Next Generation Classroom Design Ideas and Learning Benefits
Quick Take: Classroom design can make a huge impact on education effectiveness. Take a closer look at the:
Differences in old classroom designs and the need for change
Review multiple factors that will create a better learning environment
Assess the value and need for educational technology in the classroom
Classrooms Design Then and Now
The traditional classrooms are quickly being replaced by a new breed of learning spaces and classroom designs that are evolving in response to shifts in technology.
We will reviews this evolution, taking a look at the research that supports the evolving best practices in classroom design and briefly outlining the types of classroom design ideas and technologies at the heart of these changes.
The use of the traditional one-to-many classroom arrangements is largely attributed to the need for expediency, a transmission-centered philosophy of pedagogy, and the available technology of the time. Rows of seats made for easy setup, efficient use of space, and faster custodial cleaning. This physical arrangement fits nicely with the pedagogical assumption that instructors impart knowledge to students, as did the technology of the time: blackboard or overhead projector for the teacher, pencil, and paper for the student.
Today education is changing at an unprecedented pace and this traditional approach is widely seen as outdated and ineffective. The transmission (or transference) model is being replaced by a constructivist approach, which emphasizes the ways in which students join instructors and one another in making connections and developing knowledge. This shift is a result of, and further propelled by, technologies like the internet, personal computing devices, interactive displays, and collaborative software. Within this fluid environment, schools are seeking to adapt and deliver classroom spaces that better support successful 21st-century learning. These future-forward classroom arrangements are designed to provide the flexibility to support the different ways in which learners can actively conduct experiments, perform real-world problem solving and come together in groups to ask questions, explore, assess what they know and expand their knowledge, while instructors serve as facilitators, guiding activities to address and build upon student understanding.
Many umbrella terms are used to identify these classroom design ideas, including:
Flexible seating
The modular classroom
Stab them
ucks the classroom
Classroom cribs
Next-generation classroom design
Evidence-based learning environments
Learner-centered spaces
Active learning environments/classrooms
A fifth-grade teacher who completely re-worked her classroom after exposure to a flexible seating environment at a charter school calls it the “Best Decision I Ever Made. The Research into Classroom Design Ideas and Factors
supporting the development of new best practices in the classroom, design is a growing body of research that demonstrates the ways in which the classroom environment affects student engagement and academic performance.
A groundbreaking study on students’ academic progress was released in 2012. It found that, over the course of an academic year, the progress can be influenced by 25% in either direction – positive or negative.
That is, the academic performance of a child in the best environment is expected to be 25 percent better than an equivalent child in the ‘poorest’ classroom environment. Even more astounding, the difference between the best- and worst-designed classrooms accounted for a full year’s worth of academic progress.
The authors ultimately concluded that 73% of the variation in performance among students could be attributed to five key design factors: color, choice, complexity, flexibility, and light.
Color – Providing enough visual stimulation around the classroom through the use of color on walls, floors, and furniture
Choice – Quality furniture including interesting and ergonomic tables and chairs that support a sense of ownership
Complexity – Providing novel surroundings and attention-grabbing décor in balance with orderliness
Flexibility – The ability of a classroom to accommodate students without crowding them, along with how easily furniture can be rearranged to support a variety of activities and teaching approaches.
Light – Quality, and quantity of natural light, and degree of control with the level of lighting
Follow-up studies have provided deeper insight into the relative impact of each of these factors.
At the outset of a major 2015 study the authors’ hypothesized that “clearly from the literature, it can be anticipated that the built environment of the classrooms will have a great impact on pupils’ academic performance, health, and wellbeing…” Their own study confirmed the significant impact of the physical classroom features on academic progress, finding that factors within the following three categories accounted for the differences in performance:
Naturalness – accounting for around 50% of the impact on learning, this category relates to environmental factors required for physical comforts, such as light, sound, temperature, air quality, and ‘links to nature.
Stimulation – This category refers to the vibrancy of the classroom balancing color and complexity for optimal engagement and positive behavior – and accounts for about 25% of differences in learning.
Individuality – Accounting for the remaining 25% in learning differences and of particular relevance to this paper, this category encompasses how well a classroom meets the needs of a particular group of children through offering:
Ownership – how identifiable and personalized the room is
Flexibility – how well the room addresses the needs of a particular age group and any changing pedagogy
Connection – a measure of how readily the pupils can connect to the rest of the school
Introducing Evidence-Based Classroom Design
Educators everywhere are embracing the need to adapt the classroom design based on the forces, philosophies, and research outlined above. The specific form these spaces take differs due to curriculum, class size, space, budget constraints and the like, however, two commonalities are consistently seen: the flexibility to deliver adaptable, active learning spaces and the integration of technology that fosters collaboration and sharing.
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