This article presents an interesting design challenge for students, one that will certainly let them integrate subject matter and get a sense of pride for doing something useful in their own community. The author would be willing to bet that the average town or city has some old red brick manufacturing building(s) that have seen much better days.…

This article describes a co-taught course that mobilized a Design Thinking approach in the service of creating a prototype for an actual girls' boarding school in Kenya. The goal of the class was to allow students to engage collaboratively with faculty, with their peers, and with experts "on the ground" to develop the various parts of…

Teaching building science to community college students can be challenging given both the macro (houses change subject to varying seasons) and the micro (heat transfer, moisture movement) level of the topics taught. Simulations and games can provide a way of learning material that can otherwise be difficult for students to understand. In this…

Middle school students need relevant, meaningful contexts to apply emerging mathematical ideas. In this project, through the context of an architecture investigation, seventh-grade students engaged in mathematics involving area, surface area, volume, ratios and proportional thinking, number sense, and technology integration. Students, working in…

In this article, Jennifer Jones describes how at Pine Street School in New York City, they have dispensed with the traditional industrial model of schooling and are looking ahead to the future. The entire school was designed with optional learning environments. Jones describes innovative elements from varied seating (floor cushions, modular…

The context-free "object building," the sculptural form, reigned in schools of architecture for decades. As we are finally moving on from 20th century modernism, there is an urgency to re-place buildings within their contexts. All too often, students with a background in the discipline of architecture, struggle to design buildings that…

This quote by ecologist, "Silent Spring" author and Chatham University alum Rachel Carson reminds us of the everyday tenacity needed in working to advance a sustainable and just world. This publication celebrates that tenacity in the higher education sector, specifically among institutions in the Pittsburgh area. Historically known for…

Designing and building homes is normally the responsibility of a professionally trained workforce. So a lot of people are skeptical about the idea of a team of high school students taking on those tasks. Would a young, untrained group of students be able to undertake and successfully complete the construction of an entire home, from start to…

In this article, Shushok, Farquhar-Caddell, and Krimowski, compare the vestiges of old residential environments as introduced in a 1981 article entitled "Invitational Engineering in the Residence Halls" by Jack Murphy and William Purkey ("The Journal of College and University Student Housing," v11 n1 p13-16 Sum 1981) (See in…

Engaging students in studies about conservation and sustainability can support their understanding of making environmental conscious decisions to conserve Earth. This article aims to contribute these efforts and direct students' attention to how they can use mathematics to make environmental decisions. Contributors to iSTEM: Integrating…

Designers try to "enlist" whatever they can to help themselves arrive at high quality, novel and original designs. When stimuli are used for this purpose, usually provided at the onset of the design process, these stimuli, or sources, may have one of two effects: they may enhance the design search and contribute to a high-quality, creative design,…

The Beat the Flood challenge involves designing and building a model flood-proof home, which is then tested in "flood" conditions. It is set on the fictitious Watu Island. The children form teams, with each team member being assigned a responsibility for the duration of the task--team leader, chief recorder, and resource manager. This…

The Decorated School is an interdisciplinary research network funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The article situates current academic and wider community engagement concerning the purpose and significance of art as part of the school building and grounds in an historical context. It goes on to discuss emerging patterns of…

This article vividly describes the indoor and outdoor components of what Montessori calls Home Sweet Home. Her vision of a domestic Children's House contains many facets: rooms of varied space, beautiful flooring, gardens that educate and evoke collaboration, and places for year-round exercise. This is a definitive yet rare Montessori article that…

The United States has about $2 trillion tied up in aging school facilities. School districts throughout the country spend about $12 billion every year keeping this infrastructure going. Yet almost all of the new money we pour into school facilities reinforces an existing--and obsolete--model of schooling. In "Blueprint for Tomorrow,"…