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Gehry Nelson (Doreen) Method of Design-Based Learning (formerly City Building Education™) records
LSC.2239  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Processing Information
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Biography/History
  • Scope and Content
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Related Material

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning (formerly City Building Education™) records
    Creator: Nelson, Doreen G.
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2239
    Physical Description: 51.8 Linear Feet (93 document boxes, 5 record storage boxes, 10 flat boxes and 1 telescope box)
    Physical Description: 11 Audiovisual Carriers (10 videocassettes, 1 film strip)
    Physical Description: 14 Born-digital Carriers (14 optical discs)
    Date (inclusive): 1959-2014
    Abstract: Doreen Gehry Nelson, Professor of Education and Adjunct Professor in the College of Environmental Design at California Polytechnic University in Pomona and Professor of Design-Based Learning at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena began researching transfer of learning to develop an educational theory, methodology, and practical application for K-12 classroom teachers while working within the Los Angeles Unified School District. She founded the Center for City Building Education™ in 1974 where she pioneered the educational methodology Backwards Thinking™ which led to her development of the educational reform movement called The Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning. The collection spans from 1959-2014 and consists of the Center for City Building Education™ (CBE) administrative and research files which include 3,000 CBE slides created by the Office of Ray and Charles Eames, the Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning (DBL) California State Polytechnic University and Art Center College of Design files, and publications which document the creation, development, and international implementation of Nelson's educational theories and methodologies.
    Physical Location: Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Language of Material: Materials are primarily in English with some reports by the Architecture and Children Network of Sendai in Japanese.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

    CONTAINS DIGITAL AND AUDIO MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed digital and audio materials. Digital and audio materials are not currently available for access, unless otherwise noted in a Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed digital and audio materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

    Conditions Governing Use

    Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning (formerly City Building Education™) records (Collection 2239). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. ©Doreen Gehry Nelson. All rights reserved.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Doreen Gehry Nelson, 2014.

    Processing Information

    Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
    Processed by Kelly Besser with assistance from Rebecca Bucher, in consultation with Genie Guerard, and under the supervision of Megan Hahn Fraser, 2014.
    We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.  

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9975900373606533 

    Biography/History

    Doreen Gehry Nelson, a public school teacher who was determined to improve the level of information retention by her students, and to promote their higher-level thinking skills, researched transfer of learning to develop an educational theory, methodology, and practical application for K-12 classroom teachers. She earned her Bachelor of Arts, Arts & Humanities and Elementary Teaching Credential at UCLA in 1959 under the mentorship of Corrine A. Seeds and began her teaching practice at what is today called the UCLA LAB School Corrine A. Seeds Campus. She earned her Master of Arts Degree in Educational Administration with Distinction from California State University, Northridge in 1971.
    Early in her career, Nelson taught primary grades at Westminster Elementary School in Venice, California where she began implementing her educational theories and methodologies. Since 1969 she formalized and honed these techniques and focused on training K-12 public school teachers. In 1974 she established the Center for City Building Education™ in Los Angeles where she pioneered the educational methodology Backwards Thinking™ that reversed Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy by starting the learning process with creative thinking. Using the built environment as a metaphor for real-life learning, it was the first federally funded architects-in-schools program.
    Nelson, born in Toronto, Canada, is the only sibling of architect Frank Gehry – an early advisor, collaborator, and teacher in the program. She was recognized by The New York Times in 1991 as one of the thirty most innovative educators in the United States, awarded lifetime Honorary Membership in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1996, and received the 2006 California State University Wang Family Excellence Award.
    Doreen Gehry Nelson is Professor of Education and Adjunct Professor in the College of Environmental Design at California Polytechnic University in Pomona and Professor of Design-Based Learning at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Her research areas in education include transfer of learning, long-term retention of learning, higher-level thinking skills, creativity, critical thinking, design thinking, and Backwards Thinking™. Her work as founder and director of the Center for City Building Education™ led to her development of the educational reform movement called The Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning.

    Scope and Content

    The Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning (formerly City Building Education™) records range in date from 1959-2014. The collection consists of the Center for City Building Education™ (CBE) administrative and research files which include 3,000 CBE slides created by the Office of Ray and Charles Eames, the Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning (DBL) California State Polytechnic University and Art Center College of Design files, and publications which document the creation, development, and international implementation of Nelson's educational theories and methodologies.

    Organization and Arrangement

    This collection has been arranged in the following series:
    • Series 1: Center City Building Education™ Files
    • Series 2: The Doreen Gehry Nelson Method of Design-Based Learning Files
    • Series 3: Publications

    Related Material

    Interview of Corinne A. Seeds [oral history transcript] / Corinne A. Seeds, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1963.   UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California Los Angeles.