This material resides on an Indiana State University server and is maintained by Will Barratt.
Please forward any problems and comments to him.
Students, faculty, staff, and visitors use the campus environment in a
variety of ways. It is impossible to observe all campus behavior at the time it is
occurring, but behavior leaves "traces." (Bechtel and Zeisel, 1987). These
behavioral traces can be reconstructed to produce increased awareness of the
person-environment interactions on campus which will in turn increase the
overall understanding of the campus environment.
Environmental psychologists and campus ecologists are not the first
groups to infer behavior from traces, archaeology as a science is built on this
methodology. As Bechtel and Zeisel state: "Few give a thought . . . to the fact the
fossils of tomorrow are the garbage dumps of today" (1987, p. 32). Zeisel (1981)
presents a number of way "to read" traces that can be useful in gaining a fuller
understanding of how people use the campus environment. Zeisel's methods are:
(1) by-products of use, (2) adaptation of use, (3) displays of self, and (4) public
messages .
By-Products of Use
By-products are produced by people interacting with the environment.
These by-products of behavioral can be further defined by the concepts of
erosion, leftovers, and missing traces. (Bechtel and Zeisel, 1987). An example of
erosion on campus is the worn paths students make as they find the shortest
distance between campus buildings. These by-products (paths) can be useful in
locating new sidewalks. In fact on some campuses, sidewalks to new buildings
are not constructed until the student paths emerge.
Leftovers are traces represented by objects not consumed in the behavior.
Trash and litter are the most common examples. On campus these leftover traces
can be used in locating new trash receptacles. For example, buildings such as
libraries that have "no food-no drink" policies should insure adequate trash
receptacles at the entrances. Leftovers can also become associated with particular
campus groups. For example, on the Colorado State campus one "sitting" wall is
used as a lunch place by primarily "Greek" students. The resulting trash
"leftovers" of pop cans and fast food sacks produces a major negative image
problem for the fraternity and sorority system.
Bechtel and Zeisel (1987) use the concept of missing traces to indicate a
lack of use in areas where erosion and leftovers are expected but do not show up.
Many campus spaces have been designed in such a manner that they are never
used by people on campus. The documentation of this lack of use or "missing
traces" is often helpful in gaining support for a redesign of the space to better
serve the needs of the campus.
Adaptation for Use
Zeisel (1981) uses the concept of adaptation for use to encompass
situations in the environment where a change has been made because the first
design did not serve its original intention. Campus adaptation for use would
include renovations, expansions, and other changes or improvements. The
addition of a new lighting system on campus is an environmental adaptation to
increasing campus crime. Changing an open space area to a parking lot could
signify an adaptation to an increase in commuting students. Often the attempt by
students to "adapt" a space for an unintended purpose is the first cue that a
redesign effort may be needed. For example, residence halls often are adapted to
"playgrounds" because areas for outdoor activities are lacking.
Displays of Self
Zeisel (1981) uses the concept of "display of self" to illustrate how the
physical environment can be used to convey messages about individual and group
ownership. The Greek letters on fraternity and sorority houses is a clear example.
These "displays" become important to the process of individualizing and
personalizing huge spaces. Huge signs are found in residence hall windows
"marking" a floor or wing. These are important traces to understand. No one can
enter the campus environment without taking note of the use of "T-shirts" to
display messages of self and group. From Greek affiliation to academic majors,
from attendance to rock concerts to where one spent spring break are all
displayed through "T-shirts." Again, these traces can help increase understanding
of the social environment on campus.
Public Messages
The last category for Zeisel is public messages. Included in this concept
are traces that range from official signs, symbolic public images, and graffiti.
Academic buildings often provide clear examples, you find a world globe on top
of an international studies building, you find an oil derrick on the roof of a
petroleum engineering building. These symbols give the public messages
concerning values and interests of campus organizations. Most observers of the
campus environment are quite familiar with campus graffiti. It can signal
creativity, local issues, or give insight into prevailing attitudes on such complex
issues as tolerance for diversity.
The concept of behavioral traces can be a useful tool for the campus
ecologist. As Zeisel (1975) states: "The environment is used as a medium of
communication ...." Understanding this communication can assist in the
improvement of campus life .
REFERENCES
Bechtel, R. & Zeisel, J. (1987). Observation: The world under a glass. In R.
Bechtel, R. Marans, & W. Michelson (Eds.). Introduction: Environmental Design
Research, New York; Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
Zeisel,J. (1981). Inquiry by design. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Zeisel, J. (1975). Sociology and architectural design. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Recently a colleague called to my attention a 1953 book on the subject of literary criticism, The Mirror and the Lamp, in which the author relies on the analogy of the title to describe the change which took place in the nineteenth
century concerning what we expect from the arts. The Greeks, he points out, gave
us to believe that art must be a reflection of Truth, and thus must represent
Reality as closely as possible. Art thus defined, must describe what exists, hence
be a mirror, rather than create anything new, as a lamp might do by illuminating
the unseen, and guiding us into new places. Abrams' metaphor has applicability in
the Student Affairs arena as well.
The idea of Reality, as fixed and immutable, is a central point of Dualistic
thinking as defined in Perry's Scheme of Cognitive and Ethical Development. It is
a concept which at certain points in our lives, is attractive. At those points, the
existence of a reliable mirror, helping us to see and examine Reality with greater
accuracy and clarity, is also attractive.
Mirrors, however, vary in their properties. A mirror may be a 'good'
mirror, showing me to myself as prettier, handsomer, healthier, and generally
more attractive than I am. It might make rne appear slimmer, with a nicer
complexion, put dancing lights in my eyes, and I will leave such a mirror with a
jauntier air, surer of myself, and, for a while at least, pleased with the image it has given me, even if that image is NOT Reality, quite. A mirror may be a 'bad'
mirror, which gives back an image wan and sallow, puffy, unkempt, and tired
looking. When I look into such a one, my shoulders sag and I leave it with a sigh
for lost visions of myself as youthful, vigorous and energetic.
Sometimes, we deliberately seek out distorting mirrors, as in a fun house,
where we are stimulated, and slightly distressed as we move from one spot to
another to see ourselves in grotesque reflections. We are slightly nervous, giggly,
and undignified, but safe because we think we can always find our way out of the
fun house back to Reality. We are comforted by our belief that the fun house
mirrors are not truly a form of Reality! But what those fun house mirrors might
teach us is that Reality, and the Authority of the mirror, are not reliable as Truth
after all. At its center, the illusion gives way to something else.
At later stages, (still with a nod to Perry) perhaps when we have come to
feel more secure, and less in need of a world where Truth is knowable, we seem
readier to investigate the possibility of multiple realities, all of which may
represent varieties of truth. Then we have need of a lamp, to light our paths to
new ways of thinking. But lamps too, have a variety of properties. Lamps can be
too bright to look at, too dim to read by, too hard to reach, or too hot to touch.
Some are smelly, some use exotic fuels, others require shading, yet others glare
so they make us squint. A good lamp shines over our shoulders, spilling its
illumination onto the good things we read, study, examine, or observe. It does
indeed offer expanded possibilities. With a good lamp, we are offered the
opportunity to see many things in new ways. In bright light, the world is hard, and
relentless. In soft light, there are shadows, and mysteries. With a lamp which
casts light in different colors of the spectrum, we find that reality changes with
the colors. In the infrared or the ultraviolet, reality changes yet again.
Understanding becomes a matter of choosing one's lamp, and perhaps of selecting
one's mirror as well.
One of my favorite mirrors was on the front of a clock in my parent's
home. It was very old, and the silver backing which created the mirror, was
slowly flaking off, ever so gradually revealing the clockwork behind the mirror.
Indeed, there was yet another reality behind that show to me by the mirror. That
of time. From the developmental ecological perspective, coming to comprehend
the reality behind the mirror and the development of the ability to regulate the
light from the lamp represents an interaction with my environment which results
in both choice and acceptance.
We need both lamp and mirror, reflections of ourselves and the world, and
illumination of that which we have not seen clearly, the possibilities of alternative
realities, visions of things not only as they are, but as they might be. To gain the
ecological perspective, we must sometimes be able to look behind the mirror to
the temporal realities of the clockwork mechanism and the inexorable
developmental march of the days of our own and our students' lives.
REFERENCES
Abrams, M. H. (1953) The Mirror and the Lamp. New York: Oxford Press.
Perry, W. G. (1970) Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development an the
College Years, A Scheme. New York: Holt Rhinehart & Winston.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Dr. Sue Spooner is head of the college student personnel program at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639.
During my stay in Budapest, Hungary, I began thinking about the entry
process into a different environment. The experience of moving to a different
country is very much like that of beginning at a university-everything changes. In
order to get along day-to-day in our normal environments we depend on basic
assumptions, basic knowledge and on what I call "environmental anchors." When
we interpret information in new settings we continue to use our old
"environmental anchors" or our expectations of how things should work. For
example, we all have an environmental map that contains basic knowledge about
which stores carry what items and when they tend to be open. However, in a new
environment this map, based on old "environmental anchors" may not work at all.
While reading the Daily News, the official English language newspaper, l came across the following notice in preparation for the November 7 holidays:
Opening Hours All foodstores, markethalls and markets will be open until 7 pm on Friday. On Saturday, stores in Budapest wil keep the usual public hours. Tobacconists, pastry and flower shops will keep Sunday hours, catering establishments the usual Saturday hours. All other stores and department stores will be closed.
On Sunday tobacconists, pastry and flower shops, catering places, foodstores and markets, will keep Sunday hours. All other stores will remain closed. Milk, bread, and rolls will be on sale at designated catering points on November 7 and 8.
Without an environmental anchor-without basic knowledge of when the
stores are open normally, this information is meaningless. Needless to say, I did
all my shopping before 7 pm on Friday. Similar notices appeared for each of the
public holidays, each time failing to mention specific hours. When I shared these
notices with Hungarian friends, they saw nothing peculiar since they knew the
hours that stores were normally open. Further, the Hungarians had a difficult time
understanding my problem since to them, knowledge of store hours is taken for
granted.
Knowledge of these environmental anchors, basic information about a
system, can be used either to include or exclude people in a system, and is
particularly powerful with people new to a system. The major problems that I
have encountered in Hungary have resulted from a lack of information, and the
most significant problems have been the result of lacking information so common
to the Hungarians that they did not think to share it with me. Openness with
information is unfortunately not a characteristic trait of an entrenched
bureaucracy, unless it is committed to the development and independence of the
members of the system. Perhaps a good environmental measure is the quality of
information given to new members in an environment .
Editor's Note:
Dr. Will Barratt, a frequent contributor to the ecological perspective of the campus environment, shares "a letter from another environment "
This material resides on an Indiana State University server and is maintained by
Will Barratt.
Please forward any problems and comments to him.