Identifying Accessibility Barriers at University Built Environment: Findings from the University of Kent

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-129
Author(s):  
Itab Shuayb
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Accessibility Barriers ◽  
The University

Using Deep Learning to Understand Travel Demands in Different Urban Districts

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199458
Author(s):  
Shunhua Bai ◽  
Junfeng Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Prediction Accuracy ◽  
Travel Demand ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Demand Forecast ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Travel demand forecast plays an important role in transportation planning. Classic models often predict people’s travel behavior based on the physical built environment in a linear fashion. Many scholars have tried to understand built environments’ predictive power on people’s travel behavior using big-data methods. However, few empirical studies have discussed how the impact might vary across time and space. To fill this research gap, this study used 2019 anonymous smartphone GPS data and built a long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) to predict the daily travel demand to six destinations in Austin, Texas: downtown, the university, the airport, an inner-ring point-of-interest (POI) cluster, a suburban POI cluster, and an urban-fringe POI cluster. By comparing the prediction results, we found that: the model underestimated the traffic surge for the university in the fall semester and overestimated the demand for downtown on non-working days; the prediction accuracy for POI clusters was negatively related to their adjacency to downtown; and different POI clusters had cases of under- or overestimation on different occasions. This study reveals that the impact of destination attributes on people’s travel demand can vary across time and space because of their heterogeneous nature. Future research on travel behavior and built environment modeling should incorporate the temporal inconsistency to achieve better prediction accuracy.

scholarly journals A descriptive study of workplace attributes : environmental preference index examined through organizational system preference typologies

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Natalie Dean Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Organizational Studies ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Environmental Preferences ◽  
Organizational System ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Space Planning ◽  
Preference Index ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
The University

Creating an effective workplace to fit each setting can be useful in changing social cognitive behavior, increasing employee retention, providing effective work environments, increasing company profits, and attracting new employees. Corporate businesses are in a heightened pressure state to adapt to changing world economies. The margin for error of a faulty space plan grows increasingly all the while the cost of doing business skyrockets. Businesses are being asked to adapt, realign, and alter their practices in order to promote greater profits and maintain a stable workforce. Traditional planning methods are being found ineffective in today's changing environment. Most space planning practices use past ideas and intuitive guesses to create what is needed for a satisfactory space plan. A deeper level of understanding is needed that capitalizes on management decisions and promotes employee satisfaction. The level of understanding would benefit from the development of a precise manner for determining workplace environmental preferences. It is a common understanding within the architectural and business research fields that office employees are highly affected by the setting in which they conduct their work (Becker and Steele, 1995). The integration of two scaled indices to ascertain environmental preferences is an important area of study for today's research, design practice, and educational training which provide the opportunity to create patterns for creating environments that truly support the unique set of workers found within. The Environment Preference Index (EPI) measures an office worker's built environment preferences which include the physical facility, furniture and equipment, the opportunity to control their surroundings, the organizational culture's integration into the surrounding built environment, and the amenity spaces provided within the space. The Organizational System Assessment Scale index provides the ability to determine the organization's unique work type as a group or individual. The index provides the fundamental understanding to categorize all the workers within the studied organization by the way the worker views its current work setting and also their ideal way to work. The final integration between the two indices provides insight to contribute to future research seeking to create work patterns to improve design and space planning. The need for this type of planning precision is profound and while many ideas seem to be common sense, many of the white paper resources currently available have not had formal testing that would lead to causal theory application. The research also has the opportunity to create a unifying bridge between different university colleges such as organizational studies found in the nation's business schools and architecture and design college institutions. Shared information would also be made available to further the link between education/research and private design planning practices. The University of Missouri convenience study with a sample size of 411 respondents provides the opportunity to test out previously developed scaled indices, create a process to collect, study, and analyze survey data. As the University of Missouri Extension group sought to understand its workforce, they felt it important to know what areas in their overall physical structures could be enhanced to create a better work experience for its staff and faculty. The outcome for the study provides valuable insight into the organization's aggregate that previously would have been unavailable to researchers and practitioners alike as well as providing the opportunity for the contribution of improving the person and environment congruency. The research findings concluded that when considering the eight demographic variables, the results create a sample profile - the typical individual would be a 50 year old female who has worked for the University of Missouri Extension for 13.5 years on the Columbia campus in the same office for the past eight and a half years, working through Human Environmental Sciences under the current title of Specialist and has either moved only once and more commonly never has moved. Survey results also concluded that the organization comprised the highest mean group of open and that the EPI pattern connections were aligned with the constructs of the physical facility and the culture construct. In a climate of cultural change on the campus of the University of Missouri, this is a significant outcome for future design and business studies. The study's conclusions are significant as the design profession seeks ways to effectively manage and predict the link between employee engagement, attraction, and retention. With a process and beginning pattern development that can be associated between people and the built environment, architects, interior designers, and organizational analysts can more fully consider the connection for buildings and people as they seek to create future healthy building projects.

scholarly journals Book review: Samuel, MA, Dhunpath, R & Amin, N. (eds.). 2016. Disrupting higher education curriculum: undoing cognitive damage.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Muaaz Bhamjee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Higher Education Curriculum ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
The University

Dr Muaaz Bhamjee, a senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg's Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, reviews Disrupting higher education curriculum: undoing cognitive damage (2016) edited by Michael Anthony Samuel, Rubby Dhunpath and Nyna Amin. How to cite this book review: BHAMJEE, Muaaz. Book review: Samuel, MA, Dhunpath, R & Amin, N. (eds.). 2016. Disrupting higher education curriculum: undoing cognitive damage. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, v. 2, n. 1, p. 145-147, Apr. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=55   This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Great Divide: Teaching Collaborative Methodologies In Academia

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Katherine Boyle ◽  
Kyla Cools
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Historic Preservation ◽  
Applied Anthropology ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Academic World ◽  
Academic Setting ◽  
Field School ◽  
Historic Structures ◽  
Great Divide ◽  
The University

During the summer of 2017, the University of Maryland's Anthracite Heritage Program held a combined historic preservation and archaeological field school at Eckley Miners' Village in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Complementing the University's dual masters in applied anthropology and historic preservation, this field school emphasized the value of utilizing historic preservation and archaeology to inform one another. This field school has provided an invaluable opportunity for students to learn the process of documenting historic structures, as well as taking the built environment into account when conducting an archaeological survey. The collaborative methodologies used in this field school are rare in the applied academic setting yet are oftentimes found in industry and practice settings. This begs the question as to whether the divisions in “applied” and “practicing” anthropology are based in reality or artificial. By highlighting the benefits of teaching collaborative methodologies, we argue that it is a disservice to students to maintain this division between “applied” and “practicing” anthropology, as it does not adequately prepare them for a career outside of the academic world.

scholarly journals Bringing sustainability to the heart of a university through teaching, research and service

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 06007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esra Gençtürk ◽  
M. Pinar Mengüç
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Life Long Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Practices ◽  
Sustainable Education ◽  
The University

In this short paper, we summarize our targeted efforts at Ozyegin University in Istanbul, Turkey for establishing a sustainable research, teaching and learning environment. The University is striving to have highest level impact on sustainable education, energy, architecture, built environment, business and life-long learning practices. The strategic plan of the University puts the principles of sustainability at the cornerstone of its efforts, with the aim to aspire not only our students and staff, but also the community at large.

scholarly journals Combined Method for Evaluating Accessibility in Serious Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Salvador-Ullauri ◽  
Patricia Acosta-Vargas ◽  
Mario Gonzalez ◽  
Sergio Luján-Mora
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Combined Method ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Accessibility Barriers ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
The University ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Future Work

Nowadays, one of the learning resources in the educational area are serious games, also called training games; they are games designed with a different purpose than fun, whose main objective is to reinforce the new concepts more creatively. However, not all existing serious games are accessible in a way that allows access to a more significant number of users. Therefore, this research proposes to apply a combined method to evaluate accessibility in serious games, considering the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. As a case study, we evaluated the accessibility of 82 serious games developed by Physical Education Technology Interactive Simulations at the University of Colorado. We propose to replicate this combined method for users with various types of disabilities, considering the various accessibility barriers. As future work, we suggest generating an accessibility heuristic evaluation focused on serious games, based on the accessibility issues identified. Finally, we believe it is essential to strengthen accessibility policies in each country, as well as implement best practices that generate innovation by incorporating diversity in building and designing more inclusive serious games.

scholarly journals Results From the Republic of Slovenia’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (s2) ◽  
pp. S256-S264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vedrana Sember ◽  
Gregor Starc ◽  
Gregor Jurak ◽  
Mojca Golobič ◽  
Marjeta Kovač ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Report Card ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Sedentary Behaviors ◽  
Active Play ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The University

Background:This is the first assessment of the Republic of Slovenia’s efforts to synthesize and report physical activity (PA) standards for children and youth following the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance grading system model.Methods:The Republic of Slovenia Report Card relies on research findings published in peer-reviewed journals, data compiled from national databases, and government initiatives which have been monitoring physical fitness standards in schools for the past 34 years (SLOfit and ACDSi). The Report Card initiative has been jointly coordinated by the University of Primorska and the University of Ljubljana. A Research Work Group consisting of 12 representatives from various aspects of Slovenia’s public, private, and government sectors convened to evaluate evidence and assign grades for each PA indicator.Results:Grades (A, highest, to F, lowest; INC, incomplete) for Slovenia are as follows: Overall Physical Activity (A-), Organized Sport Participation (B-), Active Play (D), Active Transportation (C), Sedentary Behaviors (B+), Family and Peers (INC), Schools (A), Community and the Built Environment (INC), and Government (B+).Conclusions:This inclusive PA report indicates that overall physical activity minutes remain high in Slovenian children and youth; however, more research is needed to determine the effects of family life, peer influences, and the built environment on active play behaviors.

scholarly journals Approach for sustainable processes for the built environment in triple helix cooperation: the case of Storsjö strand in Östersund

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Jonasson ◽  
Itai Danielski ◽  
Lars Åke Mikaelsson ◽  
Morgan Fröling
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Triple Helix ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
Action Research Approach ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
To Come ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University

The built environment is an important component for a sustainable society. Choices made today will affect society during decades to come, both regarding performance of buildings and in affecting what is possible choices regarding mobility, energy, waste handling and human well being in general. There have been several projects in Sweden and around the world aiming at better sustainability performance of new built areas. A strong experience from earlier projects is that it is not that easy to actually achieve high ambitions set up at project initiation; the most common example in this direction that requirements on energy efficiency are not achieved when measuring in actual use of the final building. The project Storsjö Strand, a new township in Östersund in an earlier industrialized area, has aimed to work around identified earlier problems, using a strong interactivity and a triple helix process with the municipality, developers, and the university. The role of the university is to through an action research approach both be involved in the process to help guide it and to document and evaluate the process, with the research goal to contribute to and develop sustainable building processes for Sweden and elsewhere. The Storsjö Strand project is presently an ongoing project. This paper describes the approach taken and how it is a development of earlier approaches for sustainable building processes and also evaluates early experiences of the triple helix process.

scholarly journals What is architectural research today and where is the ground?

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-276
Author(s):  
Đorđe Stojanović
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Rubber Band ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Large Structures ◽  
Peter Eisenman ◽  
Architectural Research ◽  
The University

Why make large structures from rubber bands with students of architecture? How does such an endeavour relate to architectural education? And if rubber band structures are neither buildings, nor models of buildings, but experiments of some sort, what kind of knowledge do they generate relevant to construction industry and the built environment? These are some of the issues which have surfaced at the conference "ISSUES? Concerning the projects of Peter Eisenman" held in Belgrade in November 2013. They are related to a string of design research projects recently completed at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture and documented in the thematic volume of Serbian Architectural Journal titled "Architectural Education in the Post Digital Age" which was published independently but almost concurrently with the conference. In continuity with arguments given in that publication, this paper will provide a brief overview of some relevant and generally accepted theories and manifestos related to design research methodologies, providing grounds for the current work at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade.

Interdisciplinary Studies in Built Environment Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 316-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Wood ◽  
Song Wu
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Final Level ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Insufficient Time ◽  
The University

The School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford redesigned its undergraduate programmes to include multidisciplinary project work at all 3 levels. This chapter provides a case study of the development and implementation of the interdisciplinary module at final level catering for students from five different disciplines. Overall, students responded positively to the module and academic tutors and visiting practitioners were also positive about student performance, but thought insufficient time had been allocated for module delivery and management, which was demanding than the traditional lecture/tutorial pattern. The use of a dedicated website for communications was seen as a useful co-ordinating and cohesive device although the use of ICT could be significantly expanded. The greatest challenges concern operational difficulties associated with managing large numbers of students in teams, and composing clear requirements with associated assessment criteria.

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