Session Information
99 ERC SES 07 H, Research on Arts Education
Paper Session
Contribution
The question of how an optimal learning environment should be designed is probably as old as the building task itself. It has always been and continues to be a reflection of constantly changing educational, social, and technological conditions. Despite the small field of research, the scientific debate on the subject has gained attention since its beginnings in the 1920s, especially in the past decade. The fact that physical space can influence learning has already been proven several times (e.g. Rance et al., 2023; Baloch et al. 2021; Barrett et al., 2015; Walden, 2008). However, there is still no theoretical model that takes a holistic view of the architectural aspects of a learning environment and at the same time addresses current research and school development.
Today, we are faced with a fundamentally changed pedagogical understanding, even if some demands in this respect were already made at the beginning of the 20th century by the New Education Movement (Renz, 2016). Findings from educational research have influenced teaching methods and goals of education in the last decades: Lessons should include different social forms, be skills-oriented, and take individualised learning into account (Saalfrank, 2017; Corno, 2008; Helmke, 2007; Weinert, 2001). In addition, the role of schools has changed since the Emotional Turn in the 1990s, meaning the topic of well-being is receiving increasing attention (Hascher & Balloid, 2000). This also raises the question of social responsibility: to what extent can schools respond to the challenges of our time, such as inclusion, division of society, strengthening democracy, and the climate crisis? In addition to these pedagogical and social demands, however, there are also changing technological and construction-specific conditions (digitalization, climate-neutral buildings, resource conservation, etc.), which on the one hand call for increased responsibility, but also open up opportunities to find answers for the school building question.
In construction practice, this is usually based on the orientation of positive examples and building guidelines, but also increasingly through participation processes in which, for example, teachers and pupils are involved in the concept planning (Montag Stiftungen Jugend und Gesellschaft, 2017). Although this is fundamentally a positive development, it is also associated with the problem that this approach is tailored to the personal needs of individual groups at a specific point in time and therefore does not represent the whole. To date, an orientation towards Evidenced Based Design in (school) construction is hardly common (Hamilton & Watskin, 2009), which is due on the one hand to the common professional practice of architects, but also to the small field of research. Even here, the presentation of positive examples takes up a large space, and empirical research methods are still only used sporadically. What is more, the knowledge that has already been gained is seldom bundled and prepared for practical use – as a result, there is hardly any scientific communication. In addition to the problem of the very limited number of studies, there is also little cooperation between the various scientific disciplines, which means that architecture, educational science, and architectural psychology (which is generally underrepresented) usually act separately from each other.
This results in the need for an interdisciplinary approach that, on the one hand, maps the different aspects of a learning environment as comprehensively as possible and, at the same time, takes current pedagogical, social, and technological developments into account. It raises the question of how architectural-psychological and pedagogical requirements of the school learning environment can be mapped in a theoretical model – and thus serves as a basis for empirical research, as a planning aid, and for the evaluation of school buildings.
Method
In the course of a metatheoretical reorientation in empirical social research, a plea is made for multiple modes of representation that place theories and conceptual models consequently in the centre of attention (Renkl, 2022; Dreier, 2013). To present the complex relationships between teaching/learning and architectural psychology coherently, a multi-layered theoretical model has been designed as follows: Initially, innovative new and existing school buildings (N=42), mainly in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, and Austria were inspected using the environmental psychology observation method Casual Observation with the purpose “to inform the direction of a possible future study“ (Sussman, 2016, p.13) to obtain a practical, up-to-date approach to the topic. In addition, a literature review was carried out, focusing on conceptual models for the built (learning) environment (Preiser, 1983; Vischer, 2005; Walden, 2008; Gifford, 2014; Barrett et al., 2015; Seidel, 2023). While being flexible to be applied to different typologies that are currently being pursued (e.g. classroom plus, cluster, learning studio), social changes that are already increasingly being integrated into current pedagogy (inclusion, digitalization, sustainability, etc.) are mapped with an architectural reference on a theoretical level. As the model focuses on environmental psychology, the central concepts of privacy, personal space, territory, crowding (Altman, 1975), and environmental control (Walden, 2008) are taken into account. This systematic analysis is followed by a conceptualisation of the new model in terms of content and graphics (although the visualisation cannot be attached here, it will form the basis of the explanation during the presentation). Subsequently, a literature review is now being conducted to re-examine each of the aspects of the model in terms of their organisation into sub-groups and the current state of research from different perspectives (environmental psychology, architecture, and teaching/learning research). Finally, based on this analysis, hypotheses about correlations within the model will be formulated.
Expected Outcomes
The literature review has shown that no model exists to date that takes pedagogical, architectural, and environmental psychological aspects into account and can be applied to new learning environments at the same time. Taking into account the fragmented nature of previous research, the aim was to develop a basic theoretical framework that would allow for the elaboration of interrelationships: The AMOLE is divided into two main areas: On the left are the General Requirements, including Basic, Physical, and Aesthetical Aspects – i.e. components that every type of building should fulfill. On the right are the Specific Requirements, including Functional and Pedagogical Aspects – i.e. aspects that are particularly relevant to learning environments. Both areas are not strictly separated but must be considered with flowing transitions. At the same time, the individual components of the aspects influence each other (size/openness, for example, significantly determines acoustics). The different zones of a learning environment with their Transition Requirements (Activity Setting, School Building, School Grounds, Neighborhood) represent the question of how connections are created – spatially and in terms of cooperation. All in all, the areas are enclosed by the Ethical Requirements, thus: What is the message that a school should send in terms of social issues (inclusion, diversity, sustainability)? Focusing on Environmental Psychology, the presented model aims to provide a foundation for practice and research upon which further work can be built. It does not claim to be complete but provides a framework for development. As a next step, it could serve as a basis for a generally applicable Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) survey tool. In addition, the model may be used in the future to look more closely at individual areas, such as those of Educational Aspects to derive recommendations in the sense of an Evidenced Based Design.
References
Altman, I. (1975). The Environment and Social Behavior. Privacy, Personal Space, Territory, Crowding. Books/Cole Publishing Company. Baloch, R. M., Maesano, C. N., Christofferson, J., Mandin, C., Csobod, E., De Oliviera Fernandes, E., Annesi-Maesano, I. (2021). Daylight and School Performance in European Schoolchildren. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 258. Barrett, P., Fay, D., Zhang, Y., Barrett, L. (2015). The impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning: Final results of a holistic, multi-level analysis. Building and Environment 89, 118–133. Corno, L. (2008). On Teaching Adaptively. Educational Psychologist, 43(3), 161–173. Dreier, V. (2013). Modelle, Theorien und empirische Daten. zum Beitrag der modernen Wissenschaftstheorie für eine metatheoretische Neuorientierung in der empirischen Sozialforschung. Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie 1, 116–134. Gifford, R. (2014). Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice (5th Edition). Optimal Books. Hamilton, D. K. & Watskin, D. H. (2009). Evidence-based Design for Multiple Building Types. John Wiley & Sons. Hascher, T., Balloid, J. (2000). Auf der Suche nach dem Wohlbefinden in der Schule. Schweizer Schule, 87(3), 3–12. Helmke, A. (2007). Was wissen wir über guten Unterricht? Wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zur Unterrichtsforschung und Konsequenzen für die Unterrichtsentwicklung. Bildung. koeln.de/imperia/md/content/selbst_schule/downloads/andreas_helmke_.pdf Montag Stiftungen Jugend und Gesellschaft (2017). Schulen planen und bauen 2.0. (2. Aufl.). Jovis. Preiser, W. F. E. (1983). The hability framework: a conceptual approach towards linking human behaviour and physical environment. Design Studies 4(2), 84–91. Rance, G., Dowell, R. C. & Tomlin, D. (2023). The effect of classroom environment on literacy development. npj Science of Learning, 8(9). Renz, K. (2016). Testfall der Moderne. Transfer und Diskurs im Schulbau der 1950er Jahre. Wasmuth. Renkl, A. (2022). Meta-analyses as a privileged information source for informing teachers’ practice? Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie 36(4), 217–231. Saalfrank, W.‐T. (2012). Differenzierung. In E. Kiel (Hrsg.), Unterricht sehen, analysieren, gestalten (2. Aufl.). UTB GmbH. Seidel, O. (2023). Anforderungen an ein Schulgebäude. Lernräume – Arbeitsräume – Lebensräume. Klett Kallmeyer. Sussman, R. (2016). Observational Methods: The First Step in Science. In R. Gifford (Ed.), Research Methods for Environmental Psychology (pp.9–28). John Wiley & Sons. Vischer, J. C. (2005) Space meets status: Designing workplace performance. Taylor and Francis/ Routledge. Walden, R. (2008). Architekturpsychologie: Schule, Hochschule und Bürogebäude der Zukunft. Pabst Science Publishers. Weinert, F. E. (2001) (Ed.). Leistungsmessungen in Schulen. Beltz
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