ARCHITECTURE MASTERS SEMINAR A

ASSIGNMENT 6
RUMAIZA ALI 1205689

1.0_ PROJECT TITLE Productive Learning Spaces: Analyzing the Relationship between Accommodation Environment and Student Productivity. A Case Study of the University of Adelaide Architectural International Students

2.0_SUMMARY Earlier studies have shown that different types of living and learning environment affect students outcomes and their educational performances (Hountras & Brandt 1970, Hanrahan 1998, Tanner 2008). This paper investigates further aspects of the living environment and how they affect student academic productivity. This study, however, is carried out only on international architectural students from the University of Adelaide. The assessment will be done using a quantitative and qualitative research methodology involving a post-occupancy evaluation of the student residence and open-ended interviews with the students themselves. This research may open new perspectives to residential designers, university and private accommodation management, and inform international students about their choice of learning experience.

3.0_PROJECT OUTLINE 3.1_INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND Recognized as a highly developed country, Australia does not only rank as the worlds 13th-largest economy, but also stands proud being second place in global Human Development Index. In fact, Australia ranks highly in a large number of other national performances, such as quality of life, health, and most importantly education (Human Development Report 2011). All these factors contribute to its prominent status as a key player in the international higher education student market. Besides being internationally accredited for its lead in education system and policy, Australia is also the third leading country in the world to host international students. Based on statistics by the Australian Council of Educational Research, in 2010 alone, 227 230 international students were recorded to be studying in the higher education sector (AEI International Student Data 2010). Additionally, there has been significant increase in the number of overseas students from 1994 to 2010. From the 227 230 figure, students mostly originate from Asian countries such as China, India, South Korea, and Malaysia. This can be explained by the fact that these countries are both developing and newly industrialized countries, except for South Korea which is already a developed country. So the importance placed on higher education in these countries is in line with their countries growth and aims. Geographically, the Australian continents strategic location in close proximity to Asian countries also contributes to the wave of incoming overseas students. Carrying the status of one of the nations most livable cities by the Property Council of Australia (Stolper 2011), and also ranking the highest in housing affordability, many international students opt for tertiary institutions in Adelaide as their choice of study, causing a high demand in accommodation for the students. Typical types of accommodation available for international students are on-campus or off-campus housing. On-campus accommodation typically consists of residential halls and colleges, while off-campus accommodation comes in a wide range of choice, such as university-provided

student housing, private student accommodation and private rental homes. For the purpose of this research which focuses on international architectural students, comparison will be made between purpose-built student accommodation and private rental homes, which are the most common types of houses dwelled by the international students. Hountras and Brandt (1970) found significant differences in academic performance among matched groups of college students living under different environmental conditions. Based on that research, students who stayed at residence halls had better mean point averages (GPAs) than students living at home or off-campus. However, no studies have been done to look into specific factors that affect the students difference in achievement. Thus, this proposed research intends to investigate further in comparing two distinguished types of accommodation for the international architecture students of University of Adelaide, particularly purpose-built student accommodation and private rental homes. These are the two most popular dwellings opted by the aforementioned group of students. The environmental conditions of these two dwellings will be looked into thoroughly, studying the differences in terms of both the physical and social aspects and how they affect the student productivity. Productivity, as defined by the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2011), is the rate at which a worker, a company or a country produces goods, and the amount produced, compared with how much time, work and money is needed to produce them. The word productivity is mainly used for researches pertaining to workers productivity in companies or organizations. There have also been literatures that studies productivity in education. Monk (1990), for example, studies productivity in school by using the production function as the basic element. However, there is no definite definition for productivity as it differs when applied to different cases Although previous studies relate different environments to student performance and achievement, for this research, student productivity will be used as a measure because this paper will highlight what and how the accommodation environment influences student motivation, which consequently affects the productivity. In conclusion, the term productivity in this paper will be portrayed by the amount of effort put in by the students instead of grades or achievements.

3.2_ RESEARCH QUESTIONS The purpose of this investigation is to determine the relationship between student residence and the academic productivity of international architectural students from the University of Adelaide. This research will attempt to provide answers to the following key questions: 1. What are the physical architectural properties of the built environment that affect student productivity? 2. What are the social aspects of a living environment that affect student productivity? 3. How are the physical and social aspects of the accommodation environment influence the productivity of the students? 3. How can all the factors identified be used to generate student productivity in their living environment?

3.3_ AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT Studies have already proven that the student living environment does affect student performance. Turley and Wodtke (2010) conducted a similar study and discovered that the type of residence gives significant impacts on their academic achievement. It also is demonstrated that a supportive living environment enhance a students achievement (Daulta 2008), which can be related to the social needs of students. Since this research focuses on the type of student residence and their productivity, the aim of this particular study is to identify and structure both the physical and social attributes of the student residences. Physical factors may include design and technical aspects of the buildings, while social factors cover cross-cultural integration of the residents, the motivation and support that they receive from the people around them, and also students learning styles which may affect the outcome of the research. Comparison and detailed analysis will be made to study how different the attributes are in different settings and how these factors contribute to their academic productivity.

3.4_TRENDS IN LITERATURE Generally, humankinds have physiological, psychological and social needs. (Boyden 1971). Therefore when a building is designed, besides protecting its

residents from sunshine and rain, certain needs of the human beings have to be met to avoid the building from becoming a soulless static box (Heerwagen 1998). When it comes to basic infrastructure of a building, a few characteristics from Loftness (1997) study of workplaces relevant to student residents can be extracted; fresh air and temperature control, lighting control, daylight and view, privacy and working in quiet conditions, network access, and ergonomic furniture. Hountras & Brandt 1970, Jankowska & Atkay 2008 and Tanner 2008 also agree that different physical environment has different effects onto student learning experience. The physical environment however, can be divided into two categories, which are design and technical. The design category involves the layout of a building, the organization of spaces, furniture arrangement and provision of technological facilities and others. On the other hand, the technical category includes thermal comfort, visual comfort, acoustic comfort and indoor air quality (McGrath & Horton 2011). One important aspect which is not the least important is social needs. Besides the physical environment, one must not ignore the fact that students are humans and need assistance in their journey as newcomers and learners, especially international students. Therefore appropriate facilitation techniques, student support, and any kind of services would actually give a great impact onto the students social and psychological development during the whole learning course. (Jankowska & Atkay 2008). A rather different perspective or aspect of student living environment which relate to the social aspect is the cultural values and issues present in a mixed culture living environment, which has proven to affect the students satisfaction and academic outcome (Fallon 2010). Besides cultural and social factors, a research study also has proven that a supportive environment in a home or residential accommodation could enhance academic achievement (Bansal et. al. 2006) as it contributes to a high level of motivation to the student. A study conducted by DeRoma et.al. (2009) found a relationship between depression and college academic performance. Their investigation discovered that students with moderate level of depression displayed less performance in academic achievement compared to students with less or minimal depression level. Therefore having a student support by universities or student accommodation management would be a wise choice to keep the students on

track of pursuing their goal and assist them in managing emotional and academic distress.

All the outcomes from previous researches demonstrate that are numerous aspects and factors to be looked into when studying students living environment in addition to just the physical or built environment. Therefore it is vital that this proposed study be conducted to identify and structure all the relevant factors so that students will be able to evaluate and provide feedback on their living and learning experience in their respective accommodations. The findings of this study are expected to ultimately help current and future international architecture students in seeking their optimal living environment when considering for accommodation in Adelaide. In addition, the knowledge gained may be used to provide new perspectives for designers and residential developers in improving the design, development and management of student-related housing projects. In the future, studies may be conducted to explore the kind of space that stimulated creative thinking among architectural students be it at the university or at home.

5.0 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODS Besides the influence of the living environment, researches on student learning and intellectual development have found that students achievement is also determined by a variety of collegial factors. This includes the nature of the coursework, student effort in studying, out-of-class environment, and faculty and peer interaction (Astin, 1993; Feldman & Newcomb, 1969; Pascarella, 1980; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) Hence, the proposed topic only focuses on architecture students to eliminate the nature of coursework variable. However, only Architectural Students from the third to fifth year will become the subject of the research as they would have gone through more experience and would be able to evaluate the transitions of their academic productivity. At least 100 students will be chosen. The sample subject is focused to one target population, particularly international architectural students from the University of Adelaide. The respondents are only considered from the aforementioned university so as to maintain the education standards level as a permanent variable. This is due to

the fact that despite conducting the same courses, different universities have different approaches depending on the focus of the course, in this case the Architecture course. One university may be more concentrated on the technical aspects of architecture, while the other specializes more on design exploration, hence the need for a specific target population. In addition, the sample subjects are only international students, and not local students. This is because the experiences of local and international students vary widely and are influenced by many external factors such as adjusting to new environments, family support, independence, responsibility, and provisions. Another modified variable in this research is using student productivity instead of student performance as this research will be focusing on how conducive the environment is to the students and how the environment motivates or demotivates the students. Grades may not reflect the productivity and effort of students as all learners will be productive in different types of environment, and grades or achievement cannot be used to measure this variable. For an accurate and in-depth outcome to this study, the System of Enquiry for this project, a mixed-methodology approach will be applied, whereby both qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be carried out. Apart from having the essential quantitative data on social demographics, this study relies quite heavily on qualitative research whereby the respondents will need to fill out a survey similar to a Post-Occupancy Evaluation to identify and measure the characteristics of their living environment. For the quantitative research, apart from data on social demographics, the target students will be required to fill up surveys similar to a Post-Occupancy Evaluation to measure their satisfaction of their living environment. As architectural students, they will also be required to draw out plans and dimensions of their accommodation. As for the qualitative part, PostOccupancy Evaluation comments will be collected from the students to gain their views and insights of the place they live in and acquire richer interpretation of data. In terms of assessing their academic productivity, the target students will be required to write a reflective journal of their experience in their respective residence over a period of time. A set of guidelines covering social and environmental aspects will be provided to assist the students in recording their experiences. Finally, open-ended interviews with the students will be conducted to further understand the students situation and experience in their living environment.

4.0_BUDGET Anticipated costs: Items for this research will only include bus tickets, budgeted at $23 for each week, and sums up to a total of $138.

4.1_Will you submit an application to a funding agency for support for your project? Yes apply. 4.2_Is this project contingent on funding support from elsewhere? Yes No No

If YES, please provide details indicating to which agency you would

If YES, please provide details.

5.0_ RESEARCH PLAN The timeframe for this project will be approximately 7 months. The stages of the research development will be as follows:

MAR Date Ending Initial Stages of investigation

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

15-31 14-30 15-31 15-30 15-31 15-31 15-30 15-31 15-30

Literature Review Research question and survey formulation Data collection handing out survey questionnaires and conducting interviews Data analysis Research draft Research final writeup

6.0_SKILLS TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT -none-

7.0_OTHER REQUIREMENTS -none8.0_OTHER REQUIREMENTS Ethics approval students may be required to give personal information on demographics and other related data. 9.0_REFERENCES Amole, D, Residential Satisfaction and Levels of Environment in Students Residences, Environment and Behaviour 2009 41:886

Astin, Alexander W., What Matters in College?, Liberal Education; 63:4,.p4 1993 Carter, T., Polevychok, C., Housing is Good Social Policy, Canadian Policy Research Networks, 2004 Charbonneau , C., Johnson, L., Andrey, J. Characteristics of University Student Housing and Implications for Urban Development in Mid-sized Cities, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, Volume 15, Issue 2, p. 278-300 2006 DeRoma, Virginia M., John B. Leach, and J. Patrick Leverett. "The relationship between depression and college academic performance." College Student Journal 43.2 (2009): S325+.Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Apr. 2012 DeRoma, Virginia M., John B. Leach, and J. Patrick Leverett. "The relationship between depression and college academic performance." College Student Journal 43.2 (2009): S325+.Academic OneFile. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. ed Pritchard, R. Productivity Measurement and Improvement: Organizational Case Studies, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc 1995 Fallon, F. Cultural Values and Cultural Issues in Mixed Culture International Student Accommodation Arrangements, ISANA International Academy Association Conference 2010 Hanrahan, M. 1998 International Journal of Science Education 20 (6) p 737-753 Hountras, Peter T, and Brandt, Kenneth R., Relation of Student Residence to Academic Performance in College, Journal of Educational Research, 63:8 (1970:April.)p.351 Human Development Report 2011, United Nations Development Programme International Students Enrolments in Australia 1004-2010, EIA International Student Data 2010 Magoon,T M, and Maxwell, Martha J., Demographic Differences Between High and Low Achieving Najib, N., Osman, Z., Yusof, N. "Measuring satisfaction with student housing facilities." American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 4.1 (2011): 52. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.

Qi, J. K., Adam, N. M., Sai, H. T., Effect of Environmental Comfort Factors in Enclosed Transitional Space toward Work Productivity, American Journal of Environmental Sciences 5 (3): 315-324, 2009 Stolper, D, Auspol- My City: The Peoples Verdict, Property Council of Australia, 2011 Tanner, C. K. 2008, Explaining Relationships Among Student Outcomes and the Schools Physical Environment, Journal of Advanced Academics, 19, 444471. Turley, R, Wodtke, G, 2010, College Residence and Academic Performance: Who Benefits from Living on Campus? Urban Education 2010 45: 506