Q&A ROUNDTABLE Jan/Feb 2008- Design Roundtable

Boner	Monberg	Mount

Although the evolution of K-12 classroom design may sometimes appear to move at a snail’s pace, there have been significant changes in the last five to 10 years that make the classrooms of today almost unrecognizable from the learning spaces of the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, districts are striving to phase out outdated classrooms in their older schools that have poor lighting, limited access to technology, inefficient acoustics and rigid layouts.

Today’s classrooms rely on abundant natural light, flexible design, proper sound distribution and plenty of fresh air to create a comfortable environment and improve student performance.

School Construction News spoke with three educational design professionals: Richard Boner, vice president of BAI LLC, an Austin-based audio/visual engineering firm; Greg Monberg, AIA, LEED AP, of Fanning Howey Associates, in Celina, Ohio; and David Mount, AIA, an associate with Mahlum Architects, of Seattle, to discuss the essentials of modern classroom design and changing trends.

SCN: What new trends in K-12 classroom design have you noticed in the last year?

Boner: The largest change in terms of acoustics has been the gradual implementation of the new acoustical classroom design standards, which require certain limitations on background noise and reverberation.

Monberg: School districts across the country are facing two basic issues: ever-tightening budgets and ever-increasing demands for improved student performance. These strong motivators encourage decision makers to take a hard look at design features that may have a positive impact on both. For example, certain green design strategies such as natural daylighting can improve student performance and also save money in energy use. Classroom design features that reduce physical stress on students have been linked to improved performance.

Mount: Classroom design typically does not change that quickly. During the past several years, the most significant evolution of classroom design has been a renewed focus on healthy learning environments. Balanced natural daylighting has become much more widely recognized as an essential element for classrooms. In addition, recent studies published by ASHRAE and Carnegie Mellon have demonstrated the equal importance of indoor air quality in schools and its impact on student performance. Acoustics is also a critical element to quality of the learning environment.

SCN: K-12 schools serve many age levels. How do the needs of an elementary school differ from a middle or high school at the classroom level?

Boner: Younger children have shorter attention spans than older ones, and also have weaker voices. Communication is more difficult both to and from the teacher, unless the acoustical environment is appropriate.

Monberg: The physical, emotional and educational needs of these age groups are very different. Elementary students are physically smaller, and spend more time in one classroom with the same teacher. The classrooms are more all-purpose in design. Teachers with younger students often need space for a variety of activities in every classroom. Elementary school students spend more time sitting on the floor and moving around the room than older students. Everything from sinks, to storage cubbies, to digital white boards need to be adapted to the scale of the students using them.

Middle schools and high schools require a greater number of specialized educational spaces for the subjects being taught. Subtle issues such as additional shelving in an English classroom, or additional white board space in a math classroom, become more important. Spaces need to be easily supervised while offering students greater autonomy and opportunities to improve decision-making skills as they become older.

Mount: Generally speaking, all subjects are taught in elementary school classrooms. As a result, these rooms require significant flexibility and a variety of areas for different types of activities. Elementary classrooms need to accommodate kinetic, messy, group activities and quiet, introspective, individual learning as well as different learning styles. Elementary students generally remain in a single classroom for most of the day. As a result, their experience is greatly influenced by that one space. High schools have the benefit of specialized spaces for different academic subjects. Each room can be designed specifically for the needs of the particular area of study or at least personalized by the instructor in a way that supports the subject.

SCN: How has the movement toward learning pods and clusters and collaborative and project-based learning affected school design? Do you see this trend continuing for the next few years?

Boner: Learning clusters can present acoustical challenges due to the larger groups of students.

Monberg: One important issue to keep in mind regarding learning pods and clusters is educational flexibility. In the future, schools will need greater flexibility, including a variety of changeable room sizes and technology that can adapt to multiple teaching methods. The trend towards smaller learning communities is likely to continue.

Mount: Clusters and shared or collaborative learning environments have begun to emerge as a way to create smaller learning communities within larger schools. This approach offers a balance between the benefits of personalized learning and the broad resources available in larger schools.

In addition, clusters with common areas allow for the concentration of resources for shared use by multiple classrooms that would typically be duplicated in individual classrooms, such as computers, classroom libraries, and project areas.

SCN: What other types of learning spaces are becoming prominent in schools? Are schools trying to utilize more than just the classroom for educational purposes?

Boner: School auditoriums and performing arts centers are becoming more useful — not only for expanding performance curriculums, but also for technical theater training and the increased use of auditoriums for multimedia instruction to large groups.

Monberg: Learning can take place anywhere in a school, from the classroom, to an enlarged space in a corridor, to a quiet corner of a media center. Ideally, all spaces in a school should be interesting and engaging, encouraging a sense of curiosity and creativity in students.

Mount: In an effort to make learning experiences more relevant to the students’ individual interests, we are giving increasing attention to learning opportunities in spaces outside the classrooms, and even beyond the school building. Outdoor learning areas that connect students with the environment are gaining prominence. Academic programs are recognizing the opportunities that natural spaces outside the school offer. Courtyards that were limited to static landscapes and outdoor play are now becoming extensions of the classroom, offering educators a three-dimensional, hands-in-the-dirt laboratory that encourages learning and understanding through observation of natural processes. These spaces offer places for children to learn from nature and become inspired to be stewards of the environment.

SCN: How have interior design elements, such as colors, flooring choices and art placement, changed in recent months?

Monberg: First cost and durability often dictate the finishes for a particular room or use. However, finishes can have a significant impact on learning. Carpeting may improve the acoustics of a room but may not be appropriate for wet or dirty projects. Interest in environmentally sensitive design has recently increased attention on products that are recyclable, rapidly renewable, or less likely to emit harmful chemicals into the air.

Students of any age can be over-stimulated by too many colors or patterns, but students with special needs can be especially sensitive to these issues. The use of bold colors in a physical educational space may be inappropriate in a media center. Children are adept at associating feelings and emotions with specific colors, patterns or textures. Color alone can make a room feel happy, sad, loud or peaceful. Younger children seem to gravitate toward bright primary colors while older children seem to prefer more subtle and nuanced color schemes.

Mount: We see choices of interior finishes and materials changing toward healthier, more sustainable products. Too often, the selection of materials does not consider the impacts on the indoor environmental quality. Paints, adhesives, cabinetry materials, carpets and other finishes can negatively affect the health of schools. Products are now being chosen not only for durability and maintainability but also for the effects on air quality within the building and the impacts on larger environmental issues. Schools are choosing surfaces that don’t capture and hide dirt. They are looking for materials that are easy to maintain with non-toxic cleaning products.

SCN: How can technology enhance the learning environment for both teachers and students?

Boner: Increased use of audio and audio/visual systems has improved communication from teacher to student. In some cases, distance learning from remote locations has created good results.

Mount: Technology provides immediate access to unlimited information and resources. With technology, the learning environment extends virtually far beyond the walls of the school, enhancing the experience for both teachers and students. However, integrated technology in schools needs to offer more than Internet research and communication. Technology can create opportunities for truly interdisciplinary learning where hands-on, creative exploration and modern tools are used together to enrich the students’ experience.

SCN: How can technology accommodate different learning styles and ages?

Boner: Some students have difficulty learning via auditory stimuli, and/or visual stimuli. An integrated audio-visual approach to learning can be effective at reaching those students, as well as maintaining the attention of others. The importance of providing a quiet classroom environment cannot be overemphasized.

Monberg: The expanded possibilities of reaching out to students through technology are numerous. For a visual, spatial learner, a digital white board may better animate a complex three-dimensional space than a traditional chalkboard. Technology can help communicate ideas better to a kinesthetic motor learner. A linguistic or verbal learner can benefit from sound enhancement technology. Technology can help students with disabilities participate directly in a variety of activities, which may have been very difficult or impossible in the past.

SCN: What are some technological essentials that every classroom should have to keep current?

Boner: An acoustical environment conforming to the new design standard, ANSI/ASA S12.60-2002, is of the highest acoustical importance. Classrooms may also be equipped with current audio-visual technology, to assist in different styles of teaching.

Monberg: The essentials should include items that are easiest to use and the least likely to malfunction. Teachers have a greater challenge in adapting to new technologies than students. Essentials include a large format video display, either through a ceiling-mounted projector or a flat-panel screen; a visual presenter; and a sound enhancement system. Ideally, the teacher’s computer should have a dual processor with a DVD player so the computer can be used for other purposes while running a video. Consideration should be given to digital white boards, wireless tablets and student response systems.

SCN: What are some common oversights that you see when it comes to classroom design and technology?

Boner: Noisy air conditioning systems, particularly unit air conditioning/heating equipment.

Monberg: First and foremost, students need to be able to see and hear the teacher, other students, and the information being presented. Glare, viewing angle and acoustics must always be given a high priority.

Mount: The single element that can have the most significant impact on the quality of the teaching spaces and the positive integration of technology is lighting, both electric and natural. It’s incredible to think that still today classrooms are being designed without windows and with direct 2-foot x 4-foot troffer lighting. At times, even when windows are provided, poor building orientation and the lack of solar control devices can be detrimental to the learning environment.

The quality of the experience for the students and staff can be dramatically enhanced with access to balanced natural light and use of high quality and thoughtfully planned electric lighting.

SCN: What measures are being taken in classrooms to guarantee better indoor acoustics, while dampening outdoor noise pollution?

Boner: Central HVAC systems, with fans located at a distance from the classrooms. Individual units in classrooms, or above classroom ceilings, cannot meet the new standards.

Exterior noise intrusion is generally not a problem, unless the school is located in an unusually noisy location. In those cases, minimizing exterior glazing, and the inclusion of acoustical glass, can abate traffic, aircraft or industrial noise.

Monberg: In new construction, consideration should be given to locating the school on a site that is remote from major noise sources such as railways, expressways or factories. If the site is adjacent to a noise source, the building should be designed so that the service wing, gym, cafeteria, or other louder spaces shield the classrooms.

Mount: Ironically, as more restrictive requirements to reduce noise from mechanical equipment are implemented, in conjunction with increased usage of audio enhancement systems in classrooms, the most significant issue with classroom acoustics is cross talk between rooms. With the reduced amount of background white noise, we are finding a need to significantly improve the noise reduction through common classroom walls.

SCN: Environmental sustainability has become a powerful influence on school design. How has it impacted schools at the classroom level?

Monberg: The greatest focus has been on natural daylighting of classrooms, due to the numerous studies that show an improvement in student performance when daylighting is properly integrated. Daylighting strategies may be harmful to the learning environment, if they produce glare. Ideally, there should be automatic controls including photo and motion sensors to dim the artificial lighting when it is not required to maximize energy savings. Mechanical equipment should also be sized appropriately to account for the reduced heat gains from natural lighting.

Environmental sustainability has increased attention to issues such as indoor air quality and acoustics in the classroom. It has impacted the selection of materials, due to regional availability, recycled content and rapidly renewable content. These criteria impact the selection of finishes, casework, equipment and loose furnishings.

Mount: Energy efficiency is becoming a more important issue for districts and communities. As a result, classroom design is being much more carefully considered. Building orientation, window placement, operable windows, spatial proportions, views to nature, scrutinized finishes and thoughtfully integrated building systems are all part of refocusing our efforts to optimize the classroom design. Large-scale models and even full-scale mock-ups are becoming more common as a means to ensure optimum performance. Sectional studies that consider solar access, ventilation and views are as important as planning diagrams. It is no longer acceptable to plan an 8-foot x 30-foot x 30-foot volume duplicated along a double-loaded corridor.