Book Description

The Intent of this thesis is to review the role that the built environment plays in the educational process. Specifically, how the classroom furnishings support the newer pedagogy methods and how design of higher educational space can contribute to student success. The study done for this this thesis is based on the research of 21st Century methods of teaching and learning. New 21st Century classroom layouts have evolved from the studies of several educational researchers and their findings over the past century. In conjunction with universities across the world, researchers developed progressive outlooks of what the built environment can offer to the newest generation of learners. Their studies have coined several terms such as Active Learning Classrooms (ALC), Student Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) and Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL). These classroom models represent higher learning studies for more effective 21st century learning environments. Some of the models include a specific style of table and number of chairs, while other layouts favor mobile furniture options and a variation in furniture types. All have found a way to integrate the use of updated technology and whiteboards as well as used the methods of collaborative teaching spaces for more student focused learning environments. This thesis will detail the specific research related to Active Learning Classrooms vs Traditional fixed seating classroom layouts. Much of the evolution of the learning environment is attributed to newer technology and research developments offering a better delivery system for learning. 21st century classrooms encompass opportunities for learning through a greater use of shared content, collaborative learning, and more interactive facilitators. The desire is to benefit a larger range of the student population by understanding the learning needs and styles of 21st Century students. (Donovan, Greeen, & Mason, 2014) (Park & Choi, 2014) Students of today have grown up in a technology-rich world, where learning and reference information is readily available. Classrooms of the 21st century are spaces that have laptops, projectors, monitors, (Donovan, Greeen, & Mason, 2014)and personal devices. Some classrooms are also furnished with specialized equipment such as 3D or laser printers. The development of rapid information gathering has conditioned students to learn in a different way than students twenty to thirty years ago. This allows today’s students to have a new learning experience, one that provides more time for collaboration, where they can develop progressive critical thinking skills. The pedagogy that has developed concurrently with technology reveals that students learn better when there is an exchange of ideas and when students can teach one another what they have learned. Students retain learning significantly better when they have a personal investment and interest in the subject matter. This has caused the shift in the newest pedagogy to be a more student driven and student focused teaching method where the teacher acts more as a facilitator than lecturer and where students are researching rather than regurgitating information. (Entwistle, 1991) It is critical that the physical classroom environment is designed to support the mobility of the teacher as a facilitator. Providing flexible and mobile furniture options will help a classroom be rearranged quickly to support a large variety of functions and assist in the changing of activities required by the learning and collaboration of the student groups.