Developing New Learning Environments: Co-Constructing Innovation in Education Practice

This chapter proposes a model for the evaluation of the effectiveness of innovative learning environments in supporting the achievement of innovative educational practices. The purpose of such evaluation is to inform improved practice in the future. A review of the literature suggests that the current models of evaluation in this field tend to be situated in the separate domains of architecture or education. The model presented here proposes a framework that enables both architectural and education perspectives to be considered in a developmental process. This supports the practice of co-constructing innovation in education through the most effective implementation of innovative learning environments. The last decade has witnessed a series of investigations into innovative learning spaces in Australia, largely funded through the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) or Australian Research Council (ARC). Lee and Tan highlighted that “evaluations of learning spaces have been limited in depth, rigour and theoretical grounding, and heavily reliant on informal or anecdotal evidence” (2008, p.3). Within their research, Souter et al. (2011) expressed concern that “although there is abundant, significant and expanding literature on teaching, learning and knowledge generation beliefs and practices, and an equally extensive strong body of work exploring physical and technological environments and systems for learning and teaching, published research intersecting both is uncommon and not well understood” (2011, p.5). Each of these studies came to a conclusion similar to Cleveland and Fisher (2013) who suggested that “approaches to evaluations that attempt to assess the effectiveness of physical learning environments in supporting pedagogical change are in their infancy and require further development” (p.24). This chapter proposes an operational model through which to map the complex connections and relationships between building design and education practice. This is intended to further the development of the field of learning environment evaluation by addressing the issue that Souter et al. described as “a polarised body of work, one hand holding the theoretical and pedagogical and the other handling the technological and physical” (2011, p.5). This model has been developed as a means by which to conduct research into effective ways to analyse the connections and relationships between innovation in building design and education practice in a more empirical, rigorous and pragmatic manner