Perceptions of physical versus virtual design studio education

While the studio environment has been promoted as an ideal educational setting for project-based disciplines associated with the art and design, few qualitative studies have been undertaken in a comprehensive way, with even fewer giving emphasis to the teachers and students and how they feel about changing their environment. This situation is problematic given the changes and challenges facing higher education, including those associated with new technologies such as online learning. In response, this paper describes a comparative study employing grounded theory to identify and describe teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the physical design studio (PDS) as well as the virtual design studio (VDS) of architectural students in an Australian university. The findings give significance to aspects of design education activities and their role in the development of integrated hybrid learning environments.

Connected learning in the library as a product of hacking, making, social diversity and messiness

Learning is most effective when intrinsically motivated through personal interest, and situated in a supportive socio-cultural context. This paper reports on findings from a study that explored implications for design of interactive learning environments through 18 months of ethnographic observations of people’s interactions at “Hack The Evening” (HTE). HTE is a meetup group initiated at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and dedicated to provide visitors with opportunities for connected learning in relation to hacking, making and do-it-yourself technology. The results provide insights into factors that contributed to HTE as a social, interactive and participatory environment for learning – knowledge is created and co-created through uncoordinated interactions among participants that come from a diversity of backgrounds, skills and areas of expertise. The insights also reveal challenges and barriers that the HTE group faced in regards to connected learning. Four dimensions of design opportunities are presented to overcome those challenges and barriers towards improving connected learning in library buildings and other free-choice learning environments that seek to embody a more interactive and participatory culture among their users. The insights are relevant for librarians as well as designers, managers and decision makers of other interactive and free-choice learning environments.

A space for spirituality : Dutton Park Community House. Kuril dhagun, State Library of Queensland

A Space for Spirituality: Dutton Park Community House Exhibition of QUT Student Design Work for Murri Watch Men’s Shed, Dutton Park. As designers it is important to work with communities to develop inclusive spaces and be mindful of the diversity of cultures, histories and indeed spirituality. This exhibition includes a selection of proposals from QUT Interior Design students for the adaptation of the Murri Watch Men’s Shed, Dutton Park. The designs respond to local community narratives and environmental qualities, such as site texture, landscape and light to propose a dwelling space for spirituality and gathering.

Exploring the relationships between design & public libraries through the lens of service design

Design is ubiquitous to the life of contemporary societies and key to their progress, but for some, it is an elitist concept. This thesis investigates the role of public libraries contribution to the general public's understanding of 'Design'. This study compared participants views in the context of State Libraries in two cities: Brisbane and Curitiba. Findings revealed that exploring four new aspects in the Development and Deliver Stages of a service design framework for public libraries can be an effective tool to enhance people's access and experiences of Design, and ultimately, it can contribute to the democratization of design.

Exploring the relationships between design and public libraries through the lens of service design

Design is ubiquitous to the life of contemporary societies and key to their progress, but for some, it is an elitist concept. This thesis investigates the role of public libraries contribution to the general public's understanding of "Design". This study compared participants views in the context of State Libraries in two cities: Brisbane and Curitiba. Findings revealed that exploring four new aspects in the Development and Deliver Stages of a service design framework for public libraries can be an effective tool to enhance people"s access and experiences of Design, and ultimately, it can contribute to the democratisation of design.

Temple Beth El Providence, Rhode Island collection, 1940-1969

In 1916, the Jewish community of Boston established Beth Israel Temple Beth-El, located on the East Side of Providence, dates back to 1849, with the creation of the group "Sons of Israel." On September 10, 1849, Solomon Pareira, Leonard Gavitts and Morris Steinberg were granted an acre of land along the New London Turnpike (now Reservoir Avenue) to establish a cemetery. In 1854, the Congregation of the Sons of Israel and David was established, leading to president Solomon Pareira's deeding of the cemetery land in 1857 for the sole utilization of the congregation. This collection contains programs, sermons and newsletters. Although the congregation was originally Orthodox, it affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Union for Reform Judaism) in 1877.

Transforming Researchers into Educators: Some Reflections on the University College Dublin School of Law Syllabus Design Workshop 2010

The priority given to the development of research skills during doctrinal legal education often neglects the importance of equipping PhD students with the pedagogical skills necessary to fulfill their important educational role as academics. Thus, in many instances there is a significant gap in the requisite skill base that PhD students acquire when they complete their doctrinal education. This paper outlines a first step that has been taken to address this deficiency in postgraduate legal education in Ireland. The PhD community of the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Law convened an internal Syllabus Design Workshop in April 2010 in order to provide doctrinal students with an opportunity to design a university module and to explore the issues which arise in undertaking such an exercise. The first part of this paper outlines how the workshop was conceived and convened, and provides an account of the considerations that each student had to take into account in the design of a syllabus. From here, we address the content of the workshop and reflect upon some of the important issues which were
raised. Finally, we offer a number of recommendations in relation to the development of doctrinal students as future educators. By highlighting the importance of uniting research and teaching, it is hoped that this paper will contribute to postgraduate legal education in Ireland,and also internationally.

World Cultures in English(es) at the School of Arts and Humanities Library, University of Lisbon: the Communication Platform Architecture and Its Critical Analysis

We will consider the architecture of the communication platform prototype, "World Cultures in English(es)" (WCE), in relation to the interaction among different types of media and audiences. Such an architecture has emphasized the need for an interdisciplinary team of scholars, librarians, and Information Technology experts who have conceived the prototype. This prototype was developed using PHP and MySQL, and is based on the University of Lisbon server. The "World Cultures in English(es)" is an Open Access platform bringing together different types of documents—written, audio, visual, multimedia, and electronic—and aims at educational, cultural, social, and economic inclusiveness, namely in terms of users with special needs. The WCE platform strongly implies social commitment through reliable information and forms of communication adequate to different kinds of audiences. The "World Cultures in English(es)" prototype will be tested by different audiences from different schools and universities, leading to the necessary adjustments.

Assessing the Design of the Library's Discovery Interface and Online resources: A Case Study at the University of Maryland

This presentation was offered as part of the CUNY Library Assessment Conference, Reinventing Libraries: Reinventing Assessment, held at the City University of New York in June 2014.

View of the library at the New York Trade School

This photograph shows several empty tables and a few shelves in the library at the New York Trade School. Black and white photograph.

View of the library at the New York Trade School (2)

This is a view of the library at the New York Trade School, which was taken at a slightly different time than Photo73 as shown by the different wall hangings, namely the addition of a stuffed deer on the wall. Photograph is black and white and slightly fading.

Architecture at RISD: An Exhibition of Work, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island, February 5-21, 1999

Postcards advertising a show of student architecture work at Woods-Gerry.

Report on the practice based culminating experience as teaching assistant for "Pathology and Public Health" class taught at University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston

Objectives. The objectives of this report were to describe current best standards in online education, class competencies, class objectives, class activities and to compare the class competencies, objectives and activities undertaken with the current best practices in online teaching and to provide a list of recommendations based on the most efficacious practices. ^ Methods. Utilizing the key words- online teaching, national standards, quality, online courses, I: (1) conducted a search on Google to find the best standard for quality online courses; the search yielded National Standards for Quality Online Teaching as the gold standard in online course quality; (2) specified class objectives and competencies as well as major activities undertaken as a part of the class. Utilizing the Southern Regional Education Board evaluation checklist for online courses, I: (1) performed an analysis comparing the class activities, objectives, and competencies with the current best standards; (2) utilized the information obtained from the analysis and class experiences to develop recommendations for the most efficacious online teaching practices. ^ Results. The class met the criteria set by the Southern Regional Education Board for evaluating online classes completely in 75%, partially in 16% and did not meet the criteria in 9% cases. The majority of the parameters in which the class did not meet the standards (4 of 5) were due to technological reasons beyond the scope of the class instructor, teaching assistant and instructional design. ^ Discussion. Successful online teaching requires awareness of technology, good communication, methods, collaboration, reflection and flexibility. Creation of an online community, engaging online learners and utilizing different learning styles and assessment methods promote learning. My report proposes that online teaching should actively engage the students and teachers with multiple interactive strategies as evidenced from current best standards of online education and my “hands-on” work experience. ^ Conclusion. The report and the ideas presented are intended to create a foundation for efficacious practice on the online teaching platform. By following many of the efficacious online practices described in the report and adding from their own experiences, online instructors and teaching assistants can contribute to effective online learning. ^