Sketches for the classroom chairs and tables design

          Besides working on the technology , our group also planned to design the table and chair which would bring more convenient to the students. Well , we had done some sketches of the table and chair design . 

The table sketches were done by Wen Li . We planned to design the table which could let the students to put their belongings under the table . 

The first 3 sketches of the chair were done by me . 

Another 3 sketches of the chair were done by Andy Lim . 

          For the chair design , we got the inspiration from the rocking chair . Since most of the students did not like to sit for a long time in the classroom as they felt that they did not have the freedom . Most of them liked to move and walk around the classroom . Some more , they might felt not so convenient and relax when they sit on the formal classroom chair . With the rocking chair , the students could have a bit ' freedom ' as they could ' move ' their body even though they was sitting on their place . Furthermore , they could have the relax mood when sitting in the classroom for a long time . 

Sketches > Design > Futuristic classroom view > Woohoo !

         Basically , these were the sketches for our advance projector design . The projector would be hung on the ceiling that near to the wall . Once the projector was switched on , the wall would be changed into the background which related to the lesson of the students had on that day . 

          Besides that , there was a device on the glass panel on the table which was connected to the projector as what were taught by the teacher would be shown on the glass panel . This was the advantages of the combination of the advance projector and the glass panel as the students needed not to keep focusing on the whiteboard . Now , they had their own screen on the table !

          Well ,  this was the futuristic classroom view . The glass panel was fixed on the table surface and the HUD was shown on it ! The galaxy background on the wall has shown the function of the projector as it could be changed anytime . 

Inspiration from the good ideas

          Out of the two more ideas which were the 3D printer and the advance projector , our group had decided to choose the advance projector and work on it . Since we wanted to produce an advance projector , so we started to do the research from the internet . 

          We got the inspiration from the movie which was called ' Iron Man ' . In that movie it had shown many  of the advance and even the futuristic technologies . 

We also found some references pictures from the movie . The HUD pictures from the movie gave us the inspiration to implement it into our design for the advance projector . The futuristic design such like that was what we looking for . In the movie , the glass panel was used for the HUD to be shown on it . So what we planned to do was that we would took this concept for our advance projector as the table surface was made by the glass panel and the advance projector was used to shown everything taught by teacher on the glass panel . 

Two more good ideas

          Our group member , Andy Lim came out with two more ideas of how the technology could improve the boring classrooms condition . He planned to design the advance technologies which were 3D printer and advance projector that brought the convenience to the students when they were in the classrooms . 

          What he thought about the 3D printer was that the 3d printer could print out different kinds of furniture and the furniture will dissolve back to the material after 1 day . The students could choose their preferred furniture picture from the website and printed it out by using the 3D printer . In other words , the patterns of the classroom furniture like the tables and chairs all were decided by the students themselves so that they could have their own table and chair which were totally different with each other . The purpose of dissolving the furniture after 1 week was that the students could printed different kinds and patterns of tables and chairs for everyday . Besides that , the material for printing out the furniture can be reused so that it would not be wasted . 

          For the advance projector , it could change the glass wall around the classroom into the theme that was chosen by the teacher . The theme was regarding what lesson they had on that day . And the images would be like a video  that was playing  so the students would feel like they were in the fresh and relax environment rather than in the classroom . 

          So far , what I thought was that his ideas were really not bad and the comments from the lecturers were positive . We would choose either one to work on it . 

          

Good book good ideas

          I had borrowed one more book from NAFA library which was called ' Design for Small Spaces ' .  To be very honest , it was a design book which was quite good for me as I could get a lot of inspirations and ideas from there .

          Since it was a book for designing the small spaces , the concept for designing the furniture was to make the furniture in multipurpose . It was very important as it could help to save more places and show that it was multifunction and useful as well as convenient to the people . 

          I had taken some pictures of the multipurpose furniture from the book . All these furniture definitely brought the convenience to the people who used them .

Corner shelves . Who says it only can be the shelves ? It also can be the decoration for the wall .

Coffee tables . Who says it can just be the coffee table ? It also can be the chair as well . 

Desk . When it is closed ,  it is just a very simple desk . When it is opened , its actual function is shown .

Fold-out secretary desk . Its length can be extended so as to put more things to it .

Table and chair system . It can be arranged into different shapes for different uses . When   

all of them are combined together, the tables shown . When they are separated , the chairs shown as well . 

Adjustable table . 

Combination of one table and few chairs .

          Last but not least , I could implement this concept in our classrooms design in order to produce the convenient classrooms . 

 

Ideas start ' pop out '

          After we had done the survey and interview , we decided to focus on the theme and design for our project title , ' Classrooms are Boring ' . Since we found that the result of the Survey Monkey as most of the students preferred their classrooms to have the improvement in the theme and design , so we supposed to work on it . 

          We started to do some researches to get different ideas from different websites. We planned to do the painting and the decoration for the normal white walls. Different colours and kinds of painting can come out with different themes so that the classrooms will look different . This is because the multicolour walls not only will bring the feeling of fresh to the students but also will not let them to feel boring in the classrooms . In the other words , the students will not feel sleepy and they will pay more attentions during the lesson .  

          Overall , theme and design are the good points to be used for improving the classroom environment . Without the different themes and designs , it is just a normal classroom as the students will not be interested to it .

First time interview with my friends

          Interview is part of our group works as it includes in the chapter 2 of the proposal. I was in-charge to do the interview . Well , I had found some of my friends who studied in Malaysia as well as in Singapore and had the interview with them . Luckily, all of them were willing for the interview . 


 1) Chong Can Nie  ( Malaysian , 19 years old , studies at Malaysia private international college , Crescendo International College )

          She told us that her classroom is in the hall. What she unsatisfied with the classroom environment is that there is no windows and she did not have the chance to see the environment outside the classroom .  She also said that  the place for the students to sit are a bit pack as there are too many students in every each row.

           For the classroom provided facilities, the microphone is not always in the good condition so that the voice of the lecturer cannot be heard so clearly.  Due to the down light effect on the projector , she could not see the the slides clearly from the projector. Besides that , the desk drawers are too small so limited things can be kept inside there .  She felt a bit disappointed that the school did not provide the computers in the classroom for every student. Furthermore , the attendance marking  system is still in manual manner .

           For the classroom layout , she gave the comment that the classroom ceilings are too ordinary as she can see that in everywhere . She prefer there have some special design for the classroom ceiling . Because of  her classroom is in the hall and no windows , the sunlight cannot penetrates into there. This makes the classroom becomes dull . Besides that , she was disagree with the position of the storeroom which is located in front of the classroom because it will affect the image of the classroom .

2) Chong Wei Nie  ( Malaysian , 21 years old , studies at Malaysia private international college, Crescendo International College )

          She felt that the classroom environment is less convenient to her because she did not like the classroom in the hall as there is no windows provided in the hall and she did not have the opportunity to see the sky and the outside environment .

           For the facilities , the classroom projector is not in the good condition as the projector light not so clear .  She satisfied with the classroom furniture including tables and chairs because they are still new .  More ever , she suggested that the ceiling can be made in transparent  so that the sunlight can be penetrated into the classroom and she can have a look of the sky .  She also pointed out the defect of the attendance marking system by manual way .  She shared to us that one of her friends who studies at Australia , the university attendance marking is done by using the i-phone . It is more systematic and save more time to mark the students’ daily attendance .  She hoped that her school also could apply it for the attendance marking system . 

            For the classroom layout , she felt boring to the single colour of the wall that there is only the white colour for all the walls in the classroom . Her suggestion for improving the current condition is that the wall painting can be done by the students as the students are encouraged to design and draw for their own classroom so that different classroom have different designs .

 3) Darren Chow Fei  ( Malaysian , 21 years old , studies at Singapore private university , James Cook University (JCU) )

           He told us that the environment of the classroom is not enough convenient for him .  For instance , he was unsatisfied with the arrangement of the classroom tables . The tables is arranged to close to each other . It is a bit hard for the students who want to move from there .  Besides that , for the certain lessons , the classroom is full of students and the space become limited for them to move around .

            For the facilities , he commented about the classroom projector was not clear and the students was difficult to see the slides through it . Furthermore , there is lack of microphone as the microphone must be prepared by teachers themselves but not the school . More ever , the chairs are not comfortable too to sit .

            For the classroom layout ,  he found that the colours that was painted on the wall is boring because there is only two colours which are white and grey . he preferred the colourful wall .  In the other words , there is not much on the wall .

 4) Nickless Mart  (  Malaysian , 19 years old , studies at Singapore private college , Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) )

           She said that the classroom environment is inconvenient to her because it is too cool for her and she felt very sleepy every time .  Some more , the lighting of the classroom need to be improved as the lighting was inconvenient for her . 

           For the facilities , the projector sometimes is not in the good condition as well as the wifi connection is always unstable . Furthermore , the computer softwares seldom to be updated . For a student who comes from 3D Design Department as her ,  it  brings some bad effects to her in her study .  Besides that , she was very unsatisfied that the tables are not enough that sometimes the students need to share the table with others . The students do not have their own table in the classrooms .  She also found that the position of the whiteboard is too low . The students who sit behind the classroom always felt hard to see the words written on the whiteboard .

           For the classroom layout ,  the space is too small and she felt that she could only the limited activities in the classroom . More ever , there is too much of staffs in the classroom that affect the classroom image .

        

Survey by the Survey Monkey

         

           Our group had used the software called Survey Monkey to do the survey with the people . We prepared 10 questions for them to answer regarding the title ' Classrooms are Boring ' .  The 10 questions including :

1) Do you think classrooms are boring ?
2) Are you satisfied with the environment of your classrooms ? Why ?
3) What makes you feel that classrooms are boring ?
4) Why do you feel bored in class ? What kind of improvement do you think can be done by the 
     school for your current classroom ?
5) What are your complains about your current classroom ?
6) Do you find the classroom too dull ? What do you wish to be improved in your classroom ?
7) Is the classroom set up not interesting at all ?
8) Is the classroom layout designed in a way too common ?
9) What type of changes do you wish to have happen to your classroom ?
10) Do you find changes in terms of themes , design or technology more important in making the 
       class more interesting ?

          

           By doing the survey, we knew that every students had their own opinions of the classrooms were boring to them . Most of them had honestly gave the answers and it brought convenience to us to look into the problems and find the solutions for dealing with the problems .  Last but not least , regarding the result of the last question in Survey Monkey , we would like to choose design among theme and technology as the point to improve the boring classrooms since most of the students wished their classrooms design to be improvement to make a better environment .

           

Looking into the inspiring culture

          In order to understand more about the Japanese culture , I had borrowed the book from NAFA library which was called JAPAN The Arts of Living . It was a quite nice book as I could learn the  knowledges of traditional Japanese culture that inspired me . 

        Traditional furniture design was strongly influenced by architectural considerations . Architecture was basically in harmony with the natural environment . Inside and outside were joined by architectural elements that defined space . To be very honest , the shoji doors and the low-tables inspired me a lot .

          The shoji doors was the ancient Japanese furniture that I liked the most . It is made of natural materials such as woods , bamboos and papers . Carpenters with an intuitive grasp of proportion infused the feeling of warmth and beauty into these otherwise inanimate objects , giving them a strong appeal that transcends time .

       

          I had found some pictures of the shoji doors from the book . The wash-paperd shoji at the windows has created an atmosphere of warmth and dignity . It could be implemented in the classrooms that when fused with the practical values of comfort and simplicity , the aesthetic values of elegance and creativity added dimension to the classrooms . Seamlessly combined , these values could create some of the most impressive rooms . 

Inspiring culture

          What is culture ? Culture is in the words " that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society . " Culture is a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social  learning in human societies . The word is used in a general sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols and to act imaginatively and creatively. 

          The culture that inspires me is the Japanese culture . Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jomon period, to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe , and North America . The reason of Japanese culture inspires me is that the Japanese culture always gives the feeling of natural and convenient to me . 

          How does the culture help with the design of classroom ? Well, it is simple actually as I have looked back the ancient culture of Japan and compare it with the contemporary culture of Japan . The comparison between both of the periods of Japanese culture is important because the more I compare , the more the differences and similarities I will get known . By studying the Japanese culture, my opinion is that the implementation of Japanese ancient culture is good to let the students who have born and grown up in the contemporary era to known more about it . For instance , the Shoji Door can be used in stead of the normal classroom doors . More ever , the low-tables and the low-chairs with the cushions can be used in stead of the normal height tables and chairs . These are the kinds of traditional living styles that the students supposed to get known . All these will be fresh to them .  

Case study - Classrooms are Boring ( inconvenient environment)

          One more case study regarding the project title ' Classrooms are Boring ' is about inconvenient environment . Inconvenient environment means the surrounding that causing the people feel uneasy , troublesome or even difficulty .

   

          The reason that brings to the problems of inconvenient environment is

1) Noisy environment

          Environmental noise is the summary of noise pollution from outside, caused by transport, industrial and recreational activities. Noise is frequently described as 'unwanted sound', and, within this context, environmental noise is generally present in some form in all areas of human activity. The effects in humans of exposure to environmental noise may vary from emotional to physiological and psychological . Noise at low levels is not necessarily harmful; environmental noise can also convey a sense of liveliness in an area, and is not then always considered 'unwanted'. However, the adverse effects of noise exposure (i.e. noise pollution) could include: interference with speech or other 'desired' sounds, annoyance, sleep disturbance, anxiety, hearing damage and stress-related cardiovascular health problems.

          As an area of work or study, environmental noise is often extended to include human perception and response to vibration caused by environmental sources, typically due to exposure to ground vibration or building vibration . Noise from transportation is typically emitted by the machinery (e.g. the engine or exhaust) and aerodynamic noise caused by the compression and friction in the air around the vessel during motion. Industrial and recreational noise could be generated by a multitude of different sources and processes. Sound propagation outdoors is subject to meteorological effects (e.g. wind, temperature) that affect the distance, speed, and direction with which environmental noise travels from a source to a listener.

 The construction area of Singapore at Marina Bay Sands that causes the noise pollution .

                                    The traffic jam at Singapore that causes the noise pollution .

                    The sound of MRT traveling along the barriers that causes the noise pollution . 

          

Case study - Classrooms are Boring ( the problems of teachers )

The case study is important to find the root of the problems so that we can exactly know about the problems in order to find the practical solutions to deal with the problems .

There are some reasons of why the students feel bored in the classrooms :

The problems of teachers ( teaching methods)
1) Power Point
     PowerPoint is a very valuable tool, but this only applies in certain situations. When a teacher writes paragraphs upon paragraphs on a single PowerPoint slide, and then proceeds to read them all verbatim to "teach" the class, the students completely zone out. The teachers are not advisable to use the same method all the way for their teaching . It definitely makes the classes become boring and the students will not pay much attentions to it .

2) Sitting to long
     Although it’s important to increase the  students’ stamina for both paying attention during lessons and focusing during independent work, if they’re made to sit too long, the teachers are asking for trouble. Good teachers are observant and thus learn to know precisely when to switch gears and get their students up and moving . 

3) Talking too much
     Sometimes ,  the teachers keep talking and teaching in the classroom without giving the students for the short break . Students need room to breathe or they’ll form an unspoken mutiny and turn your classroom upside down. Talking too much is especially smothering . The students do not have the opportunity to express their own opinions during the lesson as they just keep listening to what the teachers has taught them .  What is important is the more economical and concise the teachers are with their words, however, the more attentive the students will be.

4) Making the simple to become complex
       Many teachers misunderstand the oft-heard mandate for more rigor. They take it to mean that they need to make their instruction more complex, more involved, more verbose—which is a major reason why students don’t progress.

5) Talking about behavior instead of doing something about it
     Teachers who struggle with classroom management tend to talk endlessly about behavior. They hold class meetings. They hash things out. They revisit the same tired topic over and over, much to their students’ eye-rolling chagrin. Effective classroom management is about action. It’s about doing and following through and holding students accountable. It isn’t about talking.

6) Directing too much, observing too little.
      Most teachers are in constant motion—directing, guiding, handholding, and micromanaging students from one moment to the next. This is not only remarkably inefficient, but it dampens enthusiasm for school. Instead, rely on sharp, well-taught routines to keep your students awake, alive, and responsible through every transition and repeatable moment of your day—while you observe calmly from a distance.

Our Mind map - Classrooms are Boring

          By week 2 of Design Process lesson , our class were told by both of our lecturers Mr Ang Chiat and Mr Micky Ho that we supposed to do the mind map that is related to our own group title .  Well ,  I was same group with the handsome Indian guys , Vivek , Andy Lim and Wen Li . We worked to each other and shared our own ideas with the group members in order to finish our mind map .

          At the beginning for doing the mind map , we had faced some problems as we did not have the good ideas for our project title ' Classrooms are Boring ' and we started to stuck there . We tried to do the basic research and got some points from the different websites . By doing the research , we had collected some useful informations . Furthermore , the group members tried their best to share the relevant as well as the practical opinions . Finally , we had successfully done our mind map !

          We used the mind map for our presentation . After our presentation , our lecturers gave some comments that our mind map points were not enough . They gave us the advise that we need to think more out of the box in order to make it more interesting and not too bored  .  We humbly listened and accepted all the advises from the lecturer so as to improve our mind map .