Making the classroom feel like home

By Maddie Wilson

October 3, 2007 | Usually, USU students take a pen and a notebook to class. San Diego native Luke Wester, junior in landscape architecture and environmental planning, takes everything but the kitchen sink.

When one walks into the LAEP junior studio in the Fine Arts building, everything seems normal, with the desks and drafting tables filling up the room. The only thing odd at first glance is the fridge with the padlock on the door, just to the left of the classroom entrance. On the whiteboard to the left of the fridge is a notice written in huge letters not about the homework assignment, but a message saying, "Hey, we've got a fridge!" Under the message is a list of the names of everyone that has paid five dollars for the right to use the fridge.

The fridge is not the most unique appliance of the studio, however. A couple feet from the fridge is where the fun really begins. This is where the domain of Wester's--who purchased and arranged the fridge--is. Against the north wall of the studio, in between two filing cabinets that reach almost to the ceiling, there is a bookcase with a pair of tennis shoes and a book titled The Loved Dog, marking the entrance to Wester's area. Another shelf bolted onto one of the filing cabinets holds a picture of Wester's nephew, Hunter.

"He's like a pure muscle baby," said Wester. "He just runs around all the time." Across from the nephew is yet another shelf on the other filing cabinet with water bottles and a bag of cereal that Wester said he got from two Slovenian foreign exchange students. Plants decorate the desk where Wester's desktop computer is chained down. Other items in Wester's space include a doggie pillow, water dish and doggie toys hanging from strings from Wester's drafting table, for when Wester brings his dog in to study with him.

According to Professor John Nicholson, who teaches the advanced computer applications class, Wester's behavior is normal, and actually aids in his learning.

"A lot of our (LAEP) students personalize their space," said Nicholson. He said LAEP students spend a lot of time and late nights in the studio, so it is important for students to feel at home.

The Center for Instruction, Research and Technology at Indiana State University also said that creating a sense of community in the classroom makes learning exciting and more successful.

The Center's Web page said, "People are more likely to learn new ideas when they are a member of a group that is accepting and allows them to experiment with ideas and actions. When teachers…support efforts to create feelings of community, the social qualities that enhance learning add to the success of the classroom."
(http://web.indstate.edu/oit/cirt/pd/cta/home.html)

His classmates don't seem to have a problem with his area either. Fellow junior in LAEP Brett Erickson laughed as he said that Wester's area is "cool." Ben Levenger, another classmate, said he also spends all week long in the studio doing homework, but enjoys it.

And, according to Ben Wilson, junior in LAEP, students are able to spend all night in the studio doing homework if they need to. He said they can get a key to the building from the LAEP department so that they can use the building after it closes.

Although Wester said he "occasionally" uses the key to spend the night, and even has an air mattress and sleeping bag under his desk just in case, he does not and would not live in the classroom. He lives in an apartment, and said he likes having his roommates.

"We have a Jacuzzi, and (being with his roommates) is a good way to turn off this area of school," Wester said. Basically, he said, he just wants to make the school atmosphere a fun place.

"I like coming up here and having it be special," he said.

And, Wester said, the janitors do not seem to mind cleaning around his space. They actually empty out his wicker basket and refill it with plastic bags, he said, although they don't vacuum his pieces of beige, somewhat shaggy carpet he has laid under his desk.

Wester said he has never had an office area like this in school in the past, but would have done it if he had a similar spot to the one he has now. When Wester is not in class, he said he likes to "lift weights, surf waves, read good books, visit family, hang out with girls, walk his dog, take landscape pictures and eat."

He is just a normal student, trying to make class time more exciting. And Wilson said it is a smart thing to do.

"If I was single, I'd move my life up there too," said Wilson.

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