New space to experience engineering
Bright red and green décor and a giant floor chessboard along with computers, laptops and a kitchen are waiting to greet first year engineering students from across the University of South Australia.
The Experience 1 Studio has been created to help students ease into university life and enhance collaborative learning.
Senior Project Manager with the University’s Facility Management Unit, Christina Coleiro, said the Studio at the Mawson Lakes campus, has been designed to support common first year engineering students from various schools and disciplines, who can collaborate and engage together.
"The key is for students to personalise the space which is for learning and socialising," Coleiro said.
"We want students to feel as though it’s their space, to help them learn but also to help their transition to the uni’s academic and social life, which can be an issue for new students."
The Studio has a modern design with bright coloured furniture and décor. It offers flexibility from open studio environments for project based learning to intimate spaces for small group interaction and learning, and zones for individual study. The holistic nature of this unique design provides areas for unwinding, relaxation, social interaction, collaboration, games and display concepts. It also includes a printer, data projectors and wireless access points.
Coleiro said incorporating leading-edge technology in the range of spaces provides a spectrum of opportunities and stimulus to assist students in their learning endeavours.
An area has also been set aside as a social spot where students can eat and relax, and comes equipped with fridges, sinks and microwaves.
The aim is for the Studio to help students love their university experience and therefore help with retention rates, said Dr Mahfuz Aziz, Academic Director of the University’s Engineering First Year.
"We hope it will help students to engage with their studies, while balancing the social experience of being a university student," Dr Aziz said.
"We have made the engineering aspects of this space as visible as possible. It has been set up to increase multi-disciplinary experience, helping students to appreciate different fields and talk about issues in their own discipline and understand other issues. This should make them better engineers for future project work."
The Experience 1 Studio is located at the Mawson Lakes campus in Building A on the second floor.