Uniform design criteria for making buildings accessible to persons with handicaps was the major goal of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for accessibility. ANSI specifications were furthered by guidelines and requirements proposed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. (SBH)

Discusses the use of a design template for designing courses by instructors and subject matter experts with editing from an instructional designer. Highlights include where to look for design problems, how to coach the instructor or subject matter expert, and six elements in a design document that need to agree. (Author/LRW)

Discusses how door manufacturers are introducing products designed to pass the rigorous tests needed to withstand tornadoes, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 320 and 361 directives. (EV)

Discusses the typical spaces found in a school communications department, such as a classroom/laboratory, and offline production, online production, and radio and TV broadcast studios. Briefly describes design requirements for such spaces. (EV)

Illustrates how a London playground dedicated to Princess Diana's memory challenges the preconceptions on which most American playgrounds are designed. The playground's layout and theme are described, and several photographs are included. (GR)

This essay offers an analysis of PowerPoint apart from the histrionics of the "'Tis and 'Taint" arguments about its value, and proposes a program of research to move forward our understanding of PowerPoint as an inscriptional system. To that end, the study begins with a discussion of PowerPoint as an inscriptional system that employs both…

In recent years, more education administrators and designers have embraced the potential benefits of daylighting. They have been persuaded that using natural light to illuminate facilities enables schools and universities to conserve energy and provide a learning environment in which students perform better. For daylighting advocates, the…

This chapter highlights some important themes from the previous chapters in this volume that will assist institutional research professionals and other higher education leaders interested in expanding use of facilities data in planning and decision making: (1) What you don't know can hurt you; (2) Operational systems are not designed to support ad…

Searching for icons, symbols, or signs is an integral part of tasks involving computer or radar displays, head-up displays in aircraft, or attending to road traffic signs. Icons therefore need to be designed to optimize search times, taking into account the factors likely to slow down visual search. Three factors likely to adversely affect visual…

Students at many public universities often have a substantial say in what they will pay for the construction of non-academic facilities usually through referenda in which they vote to enact fees to cover the debt service on the building. However, some students are reluctant to vote in any new fee, given that tuition regularly increases at…

In many practical settings, essentially the same differential item functioning (DIF) procedures have been in use since the late 1980s. Since then, examinee populations have become more heterogeneous, and tests have included more polytomously scored items. This paper summarizes and classifies new DIF methods and procedures that have appeared since…

The connections between the design and use of space in higher education, and the production of teaching and learning, and of research, are not well understood. This paper reports on a literature review on these topics, and shows that higher education spaces can be considered in various ways: in terms of campus design, in terms of how space can…

Educators are challenged to provide instruction for learners with diverse needs in general and special education settings. Learning centers are one organizational method that can be used to provide students with small-group instruction, practice and review activities, and increased active engagement in learning. Educators must be organized and…