Knowledge Places: Embedding Knowledge in the Space of the Classroom

This thesis investigates a novel approach to supporting classroom learning communities through the use of proxemic interaction and ambient visualizations. Specifically, community knowledge is embedded within the physical space of the classroom, with the aim of mediating opportunistic inter-group interactions, instigated through proximity and shared artifacts. This approach entails decomposing the community knowledge base into a collection of independent thematic sub-stores, and then conceptually distributing those sub-stores to mapped, demarcated locations around the classroom, called “Knowledge Places.” This necessitates physical movement among and proximity to those places in order for students to contribute to or otherwise access their peers’ contributions to the emerging knowledge base. This investigation was embedded within a larger NSF-funded study and was enacted over the course of ten weeks within a sixth grade classroom as part of the regular life science curriculum (e.g., food webs, ecosystems).