Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
Mardelle Shepley
Engaged design projects can fundamentally change students’ understanding of what they can do and what their mission might be.
About the Fellow
- Professor, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, College of Human Ecology
- Mardelle Shepley’s faculty profile
Cohort year(s)
- 2018-19, Faculty Fellow in Engaged Learning
Topic(s)
- Arts, Communication, Media and Design; Health, Nutrition and Medicine
2018-19 Project
Building design often focuses on magazine-worthy aesthetics, but in health care settings, human-centered, research-informed design can better meet the psychological and social needs of building users.The goal of Mardelle Shepley’s class is to give students experience with the methods used to create human-centered design for health clinics. Students practice socially responsible design by evaluating a community project relative to the needs of the building users through behavioral observation, interviews and surveys of patients and staff. In partnership with Cornell Health, students determine whether the new student health building meets the criteria originally established for meeting the needs of staff and patients, allowing students to integrate research and practice while providing useful assessment for future renovations.
Engaged Faculty Fellowship Program
A yearlong cohort program in which faculty dive deep into the theory and practice of community-engaged learning; meet monthly to discuss readings, share projects and workshop challenges; and help transform what it means to teach at Cornell