Knowing what you have and where it can go...

This week, I was tasked to redesign a learning space, either virtual or physical, and at first I was a little nervous. I often have visions of a science classroom with comfy couches, plants growing everywhere, and twinkle lights, so this was exciting, but I also knew that a major overhaul of my classroom wasn't quite likely to happen just yet as it was only two years ago that they made some significant changes. So, I tamed my excitement and aimed to focus on small changes that I could make.

When I first moved to my current school, the room that I was in was crowded with two large metal cabinets and had large lab pods, which made it difficult to rearrange the tables. I realized that I really like open classroom spaces where I can adjust to specific tasks. The space felt cumbersome and claustrophobic even though it was quite large and had plenty of light. I used Roomstyler to mock up what this space looked like below.

As I began reading the course reading I was reassured that what I often think about spaces and how they impact the people in them was true. Barrett et al (2013) looked at features that impact student learning and found that naturalness, individualization and level of stimulation had major impacts.

These readings and learning about UX design made me think about really shifting our thinking about spaces and learning. UX aims to "design for a whole user experience", something that can be overlooked about classrooms. Many teachers likely think about their room arrangement but there are often many hurdles to overcome to really create the spaces that we want and know would benefit our students.

My classroom with the immovable pods meant that students were in groups but there was a designated correct place to look for learning in the room, the front. I wanted the room to have more flexibility. The large demonstration desk at the front never really got used as I preferred to model tasks in the middle of the room and have students be more involved. When students are in our classroom space, I want them to enjoy the space and feel that it is a comfortable place where they can get settled in and enjoy their learning. At the heart of my practice, I feel that collaboration and creating knowledge are valuable, and I want my space to encourage that.

I was lucky enough that my school was willing to make alterations to my room. That summer they removed the lab pods from the middle as I had sinks and gas taps around the outer edge of the room for labs. Below is the mock up of my current rooms layout. While this is one example of very forward facing, it is usually arranged in groups or with the tables along the outer benches for labs.

Further changes that I think would improve my space even more to enhance usability and the notion that this is space for collaboration and creation is to have whiteboard fliptables. This would enhance this effect as every place would be a space for students to discuss, make notes, revamp and create. Below is a mock up of the space with those tables in groups and in the lab arrangement.

Lastly, I thought about Barrett's (2013) discussion on level of stimulation. My room is all yellow! Every cabinet and every bulletin board was painted yellow when I arrived. To tone this down covering the bulletin boards with black could ease this colour overload, since there is plenty of natural light it won't be too dark and hopefully bring a more mellow feel to the room allowing students a better overall experience.

My biggest takeaway was that we need to be more cognizant of the entire experience we want learners to have and be thoughtful about what our place of learning is saying.

References

Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Moffat, J., & Kobbacy, K. (2013). A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on on pupils' learning. Building and Environment, 59, 678-689.

User Experience (UX) Design. (n.d.). What is user experience (UX) design?. Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/ux-design

Marchiori, K. S., & McLean, S. (2022). Active Learning Spaces Foster Development of Communication Skills in Senior Undergraduate Science Students. Journal of Learning Spaces, 11(1), 13–26.