The Dynamic Classroom - Isaac Morrier

The Dynamic Classroom

Visualizing time and space

2015–2016

Grid of posters laid on a gray surface. The posters are minimalist Swiss designs with a grid of black and white photos of classrooms and a data table, overlaid with red text that reads “The Dynamic Classroom.”

The Dynamic Classroom is a research paper I wrote and illustrated in 2015 as part of my sociology studies and designed and printed in 2016 as part of my design studies. I studied the effects of moveable desks on classroom layout and student engagement, and updated the established typology of classroom layouts.

Design Instructor: Henk Van Assen

Sociology Instructors: Phillip Smith & Jin Su Joo

Detail of spread from The Dynamic Classroom. Thin black diagonal lines cover the page on the left. A diagram of classroom chairs is overprinted in red ink. The page on the right, which is out of focus, has text printed in red.

Two copies of the book. It measures about 8 inches wide by 10.5 inches tall. The cover is bright red matte paper. A small white label is adhered towards the bottom left corner. On it is printed a small black table of information, with “The Dynamic Classroom” overprinted in large red letters.

Half-title page

Title page and table of contents for The Dynamic Classroom

Introduction: the left page shows a layout of classroom desks. The right shows the introduction text.

A text spread from The Dynamic Classroom. Footnotes are printed in red in the interior margins.

Methods: classrooms were observed through publicly-available camera feeds at the University of California, Berkeley. The spread also shows two photos of classrooms, printed in red in the margin.

The first layout described by McCroskey and McVetta: The traditional layout. A diagram shows a traditional grid of classroom seats.

Detail of the classroom diagram key, showing the instructor’s area, and the symbols for low-, medium- and high-interaction seats.

The second layout described by McCroskey and McVetta: The horseshoe layout

The third layout described by McCroskey and McVetta: The modular layout. A diagram shows three classroom tables, each with 6 seats.

A folded poster printed on silver paper sits in the center of the book.

The poster unfolds from the center of the book.

Detail of The Dynamic Classroom poster design. A grid of black photos of classrooms is printed on silver paper. “The Dynamic Classroom” is overprinted in red ink.

4 copies of The Dynamic Classroom. 2 lie open. One has a folded poster within it.

The first ordered layout we observed which did not conform to an existing type: the split layout.

A detail of the classroom diagram key, showing the instructor’s area and the symbols for high, medium, and low interaction seats

Spread from Dynamic Classroom showing an elliptical classroom layout: desks are arranged in an oval.

Spread showing a diagram of a disordered classroom: desks are spread out across the pages.

A spread with red photos printed in the inside margin.

Conclusion

Conclusion and references

Data and coding section

Data table

Data table

Colophon

Layout of multiple books and posters

Poster and book cover

Red and black color separations

next:

Up (Series 2)

An ongoing photography project exploring ambiguity and malevolence in modern architecture.

2015–2016

An abstract photo of modern architecture: the side of a red minimalist office building stretches out to the horizon as if it is a field.