[chisigmail] IDG Seminar: Designing Spaces For Learning: An Emerging Research Agenda

[Daryl Ku]

(Apologies for cross posting)

You are cordially invited to an IDG Seminar.


PRESENTER:      Dr Catherine Howell, Faculty of Humanities and Social  
Sciences, La Trobe University

TITLE:          Designing Spaces For Learning: An Emerging Research Agenda

VENUE:          University of Melbourne, IDEA Lab, Level 4, 111 Barry  
Street, Carlton

DATE and TIME:  Friday 13 Mar 2009, 3-4 pm


ABSTRACT:
This talk argues that the design of learning spaces is an area of  
compelling interest to HCI. The built fabric of Australian universities is  
ageing; while the technology infrastructure required to meet  
next-generation teaching and learning needs is frequently under-funded or  
absent. At a time when the Australian tertiary student population is  
growing and diversifying, it is essential that HCI develops a research  
agenda capable of meeting these important challenges.

The present reality is that key aspects of the contemporary educational  
built environment are failing to meet our students' needs. Complex  
problems are involved, and it is interesting to note that some of the most  
compelling research in this area is currently emerging, not from  
architecture and design, but from fields like sports medicine,  
paediatrics, ergonomics, and engineering. HCI should be a prominent voice  
in this interdisciplinary discourse and debate. One starting point for  
this agenda comes from recent work at the University of Cambridge on  
students' use of spaces and technologies for learning. In the UK context,  
we found that informal and non-institutional, or "semi-institutional",  
spaces were increasingly important to students, but that the design of  
such spaces frequently failed to address students' preferred learning  
behaviours and work patterns. We now have an opportunity to pursue these  
questions further in the context of the Spaces for Knowledge Generation  
Project (http://www.skgproject.com/). SKG is a $220K ALTC partnership  
project between La Trobe University as lead institution, Charles Sturt  
University, Apple and Kneeler Design Architects. The project aims to  
inform, guide and support the development of next-generation learning and  
teaching spaces and practices, and to provide a model for designing  
student learning environments that is future-focused and sustainable for  
the medium term.

BIO:
Dr Catherine Howell is Educational Designer in the Faculty of Humanities  
and Social Sciences at La Trobe University. She is an experienced user  
researcher and e-learning evaluator, and has a special interest in  
qualitative research methods. Catherine is currently involved in several  
institutional research and development projects relating to teaching and  
learning, including the Enquiry Based Learning Project, for which she acts  
as Evaluator. Her PhD at the University of Cambridge (2005) investigated  
the impact of colonial spaces and places on the European cultural  
imaginary.


Please forward to others if interested. All are Welcome.
http://www.dis.unimelb.edu.au/research/groups/interactiondesign/seminars.html

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Daryl Ku
PhD Candidate; Interaction Design Group Coordinator

Interaction Design Group
Department of Information Systems
The University of Melbourne
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