then
design the experiences not just the
space
ROADMAP: Answering the
fundamental questions of who, what,
where, when, how and why provide
a roadmap for learning space design
3 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

4. GROUP EXERCISE
QUESTIONS
WHO: Who is the learner? Who is
supporting the learner?
WHAT: What is to be learned? What
are the objectives?
WHERE: Where does the learning
happen? Enabled by what sort of
space, technology, and furnishings?
WHEN: When does the learning
happen? Over what timeframe might
this problem be solved?
HOW: How will the learner tackle
this problem?
WHY: Why are the students
learning? What does this problem
say about the reasons they are
learning?
4 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

5. IMPLICATIONS
WHO IS THE LEARNER?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Students are sponges who enroll in a Students bring their own perspectives
university without much knowledge and life-experiences and must take an
and experience. They are there to active role in shaping their own
soak it all up. education, with ubiquitous access to
information and a need for guidance –
“knowledge navigation.”1
Notes:
1. James Hilton, CIO University of Virginia
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6. IMPLICATIONS
WHAT IS TO BE LEARNED?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Students should be given problems Students should be asked questions
they can answer, otherwise they risk they cannot answer. It’s during the
not learning anything from it moments they stretch that they
actually learn, preferably in public
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7. IMPLICATIONS
WHERE DOES LEARNING HAPPEN?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Learning happens in designated Learning happens everywhere1 –
places on campuses, such as formally and informal, in everything
classroom and lectures halls from libraries and laboratories to cafes
and corridors
Notes:
1. DEGW refers to this range of settings as
7 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix
the "Learning Landscape”

8. IMPLICATIONS
WHEN DOES LEARNING HAPPEN?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Learning happens on a specific With a supportive network of learning
schedule, generally in 50minute spaces, learning happens around the
increments clock
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9. IMPLICATIONS
HOW DOES LEARNING HAPPEN?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Learning is an individual endeavor. Learning is a social process that
Only through individual effort and happens by students relating what
feedback/commentary specific to the they are learning to their own life and
individual. experiences and benefitting from other
students doing the same.
9 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

10. IMPLICATIONS
WHY ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM NEW PARADIGM
Students are enrolled to learn ABOUT Students are engaged in a process of
specific topics1 learning TO BE a practitioner of a
discipline1
Notes:
1. See John Seeley Brown on “Learning to
10 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix
be” rather than “learning about”

11. IMPLICATIONS
PEOPLE
To shift toward this new paradigm, a new mindset and a new
skillset are needed for learning spaces. This includes learner-
centered planning, supporting “learning to be,” and providing
“knowledge navigation” along the way.
The cash register comes to you...
Structure
Roles
Communication
Apple Store Mobile Checkout (Design: BCJ) Boundaries
11 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

12. IMPLICATIONS
PROCESS
To design learning experiences rather than spaces, the process
must understand user needs and organizational goals and then
align the design to them. Design strategy does this by using
research to fully define the design problem and employing an
iterative , participatory process to develop an integrated
solution.
University of Minnesota Workshop (DEGW)
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13. IMPLICATIONS
PLACE
Where can learning happen? Everywhere.
DEGW's Learning LandscapeSM approach plans for networks of
physical and virtual places for learning, discovery, and interaction
and cultivates a rich mix of spaces – formal and informal,
specialized and multi-purpose, owned and shared
MIT Stata Center (Design: Gehry partners)
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14. CONCLUSION
LEARNING AND SPACE
Georgia Tech PBL Room ROADMAP: Answering who, what,
where, when, how, and why enable
you to understand the activities and
the objectives and then build a
scenario
DESIGN LEARNING
EXPERIENCES: Don’t think of the
space as product. Use the scenario
to think about the services and
Google London (DEGW) support needed along with space
and then think about how they are
linked to create a network
PROCESS COUNTS: Supply rarely
creates demand when it comes to
learning space. Need to work with
faculty to shift toward to new
paradigm and support them in this
journey
14 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix

15. THANK YOU!
Wendy Newstetter, Georgia Tech
wendy@bme.gatech.edu
Elliot Felix, DEGW
efelix@DEGW.com
1 | 10.16.09 | PKAL FALL WORKSHOP | Wendy Newstetter and Elliot Felix