Collaboration in New Spaces: One Room, One Summer, One Two-Year Technical College
Amy Edwards Patterson, Moraine Park Technical College
Introduction
Identify the Needs of Students
Articulate Pedagogical Goals
Operationalize Goals
Continue to Change
Celebrate Rewards
Develop Solutions for Challenges
Operationalize pedagogical goals through technologies, environments, systems, and people
Equal input from instructors, administrators, technical support staff, and other stakeholders allowed the team to operationalize instructional goals by considering technology, access, professional development, budgeting concerns, sustainability, and interfaces. In this stage of the classroom development process, “the design team builds on the instructional goals they have identified to articulate a set of operational goals—that is, increasingly concrete decisions about what should go on in computer-rich teaching environments on a day-to-day basis, and how the material resources of such environments should be deployed to achieve a community’s set of instructional goals” (R. Selfe, 2005, p. 67). Although the team made substitutions between the planning stages, the group felt pleased with their final decision. The room included an “X-type format for a seating assignment,” as Hurtienne described. “There are four small group tables, designed in an X-format, so that anywhere that you sit you could see the other groups; you can see where the instructor is moving throughout the classroom” (Hurtienne, personal communication, 2012). Each table was considered a learning pod, which included high technology, such as computers, iPads, and touchscreen SMART Boards, as well as low technology, including dry erase boards on wheels. As the instructors desired, there was no front of the room or separate instructor’s station, and due to the mobility of the furniture, the classroom could be transformed at any time. Leadership Development Instructor Mary Vogl-Rauscher, who worked with the team to pick out the furniture, considered the mobility an important component in her work:
You can configure this room a hundred different ways, and it could meet every instructor’s needs, not just one class, not just one prototype. But the room was set up so that it would meet all the different instructors’ needs regardless of what they liked. So it was a lot of fun being able to select the different equipment. At first you say, oh, this is a big classroom, we’ve got all kinds of room to put all kinds of things. But it was amazing how fast the room filled up with the different choices that we made within the college’s budget. (personal communication, n.d.)
Although instructors were allowed to take the lead with furniture, collaborating with several departments and stakeholders helped the entire team stay within the college’s budget. The building was already under construction in the area where the active-learning classroom is now located, so the team simply added the room into the existing construction plan: “So it was a brand new facility, brand new rooms, and the facilities team did a nice job of doing that, and then it was our job to fill it up … ready to go really by the first week of school [in fall of 2011] with all what I call the non-techy stuff, and then we really worked to get the technology pieces fine-tuned by the beginning of the next semester” (Pahlow, personal communication, 2013). The construction, in some ways, is still an ongoing process, as the college continues to tweak when necessary, with a particular focus on sustainability in design and room updates.
Sustainability in space design was a crucial component to operationalizing instructional goals, since Moraine Park considers sustainability important for staff as well as students. For example, the college tries to be paperless, and all student papers must be submitted online. In addition, various programs and initiatives at the college explore concepts related to sustainability: hydroponics gardening, sustainable energy, green manufacturing programs, and sustainable design. For building initiatives and design, all of the Wisconsin technical colleges embrace sustainable building development. According to Tim Flood, the Associate Director of Facilities for Moraine Park, the college is dedicated to “ensuring resources are utilized with fiscal and environmental responsibility” (personal communication, 2013). Moraine Park follows a set design process for most projects, creating a design team that includes participants from academics, facilities and maintenance, instructional technology, and the architectural firm Summerville Incorporated. As seen in video 4, Flood explained his experience with the active-learning classroom by reporting that “once academics brought the vision to the project, we had to figure out what was going to be incorporated,” ranging from technology to sustainable features (personal communication, 2013).
Figure 4: LEED Certification |
Flood elaborated, “The Wisconsin Technical College System requires the technical colleges to build projects or buildings that are 5,000 square feet or greater to silver LEED level. However, Moraine Park has made the commitment to try to build all of our new buildings and remodeling projects to the highest [LEED] points available” (personal communication, 2013). Although this particular project was too small to reach silver LEED level, Flood and his team incorporated a range of sustainable features. For example, the insulation in the room was developed from recyclable blue jeans, an example of “blue jean insulation.” In addition to the blue jeans, the group made sure to recycle many materials, including “demo” materials from the planning stage and scrap materials. To enhance sustainability, the college also covered the floor with recyclable carpeting, a common practice for the college. That way, “it’s 100 percent recyclable at the end of its life cycle” (Flood, personal communication, 2013). Agrifiber corridors and doors manufactured with recyclable materials also played a significant role in the active-learning classroom.
Simple in-class components also enhance the classroom sustainability. Many instructors at Moraine Park use large flipcharts in the classroom, but the moveable whiteboards in the space replace paper: “The four whiteboard units look like paper flip charts, but they take up more room. And there are four or five whiteboards with each unit. Instead of an instructor or students writing on [paper] flip charts, they can use the whiteboard and then flip it over” (Coley, personal communication, 2013).
The team also found that this project created an opportunity to replace some exterior windows on the campus while remodeling the classroom area, which previously served as a front office. As Flood noted, “that was a huge benefit, because that allowed us to gain the energy efficiency [and] provide day lighting in the classroom itself … It really provides a great learning environment for the classroom” (personal communication, 2013). As the team worked on the project, one common theme was balancing sustainability with meeting the needs of the college, and the team found providing natural light created a more pleasant environment while keeping costs down. Dan Pahlow added, “Even concepts like when you walk in that room and you see the color tones and you look at the natural lighting [can make a difference]. Students who walk into an environment that is pleasant are much more engaged in the learning process from the very beginning” (personal communication, 2013).