Next Generation
Designing for Millennial Students
Learning takes on a whole new meaning for administrators and faculty teaching the current generation of students.
These recent high school graduates — known as the Millennials or Echo Boomers — have always used a calculator to solve math problems, have grown up with unparalleled access to information through the Internet and cannot fathom life without a cell phone and text messaging.
This multi-tasking, parent-driven, sustainable-thinking crop of students requires a new approach to teaching that offers interaction, flexibility and access to technology.
Those concepts remained at the forefront of the planning process when the Dallas Community College District decided to move forward on a 55,000-square-foot, $10.9 million expansion at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas.
Carol Brown, president of the college, says Millennials have multiple modalities to learn from, including television, cable, the Internet and texting.
“These students learn in informal and formal ways,” Brown says. “For baby boomers, learning was formal, with the teacher in the front of the class and the students listening and taking notes. Millennials see themselves as consumers. They want to know what a college or university can offer them. Due to online learning and the number of competing educational institutions, they know they are shoppers with many options.”
Learning Redefined
To accommodate these new learners, the traditional classroom is changing to contain high-tech learning environments that utilize wireless technology with online course syllabuses, coursework and grading.
Millennial Demographics Students today: |
“Instead of just the office, it is socially acceptable for faculty to sit with a student in a social area or anywhere on campus to communicate and share,” says Terry Hajduk, learning environment specialist with ARX Design.
With that in mind, planners broke from tradition and designed 24 learning spaces for the expansion as flexible, technology-equipped learning studios, accompanied by informal spaces for transit and informal learning.
Corridors were not designed as spaces to get from point A to point B, says Mark VanderVoort, principal/director of the HKS educational group. They were widened to create social niches for meetings or discussions before, during or after class.
“We experimented with the environment, pedagogy and technology to determine the best overall solution,” Brown says.
The learning studios vary in size and shape, are technology-equipped and have an informal, interactive feel. They can accommodate multiple small groups simultaneously or a large group of up to 40 students.
“These spaces allow for more collaboration among students as well as between the students and faculty,” says Dan Arrowood, project manager for HKS.
Lori Gee, education solutions lead at furniture supplier Herman Miller, says the project team wanted to create classrooms that are more technology-friendly, user-friendly, flexible and fun.
The new studios include moveable furniture to allow students and faculty to change their environment based on the learning experience. WiFi laptop connections and high-tech smart boards allow faculty and students to do research and share it online.
“Every element of the space is designed to stimulate the brain, from the wall color palette to the natural light seeping through the windows, to the colorful carpet,” Hajduk says.
Pilot studies were held in the learning studios over two semesters with a diverse curricula and multi-generational faculty and students. The results were positive, with student-retention rates improving significantly and interaction among room occupants increasing exponentially.
“When interviewed, one faculty member said that because the learning studio is a social environment, the students worked together, helped each other and were more engaged,” Gee says.
The quality of completed assignments improved 15 percent in that classroom and another class was able to finish its coursework two weeks early, Gee says.
In addition to the design changes at the campus, members of the faculty are encouraged to be accessible to the students whenever they are on campus – whether they are walking down the hall or in their offices, which are located near the studios.
“To promote accessibility and encourage interaction, the lobby includes an Internet café and conferencing facilities that can be used after hours for different school and community activities,” VanderVoort says.
A new bridge connects the existing campus to the new addition and overlooks landscaped courtyards and interior balconies that provide places for passersby to sit and talk, furthering opportunities for communication.
“The new campus design recognizes and celebrates who students are and how they learn,” Brown says. We know these 24 learning studio spaces will make a difference for students in terms of learning, retaining and being excited about education.”