Space as designs for and in learning: investigating the interplay between space, interaction and learning sequences in higher education (original) (raw)

Disciplinary dilemmas: learning spaces as a discussion between designers and educators

2009

As an architect and academic, I have been attempting to engage in conversations outside my discipline around the theme of education with a particular focus on how space can support learning. Currently undertaking a Doctorate of Education as the only non-cognate student, I am struck by the different languages that the disciplines of architecture and education use. We each have our own shorthand for capturing and communicating complex ideas. Architects and educators come from different tribes with different ways of viewing the world. These different languages support effective communication when we are working within an academic discipline but can alienate and confuse when we are attempting to work in interdisciplinary ways. The context of this paper is a research project called 'Smart Green Schools' funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) as part of their Linkage Grant program. The aim of the Smart Green Schools research is to investigate the relationships between ped...

Angels in the architecture -and devils in the detail: how the learning space impacts on teaching and learning

An innovative classroom design, pioneered in the US and aiming to facilitate greater student engagement, has been piloted in a UK University. This case study reflects on some of the advantages and the challenges of this technology-rich learning space and considers its impact on curriculum design in a module which aims to develop academic, research and digital skills in first-year students on an undergraduate Health and Social Care course.

Which space? Whose space? An experience in involving students and teachers in space design

Teaching in Higher Education, 2017

To date, learning spaces in higher education have been designed with little engagement on the part of their most important users: students and teachers. In this paper, we present the results of research carried out in a UK university. The research aimed to understand how students and teachers conceptualise learning spaces when they are given the opportunity to do so in a workshop environment. Over a number of workshops, participants were encouraged to critique a space prototype and to re-design it according to their own views and vision of learning spaces to optimise pedagogical encounters. The findings suggest that the active involvement of students and teachers in space design endows participants with the power of reflection on the pedagogical process, which can be harnessed for the actual creation and innovation of learning spaces.

Space and service design into educational practice

ServDes2018. Service Design Proof of Concept, Proceedings of the ServDes.2018 Conference, 18-20 June, Milano, Italy, 2018

Contemporary global challenges such as social inequalities, ageing, food crises, nature disasters have encouraged designers worldwide to scrutinise their new role in these matters and to respond with design solutions. Through purposeful sampling, this paper describes how an interior design course has shifted from a more traditional spatial emphasis in the design projects to an approach focalizing on social-cultural challenges and therefore equally addressing the intangible context of design projects. In the new pedagogical strategy the design of spaces goes hand-in-hand with the design of public services and customer experiences. The educational approach leads to new design skills, knowledge and attitudes in the interior design discipline. Finally, the paper illustrates these insights by the live project Design for Education. Aspirant interior designers respond to the challenge of creating new learning and teaching environments for socially disadvantaged districts and interact with stakeholders in order to develop better user experiences.

Editorial: Perspectives on Spaces for Teaching and Learning

2018

… I believe that the anxiety of our era has to do fundamentally with space, no doubt a great deal more than with time. (Foucault, 1984, p.2) This special issue focuses on a wide range of Perspectives on Spaces for Teaching and Learning. Discussion on this theme began in a series of questions following a PhD Conference at the University of Aberdeen in 2017 on 'Perspectives on Space(s) in Our Research Contexts'. What spaces are offered or used for when teaching and learning take place today is worth further investigation locally as well as universally. As we all encounter different educational contexts, cultures, societal needs and technological achievements, it is not possible to conceptually limit spaces offered for teaching and learning into what they represent for each individual practitioner or researcher. Instead, different arguments can broaden individual perspectives and benefit all, while leading to self-reflection for one's own research perspectives.

Sensing the Same Space – Spatial Understanding and Engagement in Higher Education

Dansk Universitetspædagogisk Tidsskrift

The aim of this theoretically oriented review is to examine the role of space and spatial thinking in the changing teaching and learning environments in higher education. The starting point is that educational space is not a pre-set institution or only a physical space but a social construction. As such, space is a crucial element in the learning process and student engagement. In the paper, basic concepts of educational space and spatiality are discussed. The complexity of the relations between spatial understanding and student engagement is demonstrated by referring to a specific drama and theatre course as a case example. The case was a joint master-level course between two European universities (in UK and Finland) where multiple online platforms were used. By the means of the learning space in the case, we discuss the nexus of spaces, comprising a dynamic spatial plurality across the learning environments. Blurring boundaries between formal and informal spaces seems to give room...

A Space of Choice: Exploring New Patterns of Common Student Spaces

Przegląd Socjologii Jakościowej, 2024

The paper describes a project conducted by a group of architecture students at the Cracow University of Technology. The research problem focused on common spaces in the learning environment, employing the theoretical framework of the sociology of architecture and the participatory design methodology. The project aimed to propose current design model solutions for inclusive and universally-accessible student places, reflecting on the initial studies and the design workshop experiences. The socio-spatial patterns proposed in this study were inspired by the concept of a pattern language developed by the team led by Christopher Alexander in the 1970s. In contrast to the original patterns, the new proposals for patterns of common student spaces are not statements, but questions. The answers to these questions involve different relationships between individuals (users) and the built environment, including those connecting users to the architectural work, the natural environment, other individuals, or user groups.

Towards creative learning spaces

Routledge

There has been increasing interest in learning spaces over recent years. Experts across the fields of architecture, education and estates management are producing a considerable number of publications and many new and innovative examples have now been built (Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) 2006, Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association (TEFMA) 2006, Oblinger 2006, Scottish Funding Council 2006, Neary et al 2010). Yet key basic questions about what we mean by 'space' and what matters about it in relation to learning, remain unanswered. What kinds of space are we talking about -conceptual, physical, virtual, social and/or personal? What are the relationships between the nature of these various spaces and how they actually impact on learning activities? What are the different spaces in which learning takes place (both in and beyond the formal teaching environment) and how can we interrogate the effectiveness of different kinds of learning spaces? What needs to change both in the 'conceptual' spaces we have about learning, and in our physical and virtual spaces, in order to enhance learning experiences?

Space codes in architectural teaching and learning

2015

This paper is focused on studying the role of physical educational space in architectural teaching and learning behaviours and activities beyond formal classroom schedules. It seeks to understand how the architecture school buildings in Portugal, although typologically very distinct, answer similar functions and how their layout and configurative space properties promote and enhance a social and informational interface that is essential to learning activities. Through the case studies, it is argued that space configuration stands as a pedagogical device, which includes a set of rules for the regulation of pedagogical interactions and communications between students revealing hierarchies of social groups. With this in mind, three case studies were chosen for this research, mainly because they have a similar pedagogical curriculum based on the enduring influence of Oporto school of architecture: the Faculty of Architecture of Porto University (FAUPorto) designed by Álvaro Siza; the Department of Architecture at School of Arts in the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Coimbra University (DAUCoimbra); and the School of Architecture in Minho University (SAUMinho), designed by Távora. Initially the paper presents the case studies and analyses the relationships between their spatial layout and patterns of space usage and appropriation. Additionally, due to the specificity of the educational context, the study makes reference to Basil Bernstein's pedagogical theory (1973), focused in patterns of knowledge transmission and acquisition (Peatross, Peponis, 1984). The