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Arch 302

Arch 302 Students Review Findings

Pete Reynolds Blog

Students in Arijit Sen’s Arch 302 class gathered in the SARUP Commons this morning to talk through what they’ve seen in the first month of their service learning/field experience supporting K-12 students and teachers at 17 area schools. This is all part of an effort that will culminate in design proposals for each school which better align the physical design of classroom with the needs of educators and learners. In the process, a huge number of Milwaukee students engage on a weekly basis with a near peer mentor pursing an architecture career. It’s what can happen when UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Center for Student Experience & Talent have the chance to connect with area teachers who want a richer experience for their own students.

UWM Architecture Students Supporting 25 Teachers in 17 Schools

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We’re in our second year of a working with Arijit Sen’s Architecture & Human Behavior class (Arch 302)  at UWM. In collaboration with UWM’s Center for Student Experience & Talent (SET), we’ve placed the 150+ Arch 302 students in service learning roles with 25 teachers in 17 area schools, and with us. The focus of students’ work for Arch 302 is the design of learning spaces, and the 1-2 hours per week they each spend to support teachers and students serves as a field experience and preparation for their design challenge. Over the course of the semester, In teams of 2-3, Arch 302 students will develop design proposals to better address the needs of teachers, students, and staff who use the classrooms Arch 302 students are supporting.  At five of those schools, teams are supporting teachers and students who have take on a parallel design challenge at their school. The two teams placed with us are focused on the room we use for most of our Collab Labs at MSOE’s STEM Center. 

The framework we have in place for this effort creates wins all around– a richer experience for Arch 302 students, classroom support for teachers and schools, and exposure to new ways schools might look at the learning spaces they offer. Beyond all of that, given the number of Arch 302 students involved, roughly 2,500 K-12 students most of whom are in majority minority schools with high percentages of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, have weekly exposure to a young person pursuing the field. For an industry with a shocking lack of diversity, this is a big step in building a pipeline of talent that looks a lot more like Milwaukee.

This collaboration was made possible because Professor Sen had a vision for what it could mean for his students, SET had processes in place to match UWM students to placement opportunities, and we’ve built up a big enough network of schools and teachers that we could find placements for everyone in such a large class. We’re continuing to explore how we can continue to sustain and leverage this model. if you’d like to get involved, let us know.

 

 

 

 

Arch 302 Student Presentations

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Lorianne Flaherty,  Valentina Romero-Moran, Kaylee Bertrand concept from their proposal Auer Avenue School

This spring our collaboration with UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning (SARUP) and Center for Student Experience and Talent placed 128 architecture students in service learning roles in 15 Milwaukee and area schools.  These students were enrolled in Arch 302, Architecture and Human Behavior, and the focus of their course work was the design of learning spaces. Over the course of the semester, each UWM student provided 20 hours of support to a classroom teacher, most often working directly with students. This provided a unique way to get a sense of both how the learning spaces they were in functioned, and view of what the school experience is like for both teachers and students.

UWM students used their service learning experience to identify spaces that could better support students and teachers. Working in teams of 2 to 4, the UWM students spent additional time in the school to interview students, teachers, and staff about the spaces they used. From that, the teams developed design proposals to address issues of concern or opportunities to tailor the space to better meet the needs of users. That work was shared in a public presentation at SARUP, and with each participating school.

The bigger story here is the exposure this created for the School of Architecture. Across the 15 schools, some 2,500 K12 students had regular opportunities to interact with UWM Architecture students, learn who they are as individuals and what motivates their work.  This is the broad end of a funnel to develop and recruit talent not just for UWM, but for the industry. Given the demographics of the schools involved, where 3/4 of the students are non-white and 2/3 economically disadvantaged, it’s also a funnel aimed at groups that are underrepresented in the field.

Given the overwhelming positive response from both UWM students and the schools they served, we’ll continue the collaboration over the coming school year with some expanded opportunities for participating schools. As part of our STEM Studio Workshops this summer, we’ll be working with K-12 educators, UWM, and industry partners to develop a design challenge for middle and high school students focused on space within their school. Arch 302 students will be available in the spring semester to serve as near peer mentors for K-12 students engaged in that work. We’ll be lining up additional support and on-campus experiences to support the work of students and teachers participating in the project.

 

 

2024-25 Collab Labs

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