When Students “Move In”

Turning Learning Spaces into Learning Homes

Gary PooleUniversity of British Columbia

Vancouver, Canada

Objectives

• Identify common approaches to understanding learning spaces or homes

• Distinguish between “universalist” and “relativist” portrayals of learners

• Acknowledge what we already know in this field and what we still need to learn

• Apply this knowledge to the notion of a “learning home”

Common approaches to the study of learning spaces

• How people learn

• Unique attributes of the current demographic

Common approaches to the study of learning spaces

• How people learn

• Unique attributes of the current demographic

“It’s not about us, it’s about them.”

- Les Watson, Places and Spaces Seminars, Carrick Institute, September 2007.

Common pattern for talks about learning spaces

• How people learn• Unique attributes of the current

demographic• Pedagogical innovations• Linking to program objectives• Design considerations• Examples

Common pattern for talks about learning spaces

• How people learn Universalist• Unique attributes of the current

demographic Relativist• Pedagogical innovations• Linking to program objectives• Design considerations• Examples

Examples of a Universalist’s Approach

From How People Learn(Bransford et al., 2000)

• Learning is facilitated by connections between the new and the familiar

• Learning is facilitated by “deliberate practice” — salient feedback that draws learner’ focus

• Deep learning (understanding) facilitates transfer• Deep learning is time consuming• Motivation matters

Human beings (universally) are social animals

What happens to humans when they co-exist in the

same space?

“I don’t usually go that fast”

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2

2.1

2.2

Arthur Earle

UnpacedPaced

“Neither do I!”

Triplett,1898

That’s fine for well-learned performance, but what about

the learning itself?

Slower learning is common in the presence of others

Greenfinches

Medical Students

true for …

Sitting around the same table

Refute the arguments of Plato

Amount written: At the table > aloneQuality of counter-arguments: Alone > at the table

Allport, 1924

The mere presence of others inhibits learning and sophisticated thought.

Physiological Arousal

Evaluation Apprehension

Distraction

Why?

Sitting around the same table

Group learning is a good thing

Sitting around the same table

Group learning is a good thing

Sitting around the same table

Group learning is a good thing

An important distinction when considering humans as Social Animals ...

In the presence of others

From and with others

CO-ACTING

INTERACTING

Social attributes: New to Net Gen?

Educause, Sept/Oct. 2005A classic relativist’s statement

Examples of a Relativist’s Approach

Educause Quarterly, 2005

Examples of a Relativist’s Approach

Adapted from Malcolm Brown, Learning Spaces, in Educating the Net Generation, ed. Diana G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger

Universal or new?

Increased capacity to maintain concurrent cognitive tasks?

Or shorter attention spans?

A Quick Summary

• We have distinguished between universalist and relativist perspectives regarding learners

• We have distinguished between interacting and co-acting

• NOW, we turn to what we know about learning space design with these concepts in mind

What do we know about learning space design?

• A great deal!

• For example:– Spaces must accommodate co-acting and

interacting– Spaces must provide formal and informal

learning environments

We can design for co-acting ...

... very well

No acting

Co-acting

Interacting

In fact, we can design for co-acting and interacting on a large scale

Durham College/ UOIT computer labs

Things we still have to learn

Interaction in the theatre

The “Parliamentary Room” — Early Conceptions

The Parliamentary Room when it opened

The Parliamentary Room Today

Another Quick Summary

• We have distinguished between universalist and relativist perspectives regarding learners

• We have distinguished between interacting and co-acting

• What we know regarding design• What we need to know — how to use it• NOW, how do students use well-designed

space.

Why are these students moving the furniture?

Because it’s their home

I told you, man ...

This place is for us!

Coming Home

• Where people know who I am– How I am like everyone else (universalist)– How I am unique (relativist)– How my demographic is unique (relativist)

• Where I go to confirm who I am– The modification of space – Place identity

Icons of Place Identity — How you know you are homeIcons of Place Identity

Three key strategies in the design of student-centred learning environments

Tertiary Educational Facility Manager’s Association of Australia

• gain support and acknowledgement at funding level within universities in that student-centred learning spaces must come with a change in facility design.

– And we know how to do that designing– To respond to new attributes and to get right what we have never gotten

right before

• educate the educators / academics in the new teaching methods (teaching accreditation) and in how to best use space (spatial literacy).

– Teachers taking advantage of the interactive capabilities of new spaces.– Giving students a chance to say You missed an ‘A’.

• review architectural briefing processes to better facilitate the design of the new ‘student centred’ environments and conduct Post Occupancy Evaluations (POE’s) on educational environments to learn from what has been done.

– And remember that, when it becomes their home, they will continue the design process!

A Good Learning Home

• Acknowledges identity by adapting to universal learning attributes– Cognitive processes– Social attributes

• Is adaptable by its inhabitants

• Provides recognizable “icons of place identity”