Space matters: The impact of formal learning environments on student learning

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify the relationship between formal learning spaces and student learning outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental design, researchers partnered with an instructor who taught identical sections of the same course in two radically different formal learning environments to isolate the impact of the physical environment on student learning. The results of the study reveal that, holding all factors excepting the learning spaces constant, students taking the course in a technologically enhanced environment conducive to active learning techniques outperformed their peers who were taking the same course in a more traditional classroom setting. The evidence suggests strongly that technologically enhanced learning environments, independent of all other factors, have a significant and positive impact on student learning.

Get a room: the role of classroom space in sustained implementation of studio style instruction

“…Literature suggests that the physical classroom space has a critical role in changing teaching practice and subsequently, can affect, student learning (Martin 2002;Taylor 2009;Brooks 2011). For example, seating where students face one another, such as U-shape or circular configuration, more readily allows for class discussions (Rosenfield et al 1985;Bonus and Riordan 1998), clustered desks facilitate cooperative group activities (Bonus and Riordan 1998), and classrooms where students are seated in rows result in higher levels of instructor presentation and direction (Martin 2002).…”

Standing to Preach, Moving to Teach: What TAs Learned from Teaching in Flexible and Less-Flexible Spaces

“…For the purposes of clarification in this paper, the classroom depicted in Figure 1 will be called the "flexible space". Studies on ALCs in general have shown that, compared to the traditional lecture hall, students' satisfaction with learning was higher in Active Learning Classrooms, students' attendance in class increased, and instructors reported being able to engage and interact with students in ways that were not possible in the traditional classroom layout (Brooks, 2011;Cotner, et al, 2013). One common aspect of most of these studies is that the instructors are experienced teachers and have some experience in assuming the facilitator role in teaching (HmeloSilver & Barrows, 2006).…”

“…There is an art to moving in the classroom which graduate students may not consider "M 2016 CELT Vol IX celt.uwindsor.ca www.stlhe.ca when planning their tutorials or seminars, yet doing so could help reduce many problems graduate students face during teaching that are similar to problems faculty members commonly encounter such as lack of student engagement, participation, attendance, and critical thinking. (Brooks, 2011;Cotner, Loper, Walker, & Brooks, 2013). Students can also move around to form small and large groups, allowing the TA to more easily address students' needs.…”

Student Academic Monitoring and Support in Higher Education: A Systems Thinking Perspective

“…The question that plagues the academic community is: why do students continue to fail in spite of the interventions that are meant to help them succeed? In attempting to answer this question, the literature is brimming with allusions to gaps in students' linguistic and numeric proficiency (Jaffer & Garraway, 2016); inadequate resources (Jaffer, Ng'ambi & Czerniewicz, 2007); inappropriate environmental conditions (Al-Zoubi & Younes, 2015) and outmoded learning spaces (Temple, 2007;Brooks, 2011). More recently, attention is being directed to the persistence of colonial pedagogies which fail to enhance student learning (De Lissovoy, 2010) while increasing and sometimes ambiguous calls for transformation have typified the higher education discourse.…”