Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemRelationships between innovative learning environments, teacher mind frames and deep learning( 2020)The opening decades of the 21st century have seen a shift in school architecture in favour of open and flexible learning spaces. Driving this trend has been the view, held widely among education providers and policy makers, that learning spaces with these features, commonly labelled ‘innovative,’ are conducive to the development of so called 21st century learning skills, including collaboration, creativity and deep learning. This study tests whether the adoption of deep learning is greater among students taught in innovative learning spaces. It also investigates how teaching moderates the relationship between learning environment design and deep learning. This is done via the concept of teacher mind frames, identified by Hattie as ways of thinking about and approaching teaching that are more likely to have major positive impact on student learning. A theoretical and evidentiary basis is advanced for a hypothesised model of intervariable relationships that predicts greater levels of deep learning among students taught in innovative learning spaces by teachers who report greater holding of the mind frames. Students in 23 Australian and New Zealand secondary schools comprising predominantly traditional or innovative learning spaces, completed a questionnaire measuring the degree to which they adopt surface and deep learning approaches. Teachers completed a survey gauging the degree to which they hold the mind frames. Both measurement instruments were validated as part of this PhD. Reporting of a deep approach to learning was significantly higher among students taught in innovative learning environments. Holding of the teacher mind frames varied significantly by learning space type, with levels of seven of eight mind frames greater among teachers in innovative space-predominant schools. Hierarchical linear modelling of an interaction effect between innovative space and holding of the mind frames on deep learning did not identify a significant relationship. The results lend support to the policies of education authorities that endorse an innovative learning space-21st century skills link. Non-identification of a relationship between holding of teacher mind frames and greater deep learning, despite both being greater within innovative learning spaces, is noteworthy. This result is discussed as a possible artefact of the research design. A model for further investigation of these relationships is proposed. This incorporates a broader array of environmental variables and more targeted investigation of the possible moderating effect of teaching through a focus on the mind frames that exhibited the greatest variation by learning space type, the use of dialogue and differentiation of instruction.