Babson Graduate School's New Design Zone 125 Supports Creative Innovation, Collaboration and Entrepreneurship

WELLESLEY, Mass., Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College's Graduate School has opened Design Zone 125, new classroom space designed to enable collaboration, creative thinking, and problem-solving.

Design Zone 125 supports the surge in new graduate programs and courses that employ design methods to teach entrepreneurial approaches and enable and support innovation. Among the new efforts is Babson's MSM in Entrepreneurial Leadership (Masters of Science in Management) program, launched this semester. Since innovative problem-solving is an essential goal in the MSM degree program, faculty and staff sought to recreate the space to help shape the culture and habits of a creative learning community.

When you enter Design Zone 125, it is unlike any other classroom space on campus.  In contrast to the typical business classroom with fixed furniture in a theater-style seating arrangement, the design zone has a flat concrete floor and everything is portable. There are high top tables on wheels, stools, movable white boards and dividers, workshop space for prototyping, and cubbies to store work materials. This untraditional classroom furniture supports project-based learning as it allows quick transitions between cooperative discussions, group work, and design reviews.

"All the furniture we chose to include in the classroom will help students think and engage better with students and faculty. Studies have shown that we are a lot more creative and energetic when our bodies are in upright postures. The high tables and stools promote standing up," said Professor Sebastian Fixson.

Design Zone 125 will serve as home to LEAP (Leading Entrepreneurial Action project) in the MSM program and the MBA Product Design and Development course. Also, the Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship course, taught jointly with Olin College and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, will also utilize the room. On Mondays and Fridays, the design zone is open studio space for all graduate students and staff.

Outside of Design Zone 125 in the upper left hallway, there are cubbies and hooks made available to students. This allows students to hang up their white boards so they can revisit the space and continue to work even when the classroom is in use.

"For us, this is not just a new room.  It's a physical manifestation of the pedagogical approach we are using with our students that enhances entrepreneurial thought and action," said Professor Nan Langowitz, Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

Langowitz emphasized that Design Zone 125 shows Babson's commitment to our pedagogy and investment in interactive learning and new forms of teaching.

The renovation planning was led by members of the graduate school team including Fixson, MSM Faculty Director; Ben McConchie, Director of Capital Projects and Planning; and Erin Freda, Manager of Graduate Operations and Administration.  In preparation of developing the new  design of the space, they visited the Stanford Design School (d. school) and attended a design workshop led by Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft, co-authors of the book, "Make Space," which focuses on how the design of a space can impact creativity.

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds(tm). The College is a dynamic living and learning laboratory, where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society--while at the same time evolving our methods and advancing our programs. We shape the leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to create economic and social value. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought and Action(r) as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value. Visit www.babson.edu

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CONTACT: Michael Chmura, 781-239-4549, [email protected]

SOURCE Babson College