Briony Supple, Laura Lee
Teaching and learning spaces have been identified as integral to innovative pedagogies and to creative, student-centred curriculum design. Space is neither neutral nor innocent (McCarthy, 2015). As Winston Churchill once said during a presentation to the House of Lords: “We shape our buildings and afterwards the buildings shape us” (Churchill, 1943).
In the traditional, hierarchical construct of space, “teaching rooms and media are deliberately designed for one-way delivery” (Biggs, 2003, p. 21). However, conceptualisations of space need to consider its centrality as an overall part of the student learning experience.
While new learning spaces become proving grounds for innovative approaches to research, teaching and learning, opening up a critique of ‘older’ and more traditional spaces also provide a baseline from which critical questions can be asked about teaching approaches. While new learning spaces like active learning classrooms create exciting new teaching and learning opportunities for instructors and students, they also create unique challenges that require investigation. Teaching and learning in these new spaces necessitates that instructors rethink their approach to teaching and that students rethink their approach to learning, hence the need for teaching resources to support such transformation.
This poster will showcase the findings from an international project with partners from Ireland and the UK, which prioritises the transformation of concepts of space, rather than physical spaces themselves. We have captured many images which illustrate our learnings about space from various contexts. Our poster will illustrate how we are thinking about various conceptualisations of both physical and virtual spaces as a catalyst for dynamic and innovative teaching approaches. As part of these research and knowledge exchanges, our overarching points of inquiry are:
How do staff stay connected to the discussion/progress around teaching spaces at other institutions?
What are some examples of flexible learning spaces at other universities in the UK?
How can space help staff and students transcend disciplinary boundaries?
