Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemResearch into identifying Effective Learning Environments(OECD Publications, 2005)The evaluation of school learning environments has for decades traditionally focused on the technical performance of the facilities with little attention being paid to their pedagogical performance or effectiveness. There are a range of ‘top down’ imperatives which have driven such an approach, including the need to sustainably finance educational infrastructure and show evidence as to how this money is being spent successfully. This need is emerging following the funding approaches now being taken by such bodies as the European Investment Bank and in Public Private Partnerships. On the other hand ‘bottom up’ imperatives have considered the pedagogical performance of learning environments as a means of providing feedback to authorities especially in the process of procurement. This in turn has influenced the development of planning and design guidelines. This paper examines more closely the educational learning environment and the qualitative and quantitative research measures that have been used in recent times to determine their effectiveness. It explores some of the pedagogy and environment performance measures that have evolved and views these in the context of emerging research and evidence which attempts to relate pedagogy (including student and teacher attitudes) to space. It examines some case studies and focuses on the recently developed DET Victoria pedagogy-space strategies. Finally some conclusions are drawn and suggestions made for possible future research directions.
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ItemPlacemaking Practice: Transforming Classrooms from the Inside Out – the Critical Role of Spatial Literacy(Council for Education Facility Planners International (CEFPI), 2004)For decades CEFPI, the OECD Program on Educational Building, the Schools Learning Laboratory and other related organisations have pursued transformative approaches to the planning and design learning environments to suit contemporary perceptions of learning. Yet these attempted paradigm shifts are predominantly applied by spatial practitioners 'from the outside-in'. The end recipient of these efforts, that is, the classroom teacher and his or her students, generally have little say in how their learning environments might be constructed to better serve their learning needs. This presentation will briefly explore creative pedagogical practices (resource-, problem- and project-based learning, active learning, students as researchers) and the flexibility of the curriculum framework to suggest how multiple literacies in students might be actively engaged in their daily learning lives in placemaking. In particular the development of spatial literacies augmented through spatially oriented pedagogical and curriculum development practices applied to the very classrooms in which students engage in an action-based 'pedagogy of architectural encounters' will be explored. Three case studies (one primary, two secondary) will be used to illustrate the idea of learning geographies to assess its worth in schools design. The presentation will examine how teacher professional development is fundamental to any cultural change or school transformation in parallel with school design innovations. Further, it is hoped that this paper will demonstrate an 'inside-out' transformative placemaking practice which will foster change from within the classroom, rather than being imposed from without.
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ItemPlace and Space in the Design of New Learning Environments(HERDSA (Higher Education Research and Development), 2000-07)The development of online and virtual teaching and learning environments to augment formal face-to-face environments raises questions about the way the new communication and information (CIT) technologies are being incorporated into the on-campus environment. More importantly, this development challenges the meaning of the on-campus student learning experience. The new CITs require institutions, teachers and researchers to reconsider the relationship of the physical setting to the student learning experience. The paper highlights examples of recent developments of new learning environments which have been enhanced by the contribution of educational developers at several Australian universities. It also proposes a set of pedagogically-informed principles to guide the development of on-campus teaching and learning environments (which may feature the use of CITs).
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ItemSmart Green Schools The Unofficial Overview(Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, 2010)The Smart Green Schools project, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant (2007-2010), investigated the influence of innovative and sustainable school building designs on middle school education in Victoria focussing on understanding the links between design, sustainability, pedagogy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) within 21st century learning spaces. The projects’ aims were both practical and theoretical. Practically, there was an urgent need for current and local data on school design to ensure effective spending of government funds on facilities that support learning. Theoretically, the research project aimed to advance thinking about how schools, as complex systems, engaged with contemporary design, curriculum, technological, and environmental issues.