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Moving Toward Expertise: Helping Students Become Effective Site Planners — Bonnie Johnson

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Background

UBPL 735: Site Planning is one of the methods courses in the master’s of urban planning graduate program. Site planning is the process someone uses to determine how to place objects on property while balancing the economic, ecological, and cultural values of the community. Though the KU program has long been known as a policy program rather than a physical planning program, this course introduces applied skills that students will need on the job.

The first semester I taught the class, I introduced discrete skills without allowing students to see the site planning process as a whole and without providing enough opportunities for them to practice each skill. In Spring 2008, I changed the assignment structure to help students build on basic skills to improve their knowledge of the site planning process and learn how to recognize a good site plan.

| Implementation

Implementation

Throughout the course, I incorporated topics, assignments, exercises, and guest speakers into a framework geared toward the core competencies I planned for the course. Each competency aimed to help students move along a continuum from novice to expert site planners. I understood that it was impossible to train expert site planners in one semester, but I wanted students to begin to acquire a deeper understanding of the process.

To do this, I asked students to complete a series of assignments leading up to a final conceptual site plan design poster they would present to a real-world client. This required students to understand the physical, biological, and cultural elements of the site and be able to use these elements to develop and articulate the best way to meet a client’s demands. I also asked students to complete a take-home examination to gauge their understanding of what makes great places in Lawrence.

| Student Performance

Student Performance

Though students moved further toward expertise, they found it difficult to transfer their knowledge and understanding of design when reflecting on their own work. For instance, students’ take-home exams showed that their ideas were more sophisticated than at the beginning of the semester and that they could effectively refer to texts, but they could not use this information to articulate the value of their final posters. Especially in the early stages of the site planning process, students needed to improve their posters as stand-alone pieces that could communicate their vision to a client.

| Reflections

Reflections

Having a basic organizational framework for the class helped me stay on track in terms of time constraints, priorities, and goals for student learning. Site planning is a huge subject, so focus is paramount to get the most out of students’ time and attention. I feel that this semester was an improvement over the first semester I taught the class since my students gained realistic, applied knowledge within a context that will be useful to them in their future careers. Though it has been frustrating to admit that classes cannot be perfect right away, I feel that now I can spend time perfecting the overall course design and assignments to continue helping students move toward expertise.

| Summary

Project Summary

A professor of urban planning changes the assignment structure of a graduate course to help students build on basic skills, which led to improved knowledge of the site planning process and an understanding of how to recognize a good site plan.

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