Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableRethink: Interdisciplinary evaluation of academic workspaces(Architectural Science Association (ANZAScA), 2019)Academic workspace remains an emotive topic. It is bound tightly with each academic’s identity, purpose and status. As universities increasingly focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration to producenew knowledge, the sanctuary of the individual office is under challenge. Inspired by precedents in the commercial world, universities are experimenting with more open workspace environments with a desire topromote collaborationand increasespace utilisation.However,there is resistance withintheacademic community. Given this context, there is a surprising paucity of research into the design and occupation of academic workspaces. This research beginsto fill that gap through a scoping literature review specific to the academic workspaceand anew approach toacademic workspace evaluation (AWE). The AWE approach focuses on the alignment of people, purpose and place, differentiating itself from the predominant post-occupancy evaluation fociofbudget, time, environmental performance and user satisfaction. A key finding of the research has been that change management – as an integral aspect of the project design process –is as importantto the success of future-focused academic workspace projects as theirspatial design.
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ItemLearning Environment Design and Use. Towards Effective Learning Environments in Catholic Schools (TELE): An Evidence-based Approach (2015-2017)(Catholic Education Melbourne, 2018)This report – Summary of Findings – is intended to support evidence-based decision making by those involved in the design and use of school learning environments. It summarises the findings of a three-year collaborative research initiative involving Catholic Education Melbourne (CEM), Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta (CEDP) and the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) at the University of Melbourne. The Towards Effective Learning Environments in Catholic Schools (TELE): An Evidence Based Approach (2015-2017) project is one of the largest known studies to have evaluated the relationships between the built environment and the pedagogical practices and activities of school teachers and students. The findings have been drawn from the rigorous evaluation of 43 learning environments in 38 schools.
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ItemWhy Innovative Learning Environments? Stories from three schools that helped establish an ongoing space and pedagogy agenda(Brill - Sense, 2018-07-26)The research reported in this chapter was conducted to address a seemingly simple question: How are contemporary middle years (Years 5-9) pedagogies influencing the design of physical learning environments? What the study uncovered was a deep spatio-pedagogical conversation about historical misalignments between middle years pedagogies and largely isolated and dissociated classrooms, and the desire to create new and innovative learning environments to better accommodate the practices, activities and behaviours of contemporary teaching and learning. During the period between 2008-2011, school leaders identified tensions between traditional classroom spaces fitted only with tables and chairs and the pedagogical objectives and intensions of leading middle years educators, such as those outlined in the Middle Years Research and Development (MYRAD) Project (DEET, 2002, p. web): – Strengthening teacher-student relationships; – Involving students in decision-making about content, process and assessment; – Presenting authentic tasks that require complex thought and allowing time for exploration; – Inclusion of processes involving co-operation, communication, negotiation and social competencies generally; and – Providing for individual differences in interest, achievement and learning styles. Undertaken as a PhD study titled Engaging spaces: Innovative learning environments, pedagogies and student engagement in the middle years of school (Cleveland, 2011), the research investigated the emergence of ‘space’ as a factor in re-thinking how schools might operate, how teachers might teach, and most importantly how students might learn. The project was embedded within an Australian Research Council Linkage project titled Smart Green Schools and was situated in three schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. To report on a) why the three participating schools wished to create more innovative learning environments for their middle years’ students, b) how they went about creating these environments, and c) what characterised the learning environments they created, this chapter is divided into three main sections: – Drivers for change; – Design process; and – Architectural responses. These sections are preceded by a short discussion of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; 1973: Giroux 1985; Apple, 1995; McLaren, 1998; 2007; Giroux & Schmidt, 2004), the theoretical framework that informed the analysis of the field-data and supported discussion in this chapter. This conceptual tool was employed to analyse and discuss the motivations, objectives and intentions of the schools’ leaders and explore the ideological, sociological, pedagogical and spatial implications of their educational aspirations. As a qualitative multiple case study (see Research Design), the findings presented have been aggregated from across the three schools. Quotes extracted from interviews have been included to support the claims made and to ensure that the voices of the study’s co-researchers/participants were portrayed. On occasion, specific sites are referred to by pseudonyms to illustrate particular phenomenon. The schools that took part in the study were selected due to their involvement in ‘space and pedagogy projects’ i.e. projects that dealt with the development of innovative learning environments for contemporary pedagogies. The individuals who drove these projects were largely the school leaders – principals, associate principals, assistant principals and leading teachers. The findings that are presented and discussed were mostly derived from a series of interviews with these influential people. To a lesser extent, the perspectives of the teachers and students who took part in these projects are also represented. Of course, school communities do not act in isolation to imagine and deliver new ‘socio-spatial contexts for learning’. Architects, interior designers, landscape architects, education consultants, members of school council and parents are all instrumental in driving projects such as these forward. I chose to focus on the perspectives and opinions of school leaders, teachers and students in order to portray the voices of those most likely to be directly affected by changes to learning environments and pedagogies.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe “state of play” concerning New Zealand’s transition to innovative learning environments: Preliminary results from phase one of the ILETC project(New Zealand Educational Administration & Leadership Society, 2017-01-01)Driven by international trends and government policy, it is a requirement for all newly built schools in New Zealand to be designed as innovative learning environments (ILEs) with flexible learning spaces. These environments, celebrated by some for the “transformational” educational opportunities they may provide, also raise questions about whether the anticipated pedagogical value of these “non-traditional” spaces is based on idealised visions of teaching and learning rather than empirically derived evidence. Before such complex issues can be efficiently addressed, evidence of the actual “state of play” of ILEs is required. Drawing on New Zealand specific data from a large Australasian research project, this paper triangulates principals’ opinions, teachers’ perspectives, and the literature on some key preliminary issues: what types of learning spaces can be found in New Zealand schools; what teaching styles are evident in these spaces; what pedagogical beliefs are driving ILE teaching practices; and what types of learning activities are occurring in ILEs? The paper provides an evidence based platform for further discussion about the opportunities and challenges surrounding the use and practice of ILEs in New Zealand.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableEvaluating Learning Environments: Snapshots of Emerging Issues, Methods and Knowledge(SENSE PUBLISHERS, 2016)The recent trend in innovative school design has provided exciting places to both learn and teach. New generation learning environments have encouraged educators to unleash responsive pedagogies previously hindered by traditional classrooms, and has allowed students to engage in a variety of learning experiences well beyond the traditional ‘chalk and talk’ common in many schools. These spaces have made cross-disciplinary instruction, collaborative learning, individualised curriculum, ubiquitous technologies, and specialised equipment more accessible than ever before. The quality of occupation of such spaces has also been encouraging. Many learning spaces now resemble places of collegiality, intellectual intrigue and comfort, as opposed to the restrictive and monotonous classrooms many of us experienced in years past. These successes, however, have generated a very real problem. Do these new generation learning environments actually work – and if so, in what ways? Are they leading to the sorts of improved experiences and learning outcomes for students they promise? This book describes strategies for assessing what is actually working. Drawing on the best thinking from our best minds – doctoral students tackling the challenge of isolating space as a variable within the phenomenon of contemporary schooling – Evaluating Learning Environments draws together thirteen approaches to learning environment evaluation that capture the latest thinking in terms of emerging issues, methods and knowledge.
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ItemPlug n play: Future prefab for smart green schools(MDPI AG, 2018)While relocatable, prefabricated learning environments have formed an important component of school infrastructure in Australia, prefabrication for permanent school buildings is a new and emerging field. This review of prefabrication for schools is timely. In 2017, Australia’s two largest state education departments committed to prefabrication programs for permanent school infrastructure. In this paper we examine the recent history of prefabrication for Australian school buildings in the context of prefabrication internationally. We explore the range of prefabrication methods used locally and internationally and introduce evaluation indicators for school infrastructure. Traditional post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools measure indicators such as indoor environment quality (IEQ), cost benefit, life cycle performance, and speed of delivery. In response to a shift towards more student-centred learning in a digitally rich environment, recently developed POE tools now investigate the ability of new generation learning environments (NGLEs) to support optimum pedagogical encounters. We conclude with an argument for departments of education to consider how prefabrication provides opportunities for step changes in the delivery, life-cycle management and occupation of smart green schools rather than a program of simply building new schools quicker, better, and cheaper.
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ItemTerrains 2015 Mapping Learning Environment Evaluation Across the Design and Education Landscape(LEaRN, University of Melbourne, 2015-09-03)Terrains, as its name suggested, was a cartographic examination of learning environment evaluation. It invited all higher-degree students working in learning environments to assemble and present a short synopsis of their research. Through the careful sequencing of papers, and input after each paper by expert interlocoteurs, Terrains explored how this research addressed evaluation of such spaces, and how this constituted a map of current thinking in learning environment evaluation. As such, Terrains was a working symposium, with new knowledge being generated from the exchange of ideas occurring around each presentation.
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ItemAddressing the Spatial to Catalyse Socio-Pedagogic Reform in Middle Years Education(Sense Publishers, 2016)This paper describes an interdisciplinary PhD study that explored the relationships between physical learning environments, constructivist pedagogies and student engagement. The study was undertaken as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage project entitled Smart Green Schools and was conducted in Melbourne, Australia. In the pursuit of new knowledge about how architecturally designed spaces could better support learner-centered education models, the study investigated spatial and pedagogical change in the middle years of schooling (Years 5–9). It revealed that carefully considered and innovatively designed learning spaces could catalyse the adoption of constructivist pedagogies and encourage higher levels of student engagement. In keeping with these findings, the paper introduces two new constructs that were found at the intersection of space and learning: ‘reflexive learning environments’ and ‘student geographical engagement’.
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ItemEmerging methods for the evaluation of physical learning environments(Sense Publishers, 2016)The field of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) has provided direction on how evidence can be gathered about the performance of educational facilities for over 40 years (Cooper, 2001). However, such work has generally overlooked the evaluation of learning spaces for pedagogical effectiveness, i.e. the suitability of the physical environment in supporting desired teaching and learning practices, activities and behaviours. This chapter calls for, and introduces, new methods of learning environment evaluation that attempt to make explicit the connections between pedagogy and space. It also outlines a suggested framework for the further development of such methods. The research is currently being conducted at the University of Melbourne in connection with the Evaluating 21st Century Learning Environments (E21LE) ARC Linkage project. Findings so far have indicated that a return to the origins of post-occupancy evaluation in the field of environmental psychology is required to support the development of evaluation methods that take into account both the physical and social components of the environment. Feedback is needed on just how effective specific ‘units of the environment’ (Barker, 1968) are as pedagogical settings.
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ItemSustainability vs. pedagogy: synergies and tensions to be resolved in the design of learning environments(The Architectural Science Association, 2015)Learning environments in schools are purpose-built spaces. They are designed to be places of learning and are inclusive of the building structure, the furniture, fixtures, incorporated technology and learning resources. In the 21st century, it has become common practice for the design of new learning environments to be driven by issues of contemporary pedagogy and environmental sustainability. However the question that remains unanswered is what are the synergies and tensions between achieving environmental sustainability and contemporary pedagogy within the same learning environment? The purpose of this paper is to stimulate conversation around this topic. The findings relate to three researcher’s observation over a seven year period of learning environments research, undertaken at The University of Melbourne as part of the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) and two Australian Research Council Linkage Projects Smart Green Schools and Future Proofing Schools. Discussion of these observations highlights some of the issues and/or opportunities, which include more targeted research on how to deliver learning environments that are 3D textbooks; holistically integrated biophilic design, and greater occupant control of indoor environment quality.