Jim Ratcliffe's Learning Spaces Page

 

 

Me in Ladakh (Is the roadside a learning space? India's

Border Roads Organization thinks so! (sign reads "Love thy neighbor,

but not while driving") Learning at 50 MPH. Here you can see me

supplementing this important lesson with a podcast, served up by the

ipod in my pocket.

 

Library Spaces: Jackson Library, GSB

How is this staircase a gendered space?

 

The first thing that struck me about the Jackson Library was how the space projected norms for acceptable and unacceptable behavior. The most obvious thing in this regard was sound. The library was perhaps the quietest space on campus that I have ever been in.  As you come in, there is a large spiral staircase in the foyer. I watched a female patron enter the library. She was wearing heels and needed to climb the staircase to reach the second floor. I observed her as she walked up the stairs and she was visibly wincing with each footstep, trying to muffle the sound of her heels. Her body language did not project confidence; she seemed visibly oppressed by the environment. So it was interesting to think about this space from the perspective of gender: norms for female dress in a business environment include accessories such as heeled shoes, yet in this space, heels were a liability. She seemed like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I felt sympathy for her. The library was almost saying, “you don’t belong, or you can never be perfect enough for this environment.”

 

After watching the patron struggle to blend into the environment, I closed my eyes for a few moments and just listened to the ambient noise in the library. Papers rustling, a few keyboards clicking, not much else. In fact, the loudest sound (by far) came from the machinery of turnstile system that loudly broadcast whenever a patron entered or left. Is this the most important information that we need to perceive in this space?

 

Other signs tried to establish expected behaviors for cellphone use in the library.

 

 

Unoccupied carrels, first floor.

 

Perhaps because of this oppressive environment the library was mostly unoccupied. There were rows and rows of unoccupied carrels, and the few patrons that were seated at the carrels were wearing headphones, creating their own soundtrack for the space. 

 Areas meant for social behavior are not clearly demarcated from private study areas.

 

A few people clustered in the “social areas” near the windows but again, they rarely talked. And if they did, it was in furtive whispers. There is a central study area that is meant to evoke a wall street/trading floor environment, complete with large business themed murals, a stock ticker, and financial news broadcast on a flatscreen TV (muted). It seemed particularly ironic that this environment was deathly quiet, in contrast with the frenetic world it was meant to evoke.

Wall Street on mute.

 

So much of business behavior is socialization, what would the space look like if it actually encouraged people to meet and talk? I think that key thing would be to redesign the space so that there are clear boundaries between areas meant for private studying and areas intended for social behavior. As it is, the entire space seemed to have a uniform, quiet library feel, and if you talked you were trespassing in this space.

 

So, learning in Jackson library seems to be a private matter. Users were hunched over books or their laptops. Most media use I observed involved print materials (books, newspapers) or users reading material/writing papers on laptops. The library had media carrels where patrons could view media and listen on headphones, but they were unused at the time of the visit. I interviewed a librarian about this, and she noted that even at the peak of finals, the library was at most, 15% capacity.

 

 

How does the library support patrons who want to learn to become members of this family?

 

There was also a poster on the second floor that illustrated “Silicon Valley Genealogies” Done in a family tree style; it showed the relationships between individuals and corporations in the valley. It occurred to me that much of business school might be about learning to be a member of these families—socialization into a group. I wondered how Jackson Library might support this learning beyond placing a poster on the wall. If the space had a more personal feel (profiles of alums/current students) and ways to interact with mentors and people from the business community it could support this type of learning much better.  

 

I guess I could sum this visit up by saying that Jackson Library seems to be an incredibly underutilized space, and that it should be redesigned to support the highly social and informal ways that learning occurs in a business environment.

 

 

Field Trip: Intel Computer Clubhouse

 

The Big Picture:

The ICC visit prompted me to ask three big design questions: 1.) How we can design a center in which the connection between physical space and expected behavior is transparent? 2.) How can we design a center that integrates student life outside of the center in such a way that the value of the center becomes explicit. 3.) How can we design a center that allows us to understand the reasons why community members might not participate? Should we make the outside of the center a “graffiti wall” where non-visitors can complain? Obviously, we wouldn’t do that, but is there a design that could accomplish the same objective?

 

 

Reactions/notes

My first reaction too the Intel Computer clubhouse was “wow, kids are here!” Its an obvious observation, but I did not expect the clubhouse to be full of children on a Friday afternoon. The center is impressive, sort of like a mothership in the neighborhood, and the kids, many of them in their EPA uniforms seemed like they wanted to be there. The Center seems to run with very loose adult supervision, allowing students to form small groups based on their interests and move from activity area to activity area with little management on the part of the adults. This may be a key to the Clubhouse’s success: the transparency of the design and layout of the building allows students to spontaneously manage their own activities, with little supervision. This transparency runs thoughout the clubhouse design- from the mission statement on the wall to the explicit demarcation of areas for different activities to the interior windows (at kid eye level) that allow children to see into rooms and get what is happening in each one without having to open the door.

 

 

The main computer area is designed to balance social/group activity and individual work. No one sat at the center table... why?

 

In the computer/technology room, this design allowed student groups to self-sort: Some students were in the main computer area playing games such as Gaia online. Gaia was particularly popular with the girls. After researching it (and signing up) I learned that Gaia is a “soft” virtual world, in which children can adopt avatars and navigate through a series of games and other challenges. Other students were working in the Graphic Design studio and the Music studio with adult mentors. I loved the way that these areas used large, eye level windows to allow students to work alone, but still be connected with the larger computer room. This is definitely a design feature that we will incorporate into our center, particularly in the language-learning lab.

 

 

 

A student uses the Waterford reading software. Why does the monitor have a coat hanger on it?

 

I also visited a reading skill development area for younger students. This room was large and incorporated a glassed in office for a staff member supervisor, sort of like a phone booth within the room. The children had mostly left, but a few were lingering on, hoping to get the attention of staff members who were cleaning up and socializing. The walls of the room were lined with eye-level bookshelves and kid-sized seating areas. The students here work at small computer stations developing reading skills using software called Waterford. Staff members I interviewed said that the center provides crucial support in reading skill development to supplement what students are supposed to be learning in school.

 

 

The Intel center does a moderately good job of assessing and tracking student progress using wall charts. But I wondered how they could integrate this with student’s academic lives outside of the center. I didn’t get the chance to ask the staff what they thought of this, but I think it would have been great if we could see student’s progress in school, and show explicitly how ICC intervention was helping students reach their goals. This might be a design we would explore in our center. Finally, I wonder who are the kids that weren’t there? What are their impressions of the ICC, do they have critiques of the clubhouse that could help us design it more appropriately. How important a role does parental involvement play in driving kids to the clubhouse?

 

Dan - Nice reflections here, it seems like this visit was helpful for you, especially with your guiding questions at the top.  I also like the challenge to connect the work they do here more clearly with the work they do in school.  I wonder also about how kids hear about this space, get there, get home from there and then stay engaged.  It seems to me that return visits are a  real key here and perhaps for your project with Intel as well.  Great photos.

 

 

NATIONAL ZOO Learnng Spaces

Question

The zoo experience has traditionally been defined by the geographical boundaries of the zoo- when visitors are on the zoo grounds, they are taking part in the educational experience of the zoo. However, the zoo can only accommodate a certain number of visitors- resources are limited. How can we extend the experience of the national zoo by allowing visitors to “visit” the zoo even if they are not physically at the zoo?

 

 

What I’ve Learned in Graduate School

 

Well this was a tough one. Physically/kinesthetically I’ve learned to discipline/subdue my body to grudgingly tolerate sitting in one spot for a very long time. Adjusting your sleep requirements and nutrition and hygiene standards is part of becoming a graduate student. This really means physiologically becoming a different person.

 

Despite the fact that I love science, I’ve learned that I do not enjoy educational research, the questions posed, or the means by which this information is disseminated. I’ve that I enjoy being creative and have capacity for it. As many people have noted, a huge part of grad school at Stanford involve learning how to work on a team. So I agree, much of what I’ve learned involves refining my skills as a team member. On a related note, one of the most usful things I’ve learned are the advantages of taking a more formal/structured approach to brainstorming. d.school has helped a great deal in this regard. I have also learned a bit more about what I can do in the creative execution of projects. More to the point, I’ve learned that that’s what I really enjoy.

 

As for content, I learned a great deal in three classes: Carnoy’s Economics, Education and Development class, Klemmers Intro to HCI, and (to a lesser degree) Pope’s Curriculum Construction. Much of what I learned from Pope was by example: how to teach a class. When I reflect on learning in grad school it seems that what I’ve learned its closely tied to application. If I don’t get the opportunity to apply it, it doesn’t feel like I’ve learned much. I think that this becomes more apparent as you get older.

 

Jessie- Jim, I agree that I learned a lot in Martin Carnoy's class, despite his unusual teaching style. I especially enjoyed the readings for that class and the process of applying economic principles to explain the current state of the school system. I see your point about application and feel that one of the challenges in the field of education is finding the right environments where you can apply your learnings and innovative ideas to make a true, visible impact. Not sure if you already saw this, but this came up in the readings under #9, explaining how people what to learn in realistic contexts and they want to be able to use what they already know when they encounter new knowledge and situations.

 

 

Goals

My goals for graduate school are to gain experience working on real projects and explore my potential as an innovator and designer. Grad school is a space for me to see what I can do. I also want to meet amazing, creative people and work with them to change education. Personally, I am most interested in the challenges presented by education in the developing world. I would like to develop a hardware project that helps address some of the issues in equity and access in secondary education in the developing world.

 

 

My goals for this class are to gain experience working with clients on real-world problems that involve learning spaces. I want to meet/connect with some folks I havent met yet, and see where it takes me. I think that these goals overlap pretty well. I am curious about how much our experiences with project partners will help me meet these goals.

 

Dan Thanks Jim for the commitment in your second sentence, we'll hold you to it. I think you rinterest in developing a hardware project might intersect well with this course's project of a space. Both are tools that help us meet our goals. Learners and communities are the ones that have to set the goals for what these tools can help accomplish. I hope you find the community we have in this class as interesting as I do.

 

Tirzah: Jim, I love that you're interested in education in the developing world--I'd like to do something like that, too, eventually. I heard Paul Farmer speak at Stanford this past fall and he talked a bit about the importance of appearance and design in the success of health clinics in the developing world. It's just interesting to think that even though a lot of people consider design as a secondary concern to programs and services, they really do make a difference!

 

Jessie- Jim, I am so glad we will have a couple classes together this quarter as I am really interested in learning more about the work you have done in India. I am interested in doing work in India in the future and maybe we will get a chance to work on a project together in this class.

 

Neha - Jim, I love that you're interested in the developing world too, and would love to know more about what you've done in India - apart from riding on a camel and getting an "I love Sikkim" bumper sticker :). More importantly, how did you actually get drawn to this part of the world in the first place?

 

Annie A - Hi Jim, I love the photo you chose and how well it connects to the goals of the class. You are right that grad school is an awesome opportunity to not only gain exposure to education issues in the developing world but also work on real world projects with real clients. Learning about the design process, particularly in the developing world with real clients, is one of the best things that I've learned at Stanford. This class provides opportunity to do some of that and I hope it helps you reach many of your goals!