Designing STEM Kiosks: A Student Project that Teaches

This paper explains how sophomore-level Interior De sign students in a three-dimensional studio class were involved in a real-life design project i n which the main emphasis was STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The pap er starts with a brief background about the STEMworks Indiana project and how it was integrated into the “INTR-225 Three-Dimensional Interior Design Studio” course at Indiana Universit y – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and then it presents assessment methods. Finally, it concludes with a discussion about lessons learned and future suggestions. 1.0 Project Background STEMWorks Indiana is a collaborative initiative bet w en the Indianapolis Private Council and IUPUI. It is a million-dollar initiative awarded b y the U.S. Department of Labor to one of 92 applicants nationwide. The main emphasis of STEMWo rks Indiana is to help qualified high school students and unemployed workers find their p aths to high-demand jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in Central Indiana. It is a highly ambitious threeyear initiative that will impact STEM industries th roughout the state. 1 The initiative aims to serve approximately 400 disp laced workers and 100 disadvantaged students. Priority will be given to African Americ an and Hispanic/Latino high school students who are enrolled in Indianapolis Public Schools and the Central Nine Career Center. In order to better serve those individuals with STE M interests, STEMWorks Indiana created the “STEM Centers of Excellence.” In these strategicall y selected locations (three major WorkOne Centers and two area high schools), specially desig n d kiosks provide uninterrupted electronic communication about STEM jobs and self-help for ind ividuals to decide a pathway to a STEM career. These kiosks are connected to the Internet and can be remotely operated and updated by the STEMworks Indiana Research Team from anywhere. In order to design the kiosks, the STEMWorks Indian a Research Team approached the author, who has experience in industrial design. As both a n outside consultant for the team and a higher educator, the author suggested offering the project as a class assignment to give students realworld opportunities to work with real-world clients . The outcomes of the project significantly contribute to student education, seamlessly overlap the STEMWorks Indiana mission, and fall into the course’s objectives. Therefore, the team gladly accepted the offer. After initial preparations, the project was assigned to students uring the mid-spring semester of 2010. 2.0 Methodology IUPUI’s Interior Design Program is accredited by th e Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). According to the Professional Standards pu blication published by CIDA in 2009, Standard 3 mentions that “the work of interior desi gners is informed by knowledge of behavioral science and human factors”. Moreover, the same sta ndard mentions that students in CIDAaccredited institutions must demonstrate “the abili ty to select, interpret, and apply appropriate P ge 22446.2 ergonomic and anthropometric data” and “the ability to appropriately apply universal design concepts” . The project of designing the kiosks was aligned wit h this standard and its sub-sections. There were a total of three benchmarks identified at the beginning of the project. Each benchmark has qualitative feedback and is critiqued as part of th e assessment. Due to the timing of the adoption decisions and mid-semester insertion, six weeks of class time were devoted to the design development stage. Two weeks were dedicated for ea ch of the three benchmarks; therefore, six weeks were allotted for the whole project. These b enchmarks are explained in detail below. 3.0 Benchmarks Benchmark I: During the first two weeks, team members from STE Mworks Indiana visited the class and introduced the project to students. In d epth information about the project was provided, the framework of the project was establis hed, and questions were answered. WorkOne centers, where the finished kiosks are located now, were identified, and photos of the interior were shown. The second task of the first benchmark was to gathe r nthropometric and ergonomic data. Students were assigned to create their own “sample” anthropometric data by measuring their own bodies and applying the ergonomic data creation methods outlined in two books: Panero and Zelnik’s Human Dimension and Interior Space: A Source book of Design Reference Standards 3 and Tilley’s The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design . In the spring semester of 2010, the total enrollmen t of the INTR 225 class was 13 students, of which 12 were females and 1 was male. Since this s ample group was not balanced in terms of gender and could not represent the target user popu lation, students were instructed to find and measure one opposite-gender person outside the clas s roster. In the end, the sample group was equalized with a total of 26 people. Due to privacy concerns, results of the anthropomet ric and ergonomic data gathered in this study will not be shared in this paper. The third task of the first benchmark was to create concepts. Students used freehand sketching, digital and traditional mass studies, and other con cept development techniques. In this stage, they also used their own data, which they had created by measuring their own bodies, to shape their designs and establish key dimensions such as keyboa rd and LCD TV locations. Figure 1 shows an example of one student’s freehand sketch with an not tions.