Learning from the "old" and the "new" - Assignment 4

This project had been fun and fruitful, even though it touted as a nightmare project. Basically I think our group turned it into more like a "dream" project, where we did alot of dreaming and imagining things (or are we simply hallucinating? haha!)

This assignment's task is as follows: "Improving Learning Experience in Lecture Theatres". Mr Reddy has taught us many approaches throughout the weeks. Our group sat down and went through the many approaches and found that not all the methods can produce solutions. Here is a write-up of how we came about with our unique approach of using Feng Shui as basis of observation.

Initial Stage - Problem Dissection
First our group chose to be a group of designers who is tasked to design a LT that will improve learning experience. We are also quite solution-centric as we had hoped that whatever information and data we gathered we can use them to solve or improve current situations.

We start by looking at the question carefully and interpreting each and every word so that we can get the exact requirement from our supposed "client", schools and universities that have LTs.

Improve - to make better. The first word itself is taken with much caution. Can a bad LT be improved? Yes, definitely. How about a "good" LT? Yes, there is still room for improvement! How about a so called "best LT in the world" kind of LT? No matter how good or bad the LT, we believe in making in even better. Thus we ensured that throughout our observation we should not only look at the bad points of LT, we should look at the good side too.

Learning - the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge. Who is the learner? Who gives the learning? Where is the learning? The system of learning via lectures, where one instructor teaches many students, is an age old system, as pointed out by Donny's group in their presentation. Hence some of the basics of an LT should already have been established, such as lighting, sound, room temperature, notes etc. Hence perhaps we are to look at the non-obvious elements, such as the surroundings of the LT?

Experience
Experience is not in the product but it is in the interaction. The way the product is understood in the real environment. Experience can be influenced by:
- Environment
- Time
- Place
- Other people interaction
- Previous experience

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(From Mr Reddy's notes)

With the above in mind, as designers we cannot possibly influence the last two factors as those two occur in the past. We cannot control the flow of time, but perhaps we can dictate what time is suitable for a good learning experience to occur. What we noted here is that for a change of experience to occur, the most likely factors to influence would be the place and the environment. In our case, our "place" is taken to be the LT (or inside the LT), and our "environment" would be the surrounding campus (outside the LT).

Lecture Theatre
We defined the LT as such - large formal spaces, tiered and with most seats fixed. Have a seating capacity of 100 or more students and the focus for students tends to be on an individual instructor at the front of the room. Lecture Theatres allow for the teaching of large numbers of students, particularly in undergraduate classes, and are cost efficient in terms of student to teacher ratio.

From the definition we can immediately pick out the characteristics of a typical LT:
- large and spacious
- tiered
- fixed seats
- large seating capacity

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We strictly did not include seminar rooms and classrooms as the requirement is for LTs, not such rooms. If Siminar style learning sessions were deemed to be much better than learning in LTs, then might as well tear down all LTs and build more classrooms and seminar rooms. This lead to a side issue that perhaps... it is always the case of "not enough teachers" in schools and universities?

Coming back, once dissected the sentence, we recombine the sections to see what is our exact task-
To make the learning environment better for students and teachers who experience their learning and teaching in a Lecture Theatre, which itself is a large formal space that holds many students and just one teacher.

Second Stage - Choosing methodology

As mentioned earlier, we're a solution-centric group. The method we chose must provide results which we can use as a solution to improve learning experience in LTs. Looking at all the methods taught by Reddy, here's a breakdown of what could be used, what we used, and what should not be used at all:

First "useless" method - Reverse Marketing Analysis

Yes, the very assignment that we just did was the first to be struck off from our list of methods. What I strongly believe is that this method is favorable for products which are customisable to individual users. (Hence the word TARGET marketing) The handphone is a good example of a highly customised product. But for an LT which requires to be "one size fits all", how can we customise it to individual students and teachers? Hence since RMA is not used, the 4 pleasures analysis was also struck off as the analysis would only be relevant to ONE single student and not a cohort of students.

Second "dunno how to use" method - Visceral, Behavioral, Reflective design identification

Perhaps it would be useful if we see the "LT" as a product and take note of its visceral, behavioral and reflective design. But again, it depends from individual to individual. An "old and rickety looking" LT may be classic to some. A state of the art LT would be complicated to others. Hence this method is again catering more to highly customised products like cars, chairs and many other examples provided by us in our blogs.

Something struck my mind at this point- there isn't really a so called "personal" space within the context of "using the LT". It is not like using the handphone or sitting on the chair where it is personal, just you and the object of use. A LT is a communal space, that needs to be shared by hundred over people, at the same time and also at different times of the day. Thus we must note to look for methods which would engage to a large group of people.

Third "How the heck to use?" Method - Cultural Probe

It is unclear how we should go about using this method, even though we believe it could have gathered a wide range of data. Hence this method was abandoned quickly even before we begin to "probe" its relative use. =P

Forth "Looks promising" Method - Technology as experience

When we look at LT as a "technology", a place encompassing teaching aids technology, this would be a good method. Later on, we realise that the FOUR THREADS of EXPERIENCE framework has its links to FENG SHUI!!!

Take a look at this:
Compositional - how do the elements of an experience fit together to form a coherent whole.

Feng Shui - emphasises on the balance of elements within an environment i.e. The Ying and the Yang energy composition.

Emotional: What emotions color the experience for us?

Feng Shui - color affect our emotions and experience.

Spatio-temporal: What effects do place and time have on our experience?

Feng Shui - one of the main concept of Feng Shui is 天时地利人和 tian shi di li ren her, which literally means "Heavenly Timing, Fruitful Ground, Harmonious Person". Hence spatio-temporal effects are greatly emphasised in Feng Shui

Sensual - What does the design and textual and the overall atmosphere make us feel?

Fen Shui - talks about items and artefacts which improve overall energy "chi" of the place, and atmospheric conditions such as the level of 杀气 sha qi (killing atmosphere) within the room.

With the above in mind, we reckon the potential use of Feng Shui in our study. We adopted the fact that when looking at the time frame, we must look at "before lecture begins", "during lecture" and "after lecture" to have a holistic view of the whole learning experience.

Fifth "no time to use" method - laddering

We thought of interviewing people using laddering approach. But as I have mentioned that we shall use methods which involve a mass of people, and the lack of time to interpret the data collected from laddering interviews, we decided not to use this method and went on to use the final method taught to us:

Final "what we did use but modified" method - Ethnography/observational studies with the combination of ... Feng Shui!
"What people say is not what they do. Ethnography highlights differences between what people perceive they do and what they actually do."
We totally agree with the above statement. By interviewing students, I think we would get probably lots of complains from them. I guess this has its basis on Heizberg's hygiene theory on motivators and demotivators.

We hence chose the non-invasive method of ethnography and began walking around the campus and sitting in lectures. As we ourselves are students it is easy to blend in with the surrounding and began our investigation.

Alas the all important explanation of why we chose feng shui. Feng Shui to me is a naturalistic science which look at environment placement and arrangements. As mythical as it seems, there is evidence that NUS itself is built based on the reccommendations of Feng Shui masters. Our very own Campus Observer Team has interviewed a Feng Shui Master and below's the link:

http://campusobserver.org/2006/October/27/fengshui/fengshui.htm

Btw Ng Chien Hao is one of our fellow CNM coursemates so you can look for him for more info! And below is one of the supporting quote for Feng Shui:

Abstract as geomancy may seem, there seem to be some believability and logic behind this ancient art that has often been written off as mere superstition. According to the IFSA, feng shui is classified under the study of Physiognomy, a form of Chinese Metaphysics that involve the observation of appearances through formula and calculations.

Stage 3: Findings

Our group went around NUS and make notes of the surroundings, especially areas directly outside LTs. We were just taking photos here and there, and to tell the truth, at that point of time we weren't sure what to do with the photos taken. Then as I began to find some solutions online, I just thought to myself, what is the most "low tech" solution I can think of? The idea of Feng Shui just came about suddenly, and I realise how we can tie in ethnography to Feng Shui.

According to the teachings of Feng Shui, there is always a need for balance and harmony in placements, where the level of energy "chi" is constant. What we are looking for are the colors and the arrangement of the surroundings, so as we as students would achieve balance with the surroundings. Below would be the four aspects of Feng Shui as stated from our research:

4 aspects of Feng shui: BEPT

Environment – Internal and External

Internal – warmth of the room, smell, the lightness or darkness, interior design and decorations

External – landscaping, the surrounding buildings, features that can affect the building such as large body of water or a cemetery

Building – architecture and design of building Eg: the shape and floor plan within the building aspect

People – how people are best aligned in the building. Feng Shui is about the placement of people and furniture, their interaction with one another to create different circumstances

Time – Feng Shui is based on the Chinese Oracle of Yi Jing (book of change) which states that all things undergo change

Based on the above, we made the following findings:

NUS External environment

Crouching tiger - sits on Kent Ridge Hill, the biggest of three reclining tiger hills

- a tiger land is more suitable for studies

- female & silent tiger: make students more ‘docile’ students

Hidden dragon

- formation of Kent Vale

Result: forming a favorable “crouching tiger, hidden dragon” formation, signifying NUS campus as a place to unleash potential.

Roads surrounding the campus are like two arms embracing the school – indicates auspicious and protective

According to Ba-Gua (eight trigrams), one of the basic principles of Feng Shui, the West area of your space is the one "responsible" for the beneficial (or not) energy connected to your children's well-being. When treated properly, it can create an auspicious flow of energy that will encourage your child's love for learning.
- therefore based on the map of NUS, Faculty Arts and Social Sciences lies at the West side of the whole area.

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Bad external environment along AS1, AS3 leading to Lecture Theatre 9 and 10

- straight and long walkways

- lots of stairways

- Gives students lots of stress; tiredness; does not give a happy feeling; claustrophobic

Improvements to be made

- plants and trees break the straightness of the walkway, as beautiful scenery activates sheng qi (lively energy)

Inside the Lecture Theatres

Lighting to be checked and maintained as this affects the Yin and Yang balance of the atmosphere.

Conducive Room Temperature to be maintained

Clutter to be avoided as it blocks energy flow

·LTs have to avoid the element of fire, avoid having red wall color, artwork with fiery energy or a big red sofa or red/purple area carpet as according to Feng Shui directional analysis, the West direction possesses the colour of metal gray. West is also incidently the best directional placement for educational institution (think about it, NUS, NTU... they are in the west!)

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To strengthen this area, use Metal (white, gray) or Earth (light yellow, sandy) colors, thus to go for a carpet with predominant earthy colors and white furnishings.

Beautiful art pieces to be hung within and outside lecture theatres

·You can display them in either white, or metal frames. The combination of these items will create a beneficial flow of energy.

·Anything that is beautiful is sheng qi = that means positive life force

Addition on water fixtures à recall that water activates yang qi (sheng qi)

eg. Ponds with beautiful corals and fish à benefit a tiger land and helps make students more proactive and enthusiastic

Have also Internal circular design within the LT– a round ceiling or a ceiling with round patterns represent Heaven that is forever moving Circular design brings dynamic "chi" (life force)

Stage 4 - reflections

I guess I wouldn't need to elaborate on our high tech solution cos it was quite clear we were going for something grandeur... and costly! But we did aim to achieve something really priceless, and an dome shaped Lecture Theatre with a wide dome screen would really bring out a sense of "larger than life" experience. Of course I hope not to pay $20k a month just to have such an LT! haha...

Anyway think overall we had an interesting perspective of mixing new knowledge with old ancient methodologies and interesting results come about. What we were limited are perhaps feedback from users of Lecture Theatres. A survey could be done but to be accurate it must gather as many responses as possible. We find the shortage of time against us, hence we did not proceed with carrying out a school-wide survey.

Nevertheless, observational study has its advantage of getting "real" results. By being passive observers of the environment, we let nature takes its course and can take note of what is really going on in the environment. I think somehow when we "inform" people we are carrying out studies, they would tend to be on their best desirable behavior. Yet our scope would be limited to what we have observed - other people can also give valuable insights on their own experience.
Yup, so the best method would have been a combination surveys, interviews and our own observation studies. What would have been a good research would be to add studies carried out by Peh Li's group. Their group possess the most solid laddering process and mapping laddering results with Extrinsic/Intrinsic Factors.

But time is always a factor and we couldn't possibly manage all of them effectively. I'm glad though our group came out with something unique and memorable. Cheers!

PS: Just a disclaimer here. Pls do not quote us in any information regarding Feng Shui and deem them as the ultimate truth. We ourselves have varied sources regarding Feng Shui studies and have yet to prove them as legitimate. What we do want to achieve is to test if the ancient practice of Feng Shui do stand the test of time and see if it's applicable in this assignment.