ABSTRACT Background: As more adult intensive care units embrace open visitation policies and family-centered care, it becomes increasingly important to understand how the physical environment can best support family members while they navigate the critical illness or injury of a loved one. However, recommendations for the design of family-supportive spaces are typically anecdotal, and there is a paucity of empirical research regarding which design features best support their spatial needs. Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop instruments by which to evaluate the ability of affordances within the physical environment to support the spatial needs of family members of critically-ill patients (i.e., environmental congruence). Methods: An exploratory sequential design approach was used to explore the phenomenon and developed instruments by which to measure congruency. A thorough understanding was sought of the needs and experiences of family members within adult intensive care units, and a scoping review was conducted to reveal recommended environmental affordances for these settings. Results: From an a priori list of affordances, three instruments were developed. The Environmental Affordance Index was developed to evaluate the physical attributes within a given setting, and it formed the basis for two surveys to evaluate the spatial needs of family members. The Spatial Needs Inventory asks family members to rank the importance of recommended affordances for spaces within adult intensive care unit. The Spatial Needs Met survey provides an opportunity for family members to indicate if a given setting met their spatial needs. Conclusion: Future findings from the Environmental Affordance Index and survey instruments can potentially foster family-centered care, improve the design of adult intensive care units, influence visitation policies, and enhance family member well-being.

Distance and Blended education have been studied and applied in many disciplines but there has been limited use and assessment of these learning modes for design studios. The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has forced education delivery methods in the United States to become more online/hybrid in the 2020 school year without much preparation. As schools slowly shift to post-pandemic teaching modes, it is necessary to examine and evaluate what was learned during the pandemic online environment for design education. Previous studies have examined the effectiveness of online delivery of design education by virtual design studios using advanced digital technologies and equipment on a variety of platforms to teach specific design skills. In this study, the researcher uses semi-structured interviews of design educators and a survey of design students to examine their experience with their online learning environment during the 2020 school year. The qualitative and quantitative results of the study shed light on the challenges of online design studio learning during the pandemic and revealed opportunities for improving future design studio education. Lack of social interactions during the pandemic online learning impacted students’ motivation. The use of digital technologies improved communication efficiency, but there is also ineffective communication that negatively affected peer interaction and learning, which in turn affected student learning outcomes and learning satisfaction compared to in-person design studios. The results also revealed openings to promote fully online design education, with studio courses reconfigured using the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and with properly trained design instructors. This hybrid learning environment would lead to students receiving an optimal learning experience that benefits from the advantages of in-person instructions along with the efficiency of digital technology-based learning platforms. Keywords: online design education, hybrid teaching, virtual design studios, COVID-19 pandemic, TPACK.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the post-construction occupancy satisfaction of the outdoor learning spaces built on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University in response to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law and provided a pandemic-related Federal grant to assist the University in securing equipment and material to augment existing spaces to comply with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines (CDC) guidelines. The scope of the intervention measures encompassed the physical spaces, cleaning, access to and from buildings, and classroom scheduling. Beyond the execution of the guidelines for the interior spaces, ASU administrators considered 16 exterior locations on the Tempe campus for outdoor learning environments. Four sites were selected for implementation with the priority criteria for location based on historic pedestrian traffic patterns and proximity to buildings of high-volume use. The site review team (SRT) that developed the criteria and made the site selections was made up of The Office of the University Architect, Facilities Management and ASU Grounds. Based on reviewing empirical data, there is a gap in knowledge regarding post-occupancy satisfaction in regard to site development interventions. The four outdoor rooms have been in use for one year. A small sample survey was taken in the spring of 2021 and an in-depth analysis was performed at the start of the spring 2022 semester to measure user reactions. On-site volunteer post-occupancy surveys were done to document overall user satisfaction, usage, locations and assess site amenities: seating, lighting, etc. The survey evaluated the design consequences of the outdoor learning environments. The data provided insights as to design solutions that can be applied to future installations at ASU and other campuses. The overarching conclusion from the analysis is that safety is a major concern from the subjects and the initial programming of the SRT was validated. In the long term, a post-occupancy evaluation can guide more effective, economical and sustainable results for the built environment.

Children, everywhere around the world, are deprived of their basic right to play. More than half of these children are urban dwellers who have limited access to outdoor and natural play areas, whose indoor environments are injected with technological attractions that keep them occupied in a sedentary life. This play deprivation is prompting a global reaction towards what the American play historian Joe L. Frost calls a “contemporary child-saving movement” that aims to save children from a “dual crisis:” decrease of outdoor play and alienation from nature. Studies demonstrate the importance of contact with nature, either by bringing nature into the urban environment or by taking children out to nature’s wilderness. However, the question is: What are the play-space principles that allow natural environments to afford children with play opportunities of developmental value?This descriptive case study utilizes a sensory ethnographic approach to observe the interaction of children with the natural environment at The Native School, a nature school in Carlsbad, California. Data is collected in intervals for six months to consider the impact of dynamic and cyclical processes of nature on play. The collected data is coded and analyzed using multiple lenses. The “functional approach” by the environmental psychologist Harry Heft, is used to categorize the observed play affordances into a “functional taxonomy.” Secondly, the non-linear dynamic theory is used to identify dynamic play-conducive aspects of nature: transformation, organized complexity, diversity, and ecological attunement. These play-space making principles can guide a biophilic approach to designing play-conducive and developmentally beneficial environments.

The profession known as industrial design is undergoing a transformation. Design thinking and strategy are replacing form giving and styling. Critics are calling for curricular reform to meet the changing needs of practice, yet surprisingly little knowledge is available about how and why design teachers do what they do. In an effort to frame the problem of (re)designing design education, this study provides a framework for understanding the pedagogical beliefs and preferences of design students and educators utilizing Bruner’s four folk pedagogies. This study also provides evidence that the practices of industrial design teachers exhibit what Cross (2006) has described as ‘designerly ways of knowing.’

This research aims to investigate the effect of campus courtyards on students’ satisfaction with education. It will look into two different types of courtyard within the Arizona State University. One courtyard space has more elements and attributes of biophilic design and the other has less. In addition, this paper will provide guidelines for designing courtyards that would improve student’s satisfaction with education. The Methodology used is survey handouts to students after the researcher selects the two types of courtyards by observation. The participant in this study are randomly picked young adult college students (n=60). The results indicate a positive effect of biophilic design on student’s satisfaction with education in courtyards. Furthermore, guidelines for designing courtyards based on biophilic design elements and attributes are suggested.

Despite public demand for climate change mitigation and natural open space conservancy, existing political and design efforts are only beginning to address the declining efficacy of the biotic carbon pool (C-pool) to sequester carbon. Advances in understanding of biogeochemical processes have provided methods for estimating carbon embodied in natural open spaces and enhancing carbon sequestration efficacy. In this study, the benefits of carbon embodied in dryland open spaces are determined by estimating carbon flux and analyzing ecological, social, and economic benefits provided by sequestered carbon. Understanding the ecological processes and derived benefits of carbon exchange in dryland open spaces will provide insight into enhancing carbon sequestration efficacy. Open space carbon is estimated by calculating the amount of carbon sequestration (estimated in Mg C / ha / y) in dryland open space C-pools. Carbon sequestration in dryland open spaces can be summarized in five open space typologies: hydric, mesic, aridic, biomass for energy agriculture, and traditional agriculture. Hydric (wetland) systems receive a significant amount of moisture; mesic (riparian) systems receive a moderate amount of moisture; and aridic (dry) systems receive low amounts of moisture. Biomass for energy production (perennial biomass) and traditional agriculture (annual / traditional biomass) can be more effective carbon sinks if managed appropriately. Impacts of design interventions to the carbon capacity of dryland open space systems are calculated by estimating carbon exchange in existing open space (base case) compared to projections of carbon sequestered in a modified system (prototype design). A demonstration project at the Lower San Pedro River Watershed highlights the potential for enhancing carbon sequestration. The site-scale demonstration project takes into account a number of limiting factors and opportunities including: availability of water and ability to manipulate its course, existing and potential vegetation, soil types and use of carbon additives, and land-use (particularly agriculture). Specific design challenges to overcome included: restoring perennial water to the Lower San Pedro River, reestablishing hydric and mesic systems, linking fragmented vegetation, and establishing agricultural systems that provide economic opportunities and act as carbon sinks. The prototype design showed enhancing carbon sequestration efficacy by 128-133% is possible with conservative design interventions.