EYP is committed to designing buildings that attract students to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and significantly improve the quality of science education. Our systematic evaluation of how our designs impact students and faculty yields valuable data that drives innovation. College and university administrators and donors expect building projects to generate a good return on their investment. Are more students enrolling in STEM fields? Are curricula becoming increasingly interdisciplinary? Are undergraduates conducting more research? Anecdotal evidence does not sufficiently guarantee or measure successful outcomes. As architects and engineers, we agree. We expect the environments we design to respond to specific needs and pro-actively influence desired behaviors. By identifying data sources and measures that can be used to assess behavioral changes and other desired outcomes in STEM buildings, we are crafting a broad-spectrum model that allows us to evaluate and substantiate the impact of science learning environments on teaching, learning, and research.
