Susan Ray-Degges, professor of apparel, design and hospitality management, and Stephanie McDaniel, architect and principal at BWBR in St. Paul, Minnesota, are scheduled to present research findings during the Interior Design Educators Council’s Human-Centered Design Conference March 7-10 in Boston.

In their presentation, titled “Unleashing student voices on a college campus: A post-occupancy evaluation for a STEM building in higher education,” they will address how physical environments influence 21st century learning goals. The material was gained through an exploration of informal student collaboration spaces and active learning classrooms in NDSU’s A. Glenn Hill Center. They will discuss their data-gathering process, findings and evaluations about the learning spaces.

The post-occupancy evaluation was co-written by Ray-Degges, McDaniel, Ron Degges, NDSU associate professor of practice in statistics, and NDSU alumna Stefnee Trzpuc, BS ’02, interior design, who is a design research and knowledge management specialist at BWBR.

The team identified classroom features that support student collaboration and interaction between students and faculty interaction. The researchers also examined how collaboration spaces, such as open seating, alcoves and study rooms, encourage learning activities outside the classroom.

The conference attracts scholars, educators and designers as it focuses on how interior environment relates to culture, pedagogy, practice and social impact.

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