Evaluating Learning Environments: Snapshots of Emerging Issues, Methods and Knowledge

251 Pages·2016·16.818 MB·English

by  Wesley Imms, Benjamin Cleveland, Kenn Fisher (eds.)

A D V A N C E S I N L E A R N I N G E N V I R O N M E N T S R E S E A R C H A D V A N C E S I N L E A R N I N G E N V I R O N M E N T S R E S E A R C H
Evaluating Learning Environments
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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-
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disciplinary instruction, collaborative learning, individualised curriculum, ubiquitous
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technologies, and specialised equipment more accessible than ever before. The quality s
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of occupation of such spaces has also been encouraging. Many learning spaces now y
resemble places of collegiality, intellectual intrigue and comfort, as opposed to the I
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restrictive and monotonous classrooms many of us experienced in years past.
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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 B
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the sorts of improved experiences and learning outcomes for students they promise? n
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This book describes strategies for assessing what is actually working. Drawing on a
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the best thinking from our best minds – doctoral students tackling the challenge of
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isolating space as a variable within the phenomenon of contemporary schooling –

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Evaluating Learning Environments draws together thirteen approaches to learning l
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environment evaluation that capture the latest thinking in terms of emerging issues, v
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methods and knowledge. l
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Cover image: Enterprise Centre, Camberwell High ISBN 978-94-6300-535-7 F
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School, Victoria, Australia. Hayball Architects. s
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SensePublishers ALER 8 .
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Spine
14.199 mm
Evaluating Learning Environments
ADVANCES IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH
Volume 8
Series Editors
Barry J. Fraser, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
David B. Zandvliet, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Editorial Board
Perry den Brok, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Shwu-yong Huang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Bruce Johnson, University of Arizona, USA
Celia Johnson, Bradley University, USA
Rosalyn Anstine Templeton, Montana State University-Northern, USA
Bruce Waldrip, University of Tasmania, Australia

Scope

The historical beginnings of the field of learning environments go back approxi-
mately 40 years. A milestone in the development of this field was the establishment
in 1984 of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest
Group (SIG) on Learning Environments, which continues to thrive today as one of
AERA’s most international and successful SIGs. A second milestone in the learning
environments field was the birth in 1998 of Learning Environments Research: An
International Journal (LER), which fills an important and unique niche.
The next logical step in the evolution of the field of learning environments is
the initiation of this book series, Advances in Learning Environments Research, to
complement the work of the AERA SIG and LER. This book series provides a forum
for the publication of book-length manuscripts that enable topics to be covered at a
depth and breadth not permitted within the scope of either a conference paper or a
journal article.
The Advances in Learning Environments Research series is intended to be broad,
covering either authored books or edited volumes, and either original research reports
or reviews of bodies of past research. A diversity of theoretical frameworks and
research methods, including use of multimethods, is encouraged. In addition to school
and university learning environments, the scope of this book series encompasses
lifelong learning environments, information technology learning environments, and
various out-of-school ‘informal’ learning environments (museums, environmental
centres, etc.).
Evaluating Learning Environments
Snapshots of Emerging Issues, Methods and Knowledge
Edited by
Wesley Imms, Benjamin Cleveland and Kenn Fisher
University of Melbourne, Australia
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6300-535-7 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-536-4 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6300-537-1 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
P.O. Box 21858,
3001 AW Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
https://www.sensepublishers.com/
All chapters in this book have undergone peer review.
Cover image: Enterprise Centre, Camberwell High School, Victoria, Australia.
Hayball Architects. Photograph © Dianna Snape
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2016 Sense Publishers
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the
exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction
1. Pursuing that Elusive Evidence about What Works in Learning
Environment Design 3
Wesley Imms, Benjamin Cleveland and Kenn Fisher
Emerging Issues
2. New Generation Learning Environments: How Can We Find Out If What
Works Is Working? 21
Wesley Imms
3. What Works: Changing Practice When Spaces Change 35
Mark Osborne
4. What Works? Emerging Issues 45
Lindy Osborne
5. Architects as Agents for Organisational Change in New Generation
Learning Spaces 65
David Clarke
6. Working Together in the Space-Between: Pedagogy, Learning
Environment and Teacher Collaboration 75
Chris Bradbeer
Emerging Methods
7. Emerging Methods for the Evaluation of Physical Learning Environments 93
Benjamin Cleveland
8. Developing New Learning Environments: Co-Constructing Innovation in
Education Practice 107
Graeme Oliver
9. A Quasi-Experimental and Single-Subject Research Approach as an
Alternative to Traditional Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Learning
Environments 117
Terry Byers
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
10. Evaluating Learning Environments for the Inclusion of Students with
Hearing Difficulties 131
Leanne Rose-Munro
11. The Role of Evaluation as an Educational Space Planning Tool 145
Ana Sala-Oviedo and Wesley Imms
Emerging Knowledge
12. Emerging Evaluation Knowledge in New Generation Learning
Environments 165
Kenn Fisher
13. A New Curriculum and A New Learning Space: An Opportunity for
Real Change in an Irish Context 181
Niamh Barry and Deirdre Raftery
14. A New Post Occupancy Evaluation Tool for Assessing the Indoor
Environment Quality of Learning Environments 195
Philippa Soccio
15. The Effective Teaching and Learning Spatial Framework: An
Evaluation Tool 211
Jo Dane
Afterword
16. The Emerging Importance of the Affective in Learning Environment
Evaluations 231
Kenn Fisher and Wesley Imms
17. Evaluating Spaces of Pedagogic Affect 235
Sarah Healy
Biographies 251
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publication of this book was supported by the Australian Research Council’s
Linkage Project scheme (LP130100880 Evaluating 21st Century Learning
Environments). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of the Australian Research Council. The E21LE project would
like to express its gratitude to Ms Heather Mitcheltree for her extensive work in the
development of this book, and to the project’s research partners, Hayball, Keepad
Interactive, Anglican Church Grammar School, Australian Science and Maths
School (ASMS), Caulfield Grammar School, and Rubida Research.
vii

INTRODUCTION
Camberwell High School
Photo courtesy of Hayball Architecture
Photo credit: Dianna Snape