The Crappy Classroom and The Fabulous Classroom

What does space have to do with a good learning environment? What does space have to do with compelling experiences? How do these things collide into good space for a good learning environment which is compelling? I'm thinking about physical space and teaching, classrooms in particular. I have been teaching college accounting since 1994 in a variety of settings, most recently at a community college. At my school there are a variety of classroom types that range from a state of the art building that just went up and has won awards for its interior design to the old building where my office resides containing the worst "Calcutta of JCC" classroom. I have taught in all of these types of classrooms on campus. I would like to examine what it is that makes for a good learning environment in terms of physical space.

Let me start with the worst classroom space I have encountered yet. It is a smallish classroom but is required to contain 30 seats. So, the arrangement of tables and chairs is quite limited by the actual square footage of the room. Everything about the room is tired and old and used up from the beat up tile floor to the faded bleak walls to the lights that flicker in and out. My favorite feature of this particular room is a collection of pull down maps that would suit a geography type of class. These maps are worn and frayed and ripped and just awful. It is a dreary space indeed. How does this affect learning? Do the students know that they are in the Calcutta of JCC? Does it make the subject matter seem less interesting? Does the professor seem less engaging? Do the minutes seems ever so long? My experience is no. The space is not helping but it does not break the experience either. Meaningful discussion and engagement can occur no matter what the environment. I think of severely disadvantaged children around the world learning on dirt floors in partial shade with questionable textbooks and materials. In my zeal and enthusiasm for education, I do not believe for a minute that anything can stop learning. Not even a crappy classroom. Especially not that.

Perhaps the nicest, slickest, fanciest classroom on campus is in the new building. It is a perfectly square room with completely movable furniture and laptops for every student. Each wall contains a projection screen which can be lowered. In the center of the ceiling are four projection units. It is therefore possible to project 4 different things at the same time. So, let me try to come up with a reason why I would want to project four different things at the same time. Let's say it's Principles of Accounting II, and we are analyzing financial statements. I could have Excel up on one screen and be working financial ratios in Excel. I could have the Balance Sheet on another screen for our company, let's say Ford Motor Company. I could have the Income Statement up on another screen. And, on the fourth screen...I could have current news articles from the web. Whew.

Not only is the technology in the room superb, but the design in lovely. From the paint colors to the artwork to the lighting to the symmetry of the space, it's just fabulous. Here's the thing. The students in the fancy room do not whine any less that the students in the yukky room. They all struggle, and they all find their way (well, most do) and they all work and process in the same manner. The pretty room casts a certain pleasant light on the experience, but it is not the room that makes anything happen. It is the spirit of the students and the instructor that does. In the same way that the unpleasant room cannot stifle learning, the pleasant room cannot create learning on its own.

If I were king for a day, how would I design classroom space at my school? Ahhh, what a lovely thought. First of all, I would accept financial constraints and students demands. We need classroom space at my school. We are overextended with extremely high enrollments and have completely run out of classroom space. We have a very small collection of these new ultra tech classrooms and not enough regular classrooms. I would favor creating more classrooms with less technology over creating fewer classrooms with more technology. When building and renovating classroom space, I think each room should have projection capability at a minimum. The older rooms should be painted. A fresh coat of paint would make a world of difference. We should budget for ongoing maintenance. We seem to find millions of dollars for building projects and then have zero dollars for maintenance. Some of the initial building fund should be invested and put away for maintenance and repair. That's it. My classroom plan is: (1) enough classrooms, (2) projection capability and (3) fresh paint.

As I consider all of these things and my opinions on interior design, I realize that in my view, interior design is not the catalyst for compelling experience. It is the human element that makes an experience compelling. The space can be fabulous but without people and buzz and activity, there is nothing.

Wanted: Space

I keep thinking about the interior design concept of space. Sometimes it is what is not there that makes what is there so much more. For example, think of a typical family room in a home inhabited by a typical busy family. That room accumulates and accumulates unless someone takes care to keep it tidy and attractive and useful. Hoodies and bags and papers and laundry and stuff pile up organically. It just happens. The room effortlessly becomes chaos. Cleaning and tidying can only achieve so much. Often, there is too much furniture in the room to begin with. Removing some furniture and rearranging essential pieces may be needed to bring order and appeal to the room. Simplifying and reducing, therefore creating space where there had been none improves the aesthetics of the room. This applies to the classroom as well. As teachers, sometimes we talk and talk and talk. It's our classroom, we're in control and its our place to lead the parade. In general, I think that teachers talk too much. There is not enough listening and thinking and quiet in most classrooms. Somehow, quietness has gotten a bad name. From time to time, I deliberately devote chunks of classroom time to quiet reflection and individual thinking. It is so hard for me to do this. Shouldn't I be *doing* something? Shouldn't I be *talking*? Shouldn't there be some *action* at all times? I think back to my analogy of the cluttered family room. If I am constantly talking during a class period, that also means that there has been no space created to allow for pure individual thought, unassisted conclusions, intuitive connections, reflection and settling. If I am still yammering on, students may succeed at these things but only in competitive to my voice, my ideas and my direction. The classroom needs space!

Experiential Learning & Film Making

This past week was a good experience for me. I felt uncomfortable, overwhelmed and pushed. I felt the same way I'm sure that some on my students feel. I kept at it, I reached out to others for help, and I dug in to finish the job at hand. I learned how to make a film this week by doing it myself. I did not take a class or read in a book how to make a film. I just did it. While at times, I was frustrated and overwhelmed, in the end I felt pure elation. The links to my views on education are numerous.

In some cases, some students learn best by doing. This is known to me as experiential learning or kinesthetic learning. Going through the experience can be disconcerting. Having gone through this again myself, I feel a better connection to my own students. Some of them are experiential learners by their nature. I try my best to present my courses in a variety of ways to hit a variety of learning styles including experiential learners. I teach college accounting, which has a bad reputation for being a tough subject matter. It is the kind of class that requires practice, lots of practice. To some degree, all of my students are forced to be experiential learners. The practice of accounting involves translating business transactions into an accounting format which culminates into financial reports. All of this requires the act of doing accounting. It is not enough to think about and write about accounting. To master accounting, one must do accounting. It is good for me to re-learn what it is to feel lost in the midst of the experiential learning process.

Another major insight this week has been the recognition of learning new skills to support professional growth. To become a better person, a better teacher, a better partner, etc.; it is sometimes necessary to acquire a new skill to get to where you really want to go. To become a better person, perhaps I need to learn time management skills. To become a better partner, perhaps I need to learn better listening skills. To become a better teacher, perhaps I need to learn better technology skills. The technology skills I am learning in CEP 882 are sometimes dramatic to me. All the while I am using Facebook and even now typing up a new post for my blog, there is a part of me deep inside that is surprised and impressed. Before this class, I had a 3 month old Facebook account that I did not use and had no interest in pursuing. I had never blogged and wasn't exactly sure why the term actually meant. I had used my digital camera for occasion snapshots, but my kids were the ones who really understood its capabilities and possibilities. I had never used anything like Camtasia or Windows Movie Maker prior to this week. I get cranky when I am forced to learn new technology. Overall, I tend to be a quick learner, but it also tends to be a somewhat unpleasant experience. After a little bit of use, the new technology seems like second nature and quickly I can't imagine ever not using it. Yet the process of introduction and assimilation is a bit scary for me. I am glad to have learned how to make a simple movie and am accumulating lots of ideas on how to incorporate simple bits of film into my classes. I am inspired and ready to do more with this new skill.

Thinking about Film and Avatar

I love movies. I really, really, really love movies. If I have time and no motivation, there is nothing better than sitting around and watching movies. If I do have time, motivation and money, then there’s nothing better than going out to see a new release movie in the theatre. Like countless others, the most recent movie I have seen which captivated and moved me is Avatar. This film represents no small endeavor. I am hearing that Avatar may be the most expensive film ever made, which goes hand in hand with the statistics coming in now that Avatar is fast becoming the number one box office leader in sales. What is it about Avatar that appealed so strongly to me?
· The story telling aspect of Avatar is strong and powerful. Within moments, I was drawn in to the story and trying to sort who this young Marine brother is and what he is doing.
· The imagery and artistry is thoroughly engaging. It is almost too much. You know the saying that there can be too much of a good thing. Delicious birthday cake stops being delicious at some point in consumption. The visual design and art in Avatar is almost too much to bear. I think it pushes the extremes of animation and the limits of human visual pleasure. There are certain claims out there that people have died after viewing Avatar.
· The characters were strong and complex. As in real life, the lead characters in Avatar are from all walks of life and represent a wide array of personality type. The “good guys” and “bad guys” do emerge but not from the onset.
· The world of Pandora is limitless and expansive. We get a sense that there is so much more we have not seen of Pandora. Other lands and peoples are hinted and shown only briefly. Everything is large and rich and deep.
· The emotional storyline is at first subtle and later ever present. This movie begins in the head and ends in the heart. Broad character themes such as Love, Hope, Loyalty, Prejudice and Faith are played out in vivid color.