来自

Sasaki

Appreciation towards

Sasaki

for providing the following description:

Background

新冠肺炎彻底颠覆了高等教育的世界。今年，当我们还在一直讨论线上教学是否可能取代现行普遍的线下教学，而它就一夜成真了！尽管我们竭尽所能通过Zoom（网络会议软件）和其他在线平台提高学习的创造性与参与度，许多学生和教师仍然渴望着回归到实体教室。在这之后，还有人会抱怨早上8点或周五的课吗？

布朗大学校长克里斯蒂娜-帕克森（Christina Paxon）在她最近的专栏文章中谈到了这种渴望，她说：”学生们仍然需要从面对面的教育环境中学习：激烈的知识辩论在Zoom上难以为继，实验室和图书馆提供了更好的研究机会，与拥有不同观点和生活经历的学生互动也是线上教学所无法体验的。”即便我们终将回归校园，可想而知的是，近期内教育的面貌将大不相同。

在1960年代之前，绝大多数的教室里，学生们都坐在分隔的单人课桌前，或者是分层的阶梯教室并面向讲台。当时的班级规模也大得多，单个座位的空间远小于今天的标准。但是自1970年代以来，教学空间设计更加强调小班教学及主动式学习（active learning），同时为单人座位提供了更多空间，以促进动手实践课程（hands-on-activity）和项目式学习（project-based learning）。这样的教学设计方式，在新冠肺炎所带来的诸多考虑下，既是机遇也是挑战。

教室分散化的趋势与保持社交距离的目标一致，但目前的教室标准还远低于社交距离的要求。社交距离规范建议人与人之间在各个方向至少保持６英尺（2米）的距离，这相当于每人需要36平方英尺（约3.4平米）。然而一旦纳入对动线空间需求等因素的考虑，空间需求将更大，超过每个座位25-35平方英尺（约2.3-3.3平米）的典型“主动式学习”空间标准。此外，社交距离规范还建议课桌应该统一朝向，而不是面对面，以减少病毒的飞沫传播，这直接与“项目式学习”的原意相悖，并不鼓励学生在教室中一同就坐，协同工作，甚至面对面进行研讨。

COVID-19 has turned the world of higher education upside down. After years of wondering if online learning would ever upend place-based learning, it suddenly did…literally overnight! Yet, for all the creativity and engagement we’ve managed to squeeze out of Zoom and other online platforms, many students and faculty long for a return to the physical classroom. Will anyone ever complain about an 8:00 a.m. or Friday class again?

In her recent op-ed, Brown University President Christina Paxon addressed this yearning by saying “…students will still benefit from all that makes in-person education so valuable: the fierce intellectual debates that just aren’t the same on Zoom, the research opportunities in university laboratories and libraries, and the personal interaction among students with different perspectives and life experiences.” Yet even if a return to campus is inevitable, we can all recognize it will look quite different, at least in the near term.

In the 1960s and prior, the preponderance of classrooms had students seated at individual desks, spaced apart, or in lecture halls with seats separated by tiers and all facing the same direction. Class sizes were much larger and space per seat much less than today’s standards. But since the 1970s, learning space design has emphasized smaller section cohorts, active learning, and more space per seat to enable hands-on-activity and project-based learning. This approach presents both an opportunity and a challenge amid COVID-19 concerns.

The trend of general classroom de-densification aligns with social distance requirements, yet current classroom standards do not go far enough. Social distancing suggests a minimum of six feet of separation between individuals in all directions. This equates to 36 square feet per person, however it does not account for things like circulation, which will only increase this space demand above the typical active learning space standards of 25-35 square feet per seat. Moreover, social distancing suggests that desks should all be turned in the same direction, rather than facing each other, to reduce transmission from virus-containing droplets. This, of course, directly contradicts the intent behind project-based learning whereby students sit and work together in the classroom, or even seminar-style discussions that favor face-to-face discourse.

Research

为了理解对学习环境的可能影响，以及考虑院校如何调整今年秋季的学习环境，我们深入研究了院校数据库。我们通过研究各类典型教室，界定了对一般教室和演讲厅进行调整的方法，以应对社交距离的规范。

以演讲厅为例，一个144人的典型演讲厅每个座位的平均面积为14平方英尺（约1.3平米），如果每排错开并间隔三个空位，那么它的总容量只能维持25-35%。这样每个座位的空间增加了三倍，约40-50平方英尺（约3.7-4.6平米）。同时，一个典型的40人教室，每个座位平均面积25平方英尺（约2.3平米），在重新布置降低密度以满足新冠肺炎期间的规范时，只能保留40-50%的容量。

In order to understand the impacts on learning environments, as well as consider how institutions might adapt their learning environments for the fall semester, we took a deep dive into our institutional database. When we examine a range of classroom prototypes, we can identify how adjustments to general use classrooms and lecture halls can be made to accommodate social distancing requirements:

In the case of a lecture hall, a prototypical 144-seat room with an average of 14 square feet per seat would maintain only 25-35 percent of its total capacity if you were to stagger seating at each row and leave three empty seats between students. This approach would result in triple the amount of space per seat, roughly 40-50 square feet. Meanwhile, a typical 40-seat flat-floor classroom with 25 square feet per seat could expect to retain only 40-50 percent of its capacity when rearranging and de-densifying to meet COVID-19 requirements.

▼演讲厅空间模型，model of  lecture hall ©Sasaki

▼普通教室空间模型，model of  classroom ©Sasaki