Making Peace with the Rising Costs of Writing Technologies: Flexible Classroom Design as a Sustainable Solution

Making the Case for Space: The Effect of Learning Spaces on Teaching and Learning

“…A polycentric layout occurs when multiple teacher and student focal points are created in a space, de-emphasising what Miller-Cochran and Gierdowski (2013) refer to as the 'front' of the room. This multiple focal point layout is created using large TVs on Walls/Wheels, or TOWs (Lippman, 2013;Miller-Cochran & Gierdowski, 2013) This focus on flexibility continued with the installation of modular and moveable furniture. Non-traditional classroom furniture such as stools, booths, ottomans and portable tables were integrated with existing desks and chairs.…”

“…Non-traditional classroom furniture such as stools, booths, ottomans and portable tables were integrated with existing desks and chairs. This was a simple and cost effective way to influence the social relationships within the space (Miller-Cochran & Gierdowski, 2013). Based on the research of Brooks (2012), this enabled the teacher to create a range of spatial configurations, each intended to match a particular pedagogical activity.…”

Safety issues of children age 3-5 years in school classrooms: a perspective of classrooms in the United States

“…Nationally, in a typical year, over 50,000 people are killed in building-related accidents and millions more are often permanently injured in the United States, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD;Miller-Cochran & Gierdowski, 2013). The cause of many of these deaths and injuries is that most designers are not aware of the threats the users of their buildings face.…”

Which space? Whose space? An experience in involving students and teachers in space design

“…Similarly, Van Note Chism (2006) suggests that this can be better achieved by providing a room that can comfortably accommodate a smaller number of students around square or round tables, with chairs positioned on each side to encourage teamwork or group discussions. A number of authors argue that higher education institutions are increasingly supporting active and learner-centred pedagogies; as a consequence, new, more flexible learning spaces are being created to facilitate these (Miller-Cochran and Gierdowski 2013;Beichner 2014;Pederby 2014;Park and Choi 2014). This is in response to evidence that suggests that learning space design has an influence on how its users conceptualise and enact their learning (Jamieson et al 2000;Beichner et al 2000;Crook and Mitchell 2012;Park and Choi 2014).…”