Monthly Archives: March 2016

Built Environment Description- EXTERIOR

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MARCUS TRAUMA AND EMERGENCY CENTER

For my second built environment I chose to observe Grady Memorial Hospital’s Emergency room. I chose this location because it is one of my career goals. I hope to become a registered nurse in the near future, Grady is not only one of the most popular hospitals around, but has the best ER in the South. Grady has a nationally acclaimed Emergency Department that treats adult medical, surgical, and trauma patients. The Emergency Department is located at 80 Jesse Hill Jr Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30303 .

WALKING TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM 

3/8/2016 Mid-Afternoon

On March 8, 2016 around 12:00 PM, I ventured outside of campus to see the new and improved Emergency room at Grady Memorial Hospital. I entered through the entrance near the Museum lobby. Upon entering the ER (Refer to video) I noticed the new side walks, windows, and benches around. The benches were a very nice addition and a personal favorite of mines. The newly added seats gave patients and family members a place to escape the actual environment of the ER and have a breath of fresh air. Everything looked brand new and very welcoming. Grady Video The sounds of ambulances, cars in traffic honking, and patients arguing outside filled the air. The colors WHITE and RED were very apparent (Grady’s hospital colors).

Here’s the map I used to navigate around Grady. It’s not extremely detailed but it really helped being that Grady is such a huge hospital. In comparison to the rest of the hospital, the Emergency room is clearly the biggest. Most medical professionals often rate a good hospital on it’s how big or functional the Emergency department is.

As I entered the Emergency Room, I looked across the street and immediately saw this sign (refer to picture below). This was also a nGrady 1ew addition to the hospital’s campus. I believe it helps people that are not familiar with the area to navigate around easily. The sidewalks were filled with students, doctors, medical students, workers, and patients. Also Emory Medical school campus is located immediately across the street from the hospital.

INSIDE THE EMERGENCY ROOM

**Actual pictures of the exterior of this site were not permitted due to HIPPA**

As soon as I entered the ER, I am stopped by a police man on duty. I was instructed to place my phone and bag in a separate inspection tray and walk through this huge metal detector (As seen in the Grady 2picture below). The metal detector did not go off as I walked through, so I collected my things and observed the check in desk (which was immediately across from the metal detector/ entrance). At the check in desk there were 4 nurses dressed in white and green scrubs that dealt with patient charts, instructed family members where to sit, and other tasks. The mood in the ER is slightly upbeat, yet gloom. Nurses walked around with smiles on their faces. I noticed many patients starred down at the tiles on the floors or up at the bland ceilings. The set up of the ER was actually quite surprising. There were three separate public spaces that were allotted for seating. In the first room located to the far left after you enter the ER, there were two LG flat screen TV’s and about 15-20 seats. The second and third rooms were located to the right of the entrance and each consisted of about 3-4 more LG TV’s and also an orange name on the wall that said “Marcus Trauma and Emergency Department”. (See image below)

I sat in the Emergency room for 45 minutes to an hoGrady 3ur and observed the atmosphere of the location. There were an abundance of coughing, sniffing, sneezing, and deep sighing that I heard throughout the entire time. I recorded a few minutes of what I heard while observing. (Play below)

I also observed several people waiting actually fall asleep. The tone of this area was BUSINESS. Nurses were unbothered and not phased by open wounds, blood, or people that looked homeless. They were there to do their jobs and save lives.

Annotated Bibliographies 7-10

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For the last set of annotated bibliographies I chose to focus on learning spaces/environments in K-12 education, Universities, art, and also social settings.

 

PIERCE, DENNIS. “3 WAYS MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IS TRANSFORMING LEARNING SPACES. (Cover Story).” T H E Journal 42.5 (2015): 10-15. Computer Source. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

In the article 3 Ways Mobile Technology is Transforming Learning Spaces, the author, Dennis Pierce, reports on the unique learning spaces utilized within modern classrooms to support creativity, collaboration, and use of digital tools. Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA is one example of a school that actively incorporates these modern “learning spaces”. Classrooms at Barrow Elementary do not mirror traditional learning environments with desks that are neatly aligned in rows. They encourage learning and freedom. Instead, the classrooms are designed with tables that are easily reconfigured for group activities, wireless access points located nearby, and comfortable seating for individual work. The goal of this new learning space is to enable learning anywhere, unleash creativity, and free teachers and students to customize their classrooms.

 

Naomi, Fujishima1. “Training Student Workers In A Social Learning Space.” Studies In Self-Access Learning Journal 6.4 (2015): 461-469. Education Source. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

In the article, Training Student Workers in a Social Learning Space, Naomi Fujishima at the Okayama University in Japan investigates issues associated with training student workers in social learning spaces (SLS). Researchers evaluate the different roles of student workers and ways in which to effectively train student workers. The article begins by defining exactly what social learning spaces are. They are defined as spaces that emphasize peer support and learning. Student worker roles included: peer teaching, receptionist, assistant manager, and student officer.  The data collected suggests that managers in these environments while training student workers need to be hands on and supportive while utilizing manuals for training purposes. Researchers also suggest that managers should not only listen to student workers but take actions if necessary to address issues or grievances. Ways in which these past student workers can help aid newcomers is through the use of journals or message books that could be given along with the manual. Also digital habitats could be utilized.

 

Vella, Raphael. “Re-Imagining Classrooms: Educational Environments In Contemporary Art.” International Journal Of Education & The Arts 16.12 (2015): ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

In the article, Re-imagining Classrooms: Educational Enviornments in Contemporary Art, researchers at the University of Malta discuss arguments and other research that explores the relationship between educational environments and art. Not only are the spatial dynamics of these educational spaces examined, but the ways in which knowledge is transmitted, power structures, and literacy are taken into account. The authors begin the article by introducing the complex relationship between education and art. In recent years educational spaces have invaded art and in turn affected practices in the art community; such as museum studies. Overall valuable “lessons” that are learned from established artists in the field of contemporary art, tend to have lost their credibility due to educational environments. The article concludes by presenting solutions for the overlap between educational spaces and art. The authors suggest that art education should delve deeper into the actual role of the artist and the thought process. How artists think to mold works of art and visions.

 

Sahin, Muhittin, and Tarik Kisla. “An Analysis Of University Students’ Attitudes Towards Personalized Learning Environments.” Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology – TOJET 15.1 (2016): 1-10. ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.

In the article, An Analysis of University Students’ Attitudes towards Personalized Learning Environments, researchers set out to analyze University students’ attitudes towards personalized learning environments. Independent variables that were taken into account in this study included: gender, age, year of study, University attended, actual knowledge of the environment, and participation or willingness to participate in the environment. The study consisted of 1,197 students within Institutional Technologies and Computer Education programs. Research methods utilized for the study included: correlative survey models, personalized learning environment attitude scale (PLEAS), and Turkey’s test, which is used to analyze data. In conclusion, test results showed a significant difference in University students’ attitudes toward personalized learning environments in respect to the student’s specific gender, age, year of study, actual knowledge of the environment, and participation. The University played no role in influencing students’ attitudes.

Reading Summaries 5

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Introduction

In the article, Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Enviornments, Mary E. Hocks introduces the roles of visual rhetoric for writers working in digital writing environments. By addressing features such as audience stance, transparency, and hybridity; Hocks persuades the audience on the importance of teachers teaching students on visual rhetoric in this new day and age. Visual rhetoric is defined as a means for persuasion or a visual strategy. Visual rhetoric is important especially now because of the evolving nature of hypertext and multimedia writing.

Hypertext

Hocks discusses how these new interactive forms of media sometimes make it difficult for a person to separate words from visual. They’re almost interchangeable. These arguments on this new found relationship between words and visuals are backed by hypertext theorists such as software designers Jay Bolter and Michael Joyce who are the creators of Storyspace. As society and the media we consume become more progressive we call in to question what we consider writing now. With a high attention devoted to the relationship between verbal and visual meanings in digital media, Hocks calls in to question the way in which we teach writing.

Hybridity

The author suggests articulating principles of visual rhetoric in the classroom for students. Because students are now bringing high hybrid literacy to the classrooms; an increase in visual interactive rhetoric of digital documents is needed.  Writing is hybrid. It can be visual, verbal, and spatial all at once. The relationship between visual texts and verbal texts and also image and word are not binary opposites, but inseparable.

 

Hocks, Mary. “Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments,” College Composition and Communication 54.4 (2003): pp. 629-656.