Abstract
Urban spaces often lack child-friendly amenities that promote play and learning, particularly in underserved communities. This deficiency can hinder children’s development, especially in areas with limited educational resources. To address this issue, a novel approach integrating playful learning installations into urban environments has emerged, transforming underutilized spaces into engaging learning landscapes. This innovative strategy sits at the nexus of child development and urban design, necessitating architects and designers well-versed in playful learning principles. A new college-level course, “Designing for Playful Learning,” has been developed to equip students with the knowledge and practical skills needed to create these interactive urban installations. The semester-long course focuses on teaching students how to design urban installations that encourage meaningful child-caregiver interactions; facilitate playful exploration of concepts in literacy, math, science, and music and leverage unique urban environments as learning opportunities. Students engage in hands-on learning through partnerships with local community-based organizations (CBO), applying participatory design methods to create contextually appropriate playful learning installations. This approach not only enhances design education but also fosters civic engagement and social impact. The open-source model college-level “Designing for Playful Learning” class aims to scale up the impact of playful learning by disseminating the full course materials and instructions to other universities and potentially high schools. By cultivating a new generation of designers skilled in playful learning principles, this initiative addresses the growing need for child-friendly urban spaces. The community-engaged pedagogy nurtures professionals committed to promoting equitable access to enriching play and learning opportunities in public spaces.
Presenters
Ulrike Altenmüller-LewisDepartment Head/Associate Professor, Architecture, Design & Urbanism, Drexel University, United States Debra Ruben
Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, Architecture, Design & Urbanism, Drexel University, Pennsylvania, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Participatory Design Education, Community Engagement, Open Source Course
