This chapter advances the idea that in order to improve twenty-firstcentury learning environments... more This chapter advances the idea that in order to improve twenty-firstcentury learning environments for students and particularly for teachers, it is necessary to enhance the spirit of collective culture, called 'WE', versus the spirit of individualism, called 'I', and provides an example of how this is reflected in the design of learning spaces. Both of these cohorts use learning, working and doing processes, and face major changes from educational mandates. A 'WE' cultural environment will be discussed in order to support multiple aspects of collaboration and creativity, where hub-specific solutions empower the two groups as collectives, supporting a 'WE LEaRN HUB' setting. Connecting practice to research, a process of change in school design related to the 'WE' culture is presented through an academic park built in Israel. This academic park uses an introductory design of the hub's setting approach, supporting the 'WE' of both communities and reflecting new approaches in learning processes.
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice... more Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice of active learning and amplify its positive effects in learners from young children through university-level learners. As interest in and adoption of ALCs has increased rapidly over the last decade, the need for grounded research in their effects on learners and schools has grown proportionately. In this paper, we review the peer-reviewed published research on ALCs, dating back to the introduction of "studio" classrooms and the SCALE-UP program up to the present day. We investigate the literature and summarize findings on the effects of ALCs on learning outcomes, student engagement, and the behaviors and practices of instructors as well as the specific elements of ALC design that seem to contribute the most to these effects. We also look at the emerging cultural impact of ALCs on institutions of learning, and we examine the drawbacks of the published research as well as avenues for potential future research in this area. 1: Introduction 1.1: What is active learning, and what is an active learning classroom? Active learning is defined broadly to include any pedagogical method that involves students actively working on learning tasks and reflecting on their work, apart from watching, listening, and taking notes (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). Active learning has taken hold as a normative instructional practice in K12 and higher education institutions worldwide. Recent studies, such as the 2014 meta-analysis linking active learning pedagogies with dramatically reduced failure rates in university-level STEM courses (Freeman et al., 2014) have established that active learning drives increased student learning and engagement across disciplines, grade levels, and demographics. As schools, colleges, and universities increasingly seek to implement active learning, concerns about the learning spaces used for active learning have naturally arisen. Attempts to implement active learning pedagogies in spaces that are not attuned to the particular needs of active learning-for example, large lecture halls with fixed seating-have resulted in suboptimal results and often frustration among instructors and students alike. In an effort to link architectural design to best practices in active learning pedagogy, numerous instructors, school leaders, and architects have explored how learning spaces can be differently designed to support active learning and amplify its positive effects on student learning. The result is a category of learning spaces known as Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs). 1 1 We wish to note that our use of the term "active learning center" is not connected to the "Active Learning Center Grant" program offered by Steelcase, Inc. but is merely the most common term used to describe these spaces. Later, in an effort to adapt the studio physics concept to larger course sections, Robert Beichner and others at North Carolina State University redesigned their introductory physics courses using a combination of innovations in pedagogy, technology, and space in what they eventually deemed the Student Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogy, or SCALE-UP (Beichner, 1999; Beichner et al., 2007). As with studio physics, SCALE-UP physics courses combined changes in pedagogy, technology, and space to refocus class activity on active learning in a combination of lecture, recitation, and lab tasks. Students in SCALE-UP rooms are arranged at large circular tables seating nine students each (so they could work in three small groups of three students each, then combine into a larger group of nine) with affordances for technology such as multiple large projection screens for computer work and plentiful whiteboard space, and there was no clearly defined front of the room. practices? Put more simply, what assurances are there that institutions who expend large amounts of financial and other resources to install ALCs will reap positive benefits from doing so? The purpose of this study is to examine the published literature up to the time of this writing to analyze and summarize the research on active learning classrooms, both in general and organized around several categories of importance to researchers and educational institutions alike. We seek to discern patterns of results among the studies we selected to discover the answers to the above questions about ALCs as well as best practices for using ALCs and opportunities for further research in this area. 2: Methods and overview of results 2.1: Research questions The main question that this study intends to investigate is: What are the effects of the use of ALCs on student learning, faculty teaching, and institutional cultures? Within this broad overall question, we will focus on four research questions: 1. What effects do ALCs have on measurable metrics of student academic achievement? Included in such metrics are measures such as exam scores, course grades, and learning gains on pre/post-test measures, along with data on the acquisition of "21st Century Skills", which we will define using a framework (OCDE, 2009) which groups "21st Century Skills" into skills pertaining to information, communication, and ethical/social impact. 2. What effects do ALCs have on student engagement? Specifically, we examine results pertaining to affective, behavioral, and cognitive elements of the idea of "engagement" as well as results that cut across these categories. 3. What effect do ALCs have on the pedagogical practices and behaviors of instructors? In addition to their effects on students, we are also interested the effects of ALCs on the instructors who use them. Specifically, we are interested in how ALCs affect instructor attitudes toward and implementations of active learning, how ALCs influence faculty adoption of active learning pedagogies, and how the use of ALCs affects instructors' general and environmental behavior. 4. What specific design elements of ALCs contribute significantly to the above effects? Finally, we seek to identify the critical elements of ALCs that contribute the most to their effects on student learning and instructor performance, including affordances and elements of design, architecture, and technology integration. 2.2: Identification of relevant studies To find studies relevant to our research questions, we performed academic database queries using the databases ERIC (eric.ed.gov), ProQuest Education, LearnTechLib, Google Scholar, and Education Research Complete. We used the following terms for these queries: • Active learning classroom • Active learning space • Active learning environment • Active learning center
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice... more Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice of active learning and amplify its positive effects in learners from young children through university-level learners. As interest in and adoption of ALCs has increased rapidly over the last decade, the need for grounded research in their effects on learners and schools has grown proportionately. In this paper, we review the peer-reviewed published research on ALCs, dating back to the introduction of "studio" classrooms and the SCALE-UP program up to the present day. We investigate the literature and summarize findings on the effects of ALCs on learning outcomes, student engagement, and the behaviors and practices of instructors as well as the specific elements of ALC design that seem to contribute the most to these effects. We also look at the emerging cultural impact of ALCs on institutions of learning, and we examine the drawbacks of the published research as well as avenues for potential future research in this area.
Current architectural educational design solutions are challenged by recent, multiple paradigm sh... more Current architectural educational design solutions are challenged by recent, multiple paradigm shifts: changes in societal culture, research on how we learn, educational methods (passive to active learning), and an emphasis on collaboration and participatory creativity. Evidence indicates that collaborative creativity is essential for innovation, and creativity flourishes in contradictory patterns of cultures, settings, and behaviors. "Design and space do matter" in supporting innovation and a culture of a place, particularly in learning-driven domains. The research studied how an active, adaptive design approach might emerge as a support for these paradigm shifts relative to the learning and creative processes. This chapter investigates how hybrid spatial patterns may support a collaborative culture with participatory creativity. It further aims to present a relationship between learning, creativity, and space by introducing hybrid patterns of architectural affordances that may promote new learning behaviors impacting collaborative creativity. The research design used a mixed-method protocol: (1) content analysis of design awarded learning and working environments, (2) survey and interviews, and (3) a Post-Occupancy Evaluation ethnography using behavioral observations and photographic traces techniques. The convenience sample was the
This chapter advances the idea that in order to improve twenty-firstcentury learning environments... more This chapter advances the idea that in order to improve twenty-firstcentury learning environments for students and particularly for teachers, it is necessary to enhance the spirit of collective culture, called 'WE', versus the spirit of individualism, called 'I', and provides an example of how this is reflected in the design of learning spaces. Both of these cohorts use learning, working and doing processes, and face major changes from educational mandates. A 'WE' cultural environment will be discussed in order to support multiple aspects of collaboration and creativity, where hub-specific solutions empower the two groups as collectives, supporting a 'WE LEaRN HUB' setting. Connecting practice to research, a process of change in school design related to the 'WE' culture is presented through an academic park built in Israel. This academic park uses an introductory design of the hub's setting approach, supporting the 'WE' of both communities and reflecting new approaches in learning processes.
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice... more Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice of active learning and amplify its positive effects in learners from young children through university-level learners. As interest in and adoption of ALCs has increased rapidly over the last decade, the need for grounded research in their effects on learners and schools has grown proportionately. In this paper, we review the peer-reviewed published research on ALCs, dating back to the introduction of "studio" classrooms and the SCALE-UP program up to the present day. We investigate the literature and summarize findings on the effects of ALCs on learning outcomes, student engagement, and the behaviors and practices of instructors as well as the specific elements of ALC design that seem to contribute the most to these effects. We also look at the emerging cultural impact of ALCs on institutions of learning, and we examine the drawbacks of the published research as well as avenues for potential future research in this area.
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice... more Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice of active learning and amplify its positive effects in learners from young children through university-level learners. As interest in and adoption of ALCs has increased rapidly over the last decade, the need for grounded research in their effects on learners and schools has grown proportionately. In this paper, we review the peer-reviewed published research on ALCs, dating back to the introduction of “studio” classrooms and the SCALE-UP program up to the present day. We investigate the literature and summarize findings on the effects of ALCs on learning outcomes, student engagement, and the behaviors and practices of instructors as well as the specific elements of ALC design that seem to contribute the most to these effects. We also look at the emerging cultural impact of ALCs on institutions of learning, and we examine the drawbacks of the published research as well as avenues for pote...
Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice... more Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are learning spaces specially designed to optimize the practice of active learning and amplify its positive effects in learners from young children through university-level learners. As interest in and adoption of ALCs has increased rapidly over the last decade, the need for grounded research in their effects on learners and schools has grown proportionately. In this paper, we review the peer-reviewed published research on ALCs, dating back to the introduction of "studio" classrooms and the SCALE-UP program up to the present day. We investigate the literature and summarize findings on the effects of ALCs on learning outcomes, student engagement, and the behaviors and practices of instructors as well as the specific elements of ALC design that seem to contribute the most to these effects. We also look at the emerging cultural impact of ALCs on institutions of learning, and we examine the drawbacks of the published research as well as avenues for potential future research in this area.
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