VIRTUAL: Learning. Life. Work.

Abstract

With student engagement continuing to be a challenge in the post-covid classroom, gone are the days of the authoritarian, one-way teaching model effectively holding the attention of our students. We need new tools to keep the learning environment energized and fresh and our students interested while continuing to learn in new and innovative ways. Restructuring a traditional lecture-based history of interiors class to utilize project-based learning to connect design skills to class content invigorated what could be a stale environment of basic information transfer. Students stated they learned and retained more with the contextual use of information to do their own analyses or create their own designs based on the given historical era. Using “empathy kit” simulation activities in an environmental psychology class with props to give firsthand experience of having sensory and mobility impairments made learning more visceral and memorable. In one exercise students donned glasses that severely obscured vision to simulate multiple forms of vision impairment like cataracts or macular degeneration while reading. Students struggled and understood the challenges of living with disabilities in a more tangible way. Using a personal storytelling exercise to kick off a semester design studio to connect how a typical plot arc can help weave a concept and narrative for a workplace project. Requiring model making using actual materials instead of students disappearing into the photorealistic world of rendering software. With so many challenges in higher education, adding fresh new pedagogical practices are critical in keeping and reengaging our students in our classrooms.