elementsdb: Engaging students with the environmental dimensions of urban design via the web

Titleelementsdb: Engaging students with the environmental dimensions of urban design via the web
Faculty/College/UnitApplied Science
StatusCompleted
Duration3 Years
Initiation04/01/2010
Completion12/03/2013
Funding Details
Year 1: Project TitleEngaging students with the environmental dimensions of urban design via the web
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2010/2011
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorCynthia Girling
Year 1: Funded Amount54,703
Year 1: Team Members

Cynthia Girling, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), Faculty of Applied Science
Ronald Kellett, Professor, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Stephen Sheppard, Professor, SALA / Forest Resource Management, Faculty of Forestry
Maged Senbel, Assistant Professor, Community and Regional Planning
Paula Farrar, Librarian, Art, Architecture, and Planning, UBC Library

Year 1: Summary

This project will apply, evaluate, and expand elementsdb a unique web-based UBC-created reference database that connects quantitative data about the elements of the city with the more commonly accessible visual information. With this support we will expand students’ knowledge base about the metrics of urban sustainability via a web-based resource, train successive waves of teaching assistant (TA)/faculty teams to make effective use of elementsdb in classes, engage students in case selection and creation, and in the evaluation of the database as a reference and research tool. Interactive use of this tool will immediately enhance student learning by teaching select students in classes listed below the theory and application of well-informed urban design decision-making. Available via the UBC Library’s Online Indexes and Databases list, students will have 24 hour access. It will directly complement existing curricula of approximately 190 students/year in landscape architecture, environmental design, urban design, and planning courses.

Year 2: Project TitleEngaging students with the environmental dimensions of urban design via the web
Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2011/2012
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorCynthia Girling
Year 2: Funded Amount65,360
Year 2: Team Members

Cynthia Girling, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Maged Senbel, Assistant Professor, Community and Regional Planning (SCARP)
Paula Farrar, Librarian, Art, Architecture, and Planning, UBC Library
Ronald Kellett, Professor, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Erick Villagonez, Sessional Lecturer, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Stephen Sheppard, Professor, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science / Forest Resource Management, Faculty of Forestry
Kellogg Booth, Professor, Computer Science, Faculty of Applied Science
Alejandro Rojas, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Andrew Riseman, Faculty of Land and Food Systems

Year 2: Summary

This project broadens and deepens a 2010/11 project that affords students a web-based database (elementsdb) for understanding how urban form affects sustainability. Year 2 takes specialized students deeper into applying the database to critical evaluations of urban form and concurrently broadens the reference service of the databases to large undergraduate classes. The project: trains faculty/teaching assistant (TA) teams to make effective use of elementsdb in courses; expands students knowledge base about the metrics of urban sustainability; engages students in critical cross-disciplinary consideration of the complex factors of urban sustainability; engages some students in database creation and evaluation. In 2011/12, we will test the use of the database in two different virtual environments: GoogleEarth and a multi-touch table. Students will have 24 hour access from any location to this website. This project will directly complement existing curricula of approximately 540 students/year in six departments.

Year 3: Project YearYear 3
Year 3: Funding Year2012/2013
Year 3: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 3: Principal InvestigatorCynthia Girling
Year 3: Funded Amount61,064
Year 3: Team Members

Cynthia Girling, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Maged Senbel, Community and Regional Planning
Greg Johnson, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Ronald Kellet, SALA, Faculty of Applied Science
Kev Maddill, Librarian, Art, Architecture and Planning, UBC Library
Paula Farrar, Librarian, Art, Architecture and Planning, UBC Library

Year 3: Summary

Learning from Years 1 and 2, this project makes significant changes to modes of learning, content, and levels of user engagement for a web-based database (elementsdb). Year 3 engages a group of research assistants to: add a community of interest module; redesign the learning tutorials; help design protocols for students to create cases; and add building energy content to the database. We are sustaining our seven core partner courses and add one new course- a building systems course in Architecture who will test and evaluate the new case creation methods and the energy modules. We are improving integration of elementsdbin core course curricula to expand students’ knowledge base about the metrics of urban sustainability and engage students in critical consideration of the complex factors of urban sustainability. This project will directly complement existing curricula of approximately 190 students/year in SALA and SCARP this year and into the future.