Preparing the Soil for Autonomous Learners

Preparing the Soil for Autonomous Learners Purpose, Pedagogy, and Architecture of universities for the future 1

Janai Kim Kim Lemar Janai Lemar

PART 1 WHAT’S WRONG?

PART 2 HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER?

INTRODUCTION PURPOSE

Rationalisation Of Education In Capitalist Economies

Irrationalities Of Rationalisation

Graduates For The Future

PEDAGOGY

4 9 11 16 22

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From Teaching To Learning

Cognitive Processes Of Learning

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Phenomenon Based Degrees

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Dissolution Of Discipline Divisions

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Collaborative Problem-Solving

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Curriculum Design

54

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60 ARCHITECTURE

Design Process

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Environmental Psychology & Spatial Qualities

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Architectural Patterns For Activity Based Learning

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CONCLUSION

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INTRODUCTION Universities shape our world- not only are they places of research where knowledge is created, but they are places of learning where future citizens and leaders are molded to go out into the world and make sustainable and ethical choices.

Universities are service providers with responsibilities not only to students; but also to society, employers and the state. There is a social imperative that universities have a positive impact on their students by cultivating autonomous learners and empowering them with the knowledge, values, attitudes, and capabilities to identify and pursue their overall sense of purpose in the world. The prevailing highly rationalised university paradigm does not support this primary purpose of education, nor does it reflect the extensive economic, social, and technological changes that have occurred in the last three decades and will continue to occur at an even faster pace.

“Nobody has a clue what the world will look like in 5 years’ time. We’re educating the shapers of tomorrow through a system predicated on an idea of academic ability in order to meet the needs of industrialisation” Sir Ken Robinson, Creativity Expert, 2006

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This book addresses these concerns by providing a critique of the prevailing university system and offering solutions to improve the learning environments of universities in terms of its pedagogy and architecture.

Firstly, critical issues within the prevailing university education system are outlined. They include, but are not limited to: • focusing on the transfer of information and technical skills from discipline experts to students, rather than facilitating the learners’’ intellectual development • contributing to the belief that education is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself • presenting students with an inaccurate siloed view of the world through the structure of single discipline degrees • rewarding conformity over innovation to satisfy quantifiable metrics Secondly, the transferable abilities and dispositions all learners should develop through their education, independent of what they study, are discussed. The learner needs the abilities of being knowledgeable, critical thinkers, creative thinkers, and effective communicators. The dispositions required comprise of being inquirers, reflective, principled, caring, courageous, and balanced.

These learner outcomes guide the improvements to the pedagogy presented in Part 2a. These improvements have the objective of shifting the focus of education from the teacher to the learner by: • replacing standardised discipline-based degrees with customisable phenomenon based degrees that students control • dissolving discipline based department divisions, and replacing them with Phenomenon Units • structuring all courses as Collaborative Problem-Solving based to provide an authentic learning experience • collaboratively designing the curriculum to ensure the courses are as effective as possible where the teacher acts as a Socratic mentor to guide and facilitate learning, instead of being a provider of information These shifts in pedagogy will drive changes in the architecture of universities to facilitate the corresponding needs of the activities and cognitive processes involved. The last section of this book outlines design patterns for various learning spaces that cater to the functional and cognitive needs of the different stages of the learning process. The patterns’ spatial qualities are informed by environmental psychology. They are intended to inform universities on what they should be including in their briefs to designers, while also providing researched knowledge to guide designers’ decision making.

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PART 1

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WHAT’S WRONG?

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PURPOSE

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“Universities have forgotten to ask: how do we create value in our environment? How can we maximise our usefulness?�

David Jul, Kaospilot Graduate, 2015

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Since the 1970s, growing budget deficits and shrinking revenue sources, has directed much attention to the reduction spending on social services such as healthcare and higher education.1 Since the 1980s, the call for rationalisation of higher education has been intensifying.2 Authority over academic matters has been shifting from the professoriate to business managers from the 1950s. This is detrimental to the quality of university education as these businesses managers are primarily concerned about the economic, rather than educational affairs of institutions3 - an example of Max Weber’s concept of the rationalisation of society.

RATIONALISATION OF EDUCATION IN CAPITALIST ECONOMIES Max Weber’s concept of the rationalisation of society refers to the process by which modern society increasingly bases its decisions on rational, calculated motivators, rather than traditions, values, and emotions.4 Although this serves businesses by maximising profit through the optimisation of productivity, it has now permeated all aspects of society including social services such as healthcare and higher education.5 This is evident in first world economies like the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia where the governments are pressuring universities to produce more and more graduates whose skills address workforce needs, while simultaneously reducing their funding.6 Consequently, there is a trend in universities reducing funding of programmes of critical discourse such as the arts and humanities and increasing their focus on courses of perceived calculated importance such as science, technology, engineering, and business management degrees.7 Sociologist, George Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization of education amplifies Weber’s ideas by using the McDonald’s fast-food chain to explain the four major principles of rationalisation- efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. 8 These principles, their application in the university context, and their effects are shown in the following four tables:

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Efficiency:

employing the best and quickest means of achieving a particular goal by minimising input resources while maximising output Example in university context

Effects

students are customers to attract and retain for the economic benefit of the university

lowering of admission standards and grade inflation for retention of students

information and knowledge are transferred through lectures where one lecturer speaks to many students

limited chance for personal contact with or support from the lecturer

students’ understanding is often assessed at the end of the course through examinations

students are indirectly encouraged to learn by memorising information instead of engaging with knowledge in order to understand, evaluate, analyse, and apply

increasing popularity of universities to deliver information online and through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

MOOCs perpetuate the idea that knowing facts is what education is about

researchers must also teach students

researchers are not necessarily skilled at teaching

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70% of what???

90% 80%

70% 60%

50%

Calculability:

the attempt to measure, calculate, and quantify every aspect of the organisation processes and products Example in university context

Effects

university rankings are calculated using quantitative data

universities focus on maximising quantitative scores rather than enhancing the qualitative learning experience

faculties must compete for funding

focus on increasing the quantity of students rather than discovering innovations that could improve the quality of teaching

students are assessed and given numerical grades and an overall Grade Point Average

knowledge, abilities, and attitudes developed through an academic career is reduced to a number with no personal meaning

students must accumulate a certain number of credits to graduate

students are motivated to achieve extrinsically determined outcome measures9

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Predictability:

production process is organised to guarantee uniformity of product and standardised outcomes Example in university context

Effects

standardised courses with lectures, textbooks, examinations, and grades, that are teacher-proof

the focus is on providing more information rather than teaching the skills and dispositions required to acquire knowledge10 it teaches students that learning is about knowing the right answer11 not concerned with which methods are the best for teaching that courses no scope for teachers to use initiative no allowance for students’ natural development, exploration, or discovery of knowledge not outlined in the means students have one perspective on how to define and solve problems

degrees based on one discipline only

inhibits individuals’ intellectual development in terms of critical and holistic thinking provides a narrow criterion of what defines “success” and assumes all students should be the same

students are marked and graded in accordance with standardised rubrics

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Control: production process is organised to guarantee uniformity of product and

standardised outcomes

Example in university context

Effects

rigid per-defined degree paths that outline all the courses that must be completed to be awarded a university degree

students do not have total control over what courses they can study toward a degree to fulfill their interests and sense of purpose

students evaluate lecturers and tutors

courses become designed to please students, not necessarily for the best outcome and can lead to lowering of standards and grade inflation

centralised timetable where courses must be completed within a set time regardless of scope

inflexibility for how different courses need to be taught and how different students learn

students marked against standardised rubrics

rewards students’ conformity and punishes deviation, innovation, disruption resulting in limiting development of students’ individual potentials

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IRRATIONALITIES OF RATIONALISATION Weber was aware rationalised organisations would be dehumanising as they deny both the workers (teachers) and customers (students) scope for initiative and innovation. Furthermore, Ritzer proposed that over-rationalising a process may have unexpected side effects, called irrationalities. For example, one of the irrationalities of McDonald’s business model is that its output is ultimately unhealthy.

Three significant irrationalities that emerge from rationalisation of university education are discussed below:

Information is Insufficient

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” Socrates, 470-399 BC

Historically, universities had a monopoly on the creation and dispersion of knowledge.12 For the most part, this took the form of an efficient one-way transfer of information from one lecturer to many students. However, this has lost its value with easy and inexpensive access to information through books and the internet.

This is evident with the increasing popularity of universities presenting courses online and through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are often free of charge. However, one of the first major studies on the effectiveness of MOOCs as a delivery tool for education found a median of only 12.6% of those enrolled completed their courses.13 This is because MOOCs are highly rationalised and fail to recognise that authentic learning is a result of interpersonal relationships and real-world experiences that cannot be found online.

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Irrationalities of Rationalisation

Employers are recognising that graduates’ degrees often have little correlation with their work performance; and they lack transferable skills such as problem-solving, effective communication, and the ability to work as a team.14 This is because what is more valuable than the accumulation of information is knowing how to find, analyse, evaluate, apply, create, and integrate disparate knowledge in creative and collaborative ways that add value to the employers and their clients, society, and individuals.

These transferable skills will become more crucial as societies and economies are changing rapidly with globalisation, computerisation and automation. Jobs that exist today will not exist in the future; and jobs and problems of the future do not exist yet and will need more than just the application of accumulated information to define and solve them. Thus, the effective worker will need more than a head full of facts and technical skills in a narrow area of study.

Furthermore, the focus should be on the qualities that will distinguish humans from machines, such as empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is associated with the soft skills of creativity, imagination and emotional intelligence. Research has found that people are becoming less empathetic - less concerned with things outside of themselves, and less able to see others’ perspectives.15 It has been suggested that this pervasive lack of empathy is a result of the rationalised education system that is rooted in the values of an industrial era that focuses on hard skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, at the expense of creativity, imagination and emotional intelligence.16 This is reflected in university funding being cut to the courses that foster these skills such as the arts, literature, and languages, as they are perceived as less important to the economy and society.17 Nevertheless, empathy is an essential quality of life, not just work. It enables people to be considerate citizens, by making ethical decisions that consider the effects they may have on others.

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Learning to Work, not to Live

“Education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living” John Dewy, psychologist, and educational reformer, 1963

A rationalised university education does not fulfill its purpose of educating people, in the Latin roots of the word “education”, “educate” and “educere”, which mean opening people’s minds to new perspectives and lead them forth to a lifetime of learning, not working.

However, within the rationalised principle of predictability, a university education is a private, rather than public good, a necessary means of obtaining a good career with a high income, prospects and a comfortable life, rather than an end in itself.18 This means students are now consumers, not citizens. Unlike citizens, consumers do not have obligations, responsibilities or duties to their fellow citizens. As consumers, individuals will choose degrees based upon their calculable career prospects in terms of income levels and career prospects, rather than their own passions, or their potential for contributing value to society and the state.

This consumerist attitude views education as a product to be purchased by the student, rather than a complex process that requires the learners’ engagement and commitment,19 leading to the pedagogical relationship between student and

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teachers to be regarded as a transaction, that pressures academic programs to provide practical knowledge and skills that can be consumed with little effort from the students.20 The growing efficiency of universities to produce large numbers of graduates has the irrational effect of diminishing the calculable value of their qualifications, resulting in higher graduate unemployment and/or lower salaries. This can be seen in countries such as Australia, the United States and United Kingdom where there is an oversupply of graduates.21 As explained in the section Information is Insufficient, the accumulation of careerspecific information and technical training is no longer sufficient to handle the complex and unpredictable challenges of the 21st century. Moreover, the world’s production and distribution of goods and services are becoming more automated and efficient through robotics and computerisation, and in theory, there will be a decrease in demand for workers engaged in work that does not require the responsiveness and creativity of the human brain.

Therefore, a university education should focus on developing students to be good thinkers for living, rather than good workers for toiling. Despite the promising current trend of encouraging students’ creativity, flexibility, and adaptability, education is still primarily concerned with developing their technical competencies rather than their values, attitudes, and overall sense of purpose.22 Ideally, universities should be for the future not of it - instead of anticipating what knowledge and skills people will need to make a living, universities should focus on providing students with an education that would empower them with knowledge, values, attitudes, and the capabilities to solve any problems. This would give the graduate skills and capabilities to work in different professions instead of being tied to a specific profession should they find their passion in a field different from what they have studied.

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An Inaccurate Siloed View of the World

Education

Life

“We cannot solve our problems with the same “We cannotthinking solve our with same them” thinking we used weproblems used when wethe created whenAlbert we created them” Einstein, 1879-1955 Albert Einstein

For anyone to shape the world, they must first understand it. However, the disciplinary divisions around which the university paradigm is organised do not reflect the world’s complex and interconnected problems. The discrete disciplinary nature of degrees is an example of predictability as it presents students with only one perspective or method to approach problems. The lack of scope for challenge, disagreement or alternatives creates closed minds. This is detrimental to individual students, as well as a society because it: • fails to equip students with the ability and disposition to think independently and reflect critically on the constant flow of information they are bombarded with, therefore making them less likely to resist the allure of simplistic, populist, demagogic rhetoric24 • limits one’s potential because one learns a lot about a narrow specific area, rather than knowing enough about a lot of areas • inhibits one’s intellectual development in terms of critical and holistic thinking • makes people unable to consider problems from multiple perspectives and recognise there could be multiple, complex and interdependent solutions • hinders collaboration with other disciplines, and therefore, hinders the potential for systemic solutions and innovations

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Obstruction of Innovation and Progress

To your Toassess assess your knowledge andskills skills, knowledge and climb tree climb this this tree

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability climbBut a tree, it will live its “Everybody is a to genius. if you judge a fi shwhole by its life ability to believing its stupid” climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing its stupid” Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

Albert Einstein

The conditions of the rationalised university education paradigm are not conducive for the empowerment and flourishing of each and every student. The trend of governments to measure the academic assets of universities degrade education and obstruct innovation.25 This is evident as universities are shifting focus from their first order function of developing innovative high-quality academic programs to a second-order function of documenting, measuring, and accounting for academic activities to comply with the rationalised framework.26 This audit culture motivates institutions and individuals to focus on maximising their calculable scores regardless of consequences, replacing the love of learning and inquiry with the pursuit for prestige or high grades. This overrides intrinsic enthusiasm and eliminates the motivation for risk-taking,27 experimentation, exploration, and acceptance of failure, hindering the long-term progress of learners, academics and society.28 The rationalisation and standardisation of courses with an efficient method of oneway transfer of information from a lecturer to students, which is then evaluated at the end of the course through examinations or assignments, is clearly teachercentric. This is because the method of examining and assessing students to a rubric implies that the aim of education is for everyone’s skills and knowledge to be the same, or at least comparable. This approach is not concerned with individual students’ intellectual development, and students who do not understand the information presented, end up failing, instead being actively supported.

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Rewarding students who conform and punishing those who dare to experiment, innovate or disrupt compels students to behave predictably and to disregard their passions and abilities for seeking and creating knowledge to add value to society.

This creates a system of underlying values, or what some constitute as a culture,29 that can lead students who do not conform to feel unmotivated, dis-empowered and lose the courage to stand by their passions and ideas, something which may be carried on through the rest of their lives and careers. This enforced conformity results in people performing what anthropologist, David Graeber, calls “bullshit jobs”, jobs that the workers themselves believe do not add real value to society.30 This is not only detrimental to society, but also for a workers’ moral and mental well-being.31 Furthermore, with the technological changes and increased access to information on the internet, the teachers’ role has changed. It is no longer about the transfer of knowledge, but education is about supporting students’ intellectual growth and learning to facilitate its use and creation, by valuing risk-taking, creativity, innovation and reducing calculability, competition, and predictability.

GRADUATES FOR THE FUTURE

For the benefit of students, society, the economy, and the state, we need to remember the purpose of a university education. The current university paradigm is to produce workers for the economy, but as examined in earlier sections, this is not the purpose of education, and to continue regardless will be detrimental to students and society.

As the world is facing numerous serious challenges the question is: what should a graduate for the future look like?

A university education needs to produce autonomous learners that have the mindset “I can make this world a better place.”

It should cultivate the learners’ dispositions, clarify their sense of direction, as well as develop their abilities to lead a fulfilling life and pursue careers that have a positive impact on their lives, their employers and clients, society, and the world.

The learning outcomes in terms of abilities and dispositions need to be measured in qualitative rather than quantitative terms. Below is a suggested list of the abilities and dispositions that should be cultivated in every learner as part of their university education, regardless of their degree or area of study.

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SENSE OF PURPOSE

Inquirers

Knowlegable

Reflective Critical Thinkers

Principled ABILITIES

DISPOSITIONS Caring

Creative Thinkers

Courageous

Effective Communicators

Balanced

Pedagogy Physical Environment

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Abilities: talent, skills, or proficiency in a particular area Knowledgeable • think and work with distinct discipline methods • understand, analyse and apply conceptual understandings of information • engage with issues and ideas of local and global significance • have research skills to locate information Critical Thinkers • identify logical connections between ideas of different disciplines, phenomena, culture and society • identify, construct and evaluate arguments • detect inconsistencies in arguments • reflect on the justifications of one’s beliefs, values, ideas and performance • evaluate relevance and importance of ideas • learn from experience and incorporate them into outlooks and decision making Creative Thinkers • generate new ideas and insights to progress • identify alternative explanations for phenomena • identify novel and productive ways to do things • connect seemingly disparate concepts that generate greater insight • systemically solve problems considering multiple disciplinary perspectives Effective Communicators • communicate effectively through all media: written, oral, and visual • adapt communication style based on audience and setting • listen to individuals and groups with respect, and consideration of their perspectives • facilitate effective dialogue • work effectively in teams to achieve a common goal • recognise and sensitively approach cultural differences

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Dispositions: qualities of mind and character Inquirers

Reflective

Principled

Caring

Courageous

Balanced

• have natural curiosity and enthusiasm for learning • integrate education into personal lives recognising learning, thinking, and creating can happen anywhere, anytime, and anyhow • constructively evaluate own thinking, knowledge gaps, skills and behaviours

knowledge,

biases,

• act to make a positive difference in lives of others and the world around us • act with integrity, honesty, and a sense of fairness and justice • use ethical principles and processes as a basis for action on global and local issues • take responsibility for actions and their consequences • challenge unfair, unjust and uncivil activities • recognise and respect cultural differences • be empathetic, compassionate, and respectful to all • approach uncertainty with forethought and determination • try new ways of doing things without the fear of failure • work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and innovative strategies • resourceful and resilient face of change and challenges • understand the importance of balancing intellectual, physical, and emotional aspects of life

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These learning outcomes directly inform the design of university curriculum and pedagogy, as they are benchmarks for student success. This requires universities to evaluate the effect of rationalisation on education and take the following factors into consideration for the future of education to cultivate autonomous learners: • prioritising social impact and the quality of graduates • embracing diversity and provide circumstances for individuals to flourish • facilitating students’ development of an overall sense of purpose, abilities, values, and attitudes • teaching students how to find, analyse, evaluate, apply, create, and combine knowledge in unique, creative, and collaborative ways that add value to society and individuals • giving students the power to consider what kind of society they want to be part of and how to use their abilities to create positive change • encouraging exploration, experimentation, inquiry, discovery, and failure without fear

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REFERENCES 1.

Lähdemäki, Jenna, “From passive listeners to change makers”, Sitra, October 29, 2015.

Available from: https://www.sitra.fi/en/blogs/passive-listeners-change-makers/.

2.

Ritzer, George, The McDonaldization of Society 6, 6th edn (SAGE/Pine Forge, Los Angeles, 2011), 6.

3.

Ibid, 63.

4.

Currie, Jan, “Globalization Practices and the Professoriate in Anglo-Pacific and North American Universities”, Comparative Education Review, 42 no. 1 (1998): pp. 15-29.

5.

Weber, Max, The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, (New York: Scribner, 1958).

6.

Ritzer, Mcdonaldization, 6

7.

Ibid, 63.

8.

Ibid, 15.

9.

Ibid, 79.

10.

Warburton, Nigel, “The examined life”, Aeon, October 6, 2016. Available from: https://aeon. co/essays/can-school-today-teach-anything-more-than-how-to-pass-exams.

11.

Rajani, Naidoo, “Universities in the Marketplace: The Distortion of Teaching and Research”, in Reshaping the University, edited by Ronald Barnett, 27-36, Maindenhead, (London: Open University Press, 2005.)

12.

Warburton, “The examined life.”

13.

Krucken, Georg, Christain Castor, Anna Kosmutzky, Marc Torka, Towards a Multiversity?: Universities between Global Trends and National Traditions, (Bielefeld, Transcript Verlag, 2006), 23.

14.

Jordan, Katy, “Massive online course completion rates revisited: Assessment, Length and attrition”, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16 no.3 (2015), pp. 341-358.

15.

Krook, Joshua, “Why top companies are ditching degree requirements”, ABC News, 2017, Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-18/why-top-companies-are-ditchingdegree-requirements-for-some-jobs/8449236

16.

Parmar, Belinda, “The one crucial skill our education system is missing”, World Economic Forum , 2017. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/onecrucial-skill/.

17.

Ibid.

18.

Ritzer, Mcdonaldization, 9.

19.

Rowland, Stephen, “Intellectual Love and the Link between Teaching and Research”, in Reshaping the University, edited by Ronald Barnett, (Milton Keynes: McGraw Hill, 2005), 95.

20.

Rowland, Stephen, “Intellectual Love and the Link between Teaching and Research”, in Reshaping the University, edited by Ronald Barnett, (Milton Keynes: McGraw Hill, 2005), 95.

21.

Naidoo, “Universities in the Marketplace.”; Li, Ian, Stéphane Mahuteau; Alfred Michael Dockery; PN (Raja) Junankar; Kostas Mavromaras, Labour market outcomes of Australian university graduates from equity groups, National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, (2016).

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References 22.

Atfield, Gaby and Purcell, Kate, The fit between graduate labour market supply and demand: 3rd year UK undergraduate degree final year students’ perceptions of the skills they have to offer and the skills employers seek , HECSU Working Paper 4, (Manchester: HECSU, 2012).

23.

Bregman, Rutger, Utopia for Realists, (London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2017), 75.

24.

Warburton, “The examined life.”

25.

Tagg, Phillip, “Conscientious Objections to Audit”, background document to proposal submitted to the Association of University Teachers (AUT)”, February, 2001. Available from: www.mediamusicstudies.net/tagg/rants/audititis/autpropl.html

26.

Power, Michael, The audit society: rituals of verification, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999),127.

27.

Grundy, Shirley, “Beyond Guaranteed Outcomes: Creating a Discourse for Educational Praxis,” Australian Journal of Education 36, no.2 (1992), pp:157-69.

28.

Rowland, Stephen, “Intellectual Love”, 100.

29.

Schein, Edgar H, Organizational culture and leadership, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010), 19.

30.

Graeber, David, “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs,” Strike! Magazine (August 19, 2013).

31.

Ibid.

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PART 2

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HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER?

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2a. PEDAGOGY

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I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think

Socrates, 470-399 BC Nicolas-Andre Monsiau, The Debate of Socrates and Aspasia, circa. 1800, MussĂŠe Pouhkkine, France

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FROM TEACHING TO LEARNING Pedagogy can be defined as the strategies and activities of educating. To achieve the mission and objectives outlined in Part 1; the university pedagogical paradigm needs to recognise the constructivist nature of learning and shift from being teacher-centered to learner-centered. ‘Learners’ transcends the perception of what it means to be a ‘student’ as:1 Students:

Learners:

typically inexperienced and cease to be students upon graduation

never finish learning and continue to be curious and engaged throughout life

only partake in formal education

absorb, analyse, create, and discuss ideas anywhere, at any time

use materials provided to them by teachers

seek out new materials from a variety of sources

success is evaluated in terms of completing a discrete course of study and their quantitative result in the form of grades

concerned with the long-term benefits of their education and decisions, making them more effective citizens

Constructivism has its roots in classical antiquity with Plato (c. 428–348 BC) and his teacher Socrates (c. 470–399 BC) advocating for the Socratic teaching method that poses questions to encourage learners to reflect deeply on what they know and what they do not know, as becoming aware of one’s ignorance unlocks intellectual space for new knowledge.

The founders of the Constructivist Learning Model, psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952) suggest that learners construct knowledge for themselves through experiences, active exploration, experimentation, discussion, reflection and reconciling the new information with the knowledge they already possess.2 This is achieved by the process of assimilation and accommodation Assimilation requires learners to incorporate new information or experiences into existing ones, allowing them to develop new outlooks, rethink misunderstandings, evaluate what is important, and ultimately alter their perspectives.4 Accommodation is the alteration of a learner’s existing ideas or perceptions in response to new information and experiences.5

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Prevailing Teacher-Centred6

Constructivist Learner-Centred7

knowledge is seen as inert and exists “out there”

knowledge is constructed within one’s mind by the process of assimilating and accommodating experiences

learning is a passive process based on students’ ability to read, listen to, store, and recall information

learning is an active process where learners must do something and engage with the world to create meaning

focus on learning and repeating information and facts when required

focus on the progress or development of learners’ thinking

teachers’ role is directive, usually rooted in authority and they disseminate information to students on a one to many basis

tutors’ role is interactive and they facilitate learners to construct their own knowledge in relation to what they already know

students must follow the standardised, usually inflexible curriculum

curriculum is dynamic and new learning experiences are created

assessment is through quantitative testing for correct answers or conformity to information taught earlier

assessment is qualitative and evaluates the learning process as well as the product

learning is done predominantly alone and in private without the distraction of interactions with others; collaboration is not encouraged

learning is done predominantly in groups and associated with interactions with other human beings both inside and outside of the classroom

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Although the Constructive Learning Model has its roots in philosophy, it is supported by cognitive psychology research and is widely accepted by educators and benefits the learners by:8 • making learning enjoyable • focusing on learning how to think and understand cultivating learners to be autonomous • facilitating learning that enhances learners’ autonomous curiosity and the development of Higher Order Thinking Skills • developing skills that are transferable to other learning settings within and outside of formal education • giving learners autonomy over what they learn, which engages and motivates a wider range of learners while also allowing for and celebrating, their diversity of interests and skills.

• promoting a higher level of communication, collaboration, and cooperation skills Consequently, learners are more likely to retain and transfer the knowledge learned to real-life situations.

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COGNITIVE PROCESSES OF LEARNING Building upon Dewey’s and Piaget’s Constructivist Learning Model, Kolb developed an experiential learning cycle which identified four stages of learning shown below:9 CONCRETE EXPERIENCE

Having an experience

ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION

Test conclusions through action

KOLB EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CYCLE

REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION Reflecting on the experience

ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION Make sense of experience

However, it was observed that the four stages simplified some key processes that are associated with the design thinking process: EMPATHIZE

Develop a deep understanding of the challenge

DEFINE

TEST

Engage ideas with users to gain user feedback

DESIGN THINKING PROCESS

PROTOTYPE

Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve

IDEATE

Build reacl representations for a range of ideas

Brainstorm potential solutions Select and develop your solutions

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Cognitive Processes of Learning

Therefore, Kolb’s experiential learning cycle was synthesised with the design thinking to identify a comprehensive understanding of the cognitive processes of learning: EXPERIENCE Problem Experiencing

CREATE

UNDERSTAND

Solution Creating

Cause Identifying

COGNITIVE PROCESS OF LEARNING IDEATE

PROCESS

Solution Identifying

Cause Selecting

INCUBATE

Experience engaging directly in an authentic situation or reinterpreting past ones Understand reflecting on experiences from many perspectives to make sense of them by assimilating them with past experiences and conceptual understandings Process

analyse and breaking down perceptions to identify ideas, patterns, trends, and assumptions to develop abstract concepts

Incubate

disconnecting from the subject matter to allow the unconscious mind to make new connections and responses

Ideate

exploring opportunities to use the abstract concepts to create meaning grounded in real-world experiences

Create

applying new knowledge gained to the real world to assess its validity and impact. Dewey states that this is the most important part of learning as it connects the theoretical world of reflections and thoughts to the real world10

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“No one should be interested in designing bridges, they should be concerned with how to get to the other side�

Cedric Price, 1934-2003

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PHENOMENON BASED DEGREES How it is

Under the current paradigm, students are required to enrol in specific degrees from certain disciplines within which they select most of their courses from within the discipline. Although related, most of the courses are taught, consumed and reproduced as a series of unconnected information. Access to courses in other disciplines is often limited to a few of electives. This is successful in producing students who are experts in a certain way of thinking. This is intrinsically ineffective as it is removed from reality and produces citizens that are only equipped with a single perspective in which to view the world that is fundamentally complex with interdependent phenomena.

This approach is analogous to the Indian parable of a group of blind men encountering an elephant for the first time. They conceptualise what it is by touching it, but each man only touches one different part of the body. Despite having only a partial experience of the elephant, they fall into the human tendency to project their experienced partial truth as the whole truth and are unable to consider others’ partial experiences as being equally valid.10 Rope!

Fan!

Wall!

Tree!

Spear!

Snake!

Adapted from https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9qsee9XcAQDTxB.jpg

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CREATE

Solution Creating

==

++

++

CREATE

Solution Creating

Discipline Based Degree

==

++

++

Phenomenon Based Degree

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As suggested in sub-section An Inaccurate Siloed View of the World, such an approach has a detrimental impact on society as most societal problems are approached and solved in isolation without consideration of the wider society. This prevents significant problems from being considered and solved from multiple perspectives to create systemic change.

What it could be

This atomised nature of standardised degrees is contrary to the constructivist pedagogy within which learning is the making of meaning, constructed by connecting new knowledge and experience to ones which an individual already has.

Therefore, learners should base their degree structure on a real-world phenomenon that aligns with their interest, passion, and sense of purpose, having the freedom to choose any course that contributes to their understanding of it. This would result in most degrees being interdisciplinary preparing learners to autonomously approach phenomena holistically, considering them from alternative or multiple perspectives when and where appropriate.

This approach cultivates deep learning because learners are: • internally motivated to learn and acquire knowledge • able to see the utility value in the theory and skills learned as they are directly applied to a situation, which creates meaning • using real-world methods of research that require the same cognitive processes needed in real-life situations where that information or skill is needed • developing critical thinking skills to be able to reflect on what is already known and what is unknown For learners to be able to consider, and collaborate on a phenomenon holistically, they must first be aware that there are other perspectives. It is proposed that all first-year undergraduate learners must take one course from each discipline. This ensures that they become familiar with the intellectual tools each discipline has developed, and enable them to appreciate how these tools can be synthesised to address complex problems.

From second-year, learners would be free to choose a phenomenon on which to structure their degree. In the final semester of their degree, they would work on a project that applies the knowledge acquired throughout their university experience to produce something to demonstrate their conceptual understanding of the topic. Hence a learner’s education would be a holistic endeavour, rather than an accumulation of atomised parts. This model still allows learners to choose to become discipline experts or complete courses needed to qualify for specific professions such as, engineering and architecture.

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Precedents

Quest University, Squamish, Canada At Quest University, learners must complete a two-year multi-disciplinary Foundation Program, shown in the diagram below, which is designed to expose them to intellectual tools necessary to be an engaged citizen. In their third and fourth years, they create a question that directs the concentration of their program which is summarised in a capstone presentation in their final semester.

In a 2010 National Survey of Student Engagement, Quest University was ranked the top Canadian university in terms of academic challenge, student-faculty interaction, supportive campus environment, active and collaborative learning, and enriching the educational experience. It also found that Quest students were more satisfied with their educational experiences than students from any of the other Canadian universities.11

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Precedents

Hampshire College, Massachusetts, United States of America At Hampshire College, first-year learners must familiarise themselves with a range of different disciplines and their approaches to problem-solving. The second and third years are spent enquiring into their own interests. This appraoch helps determine their fourth year self-directed project which aims to create change in their chosen area of interest. Degrees in Hampshire College are completed in 3 stages call Divisions. The diagram below is the road map how subjects and electives, and learning approaches are used:

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DISSOLUTION OF DISCIPLINE DIVISIONS How it is

Structured departments are a result of the development of research universities following the 19th-century Humboldtian university model that emphasises research. Prior to this, universities were devoted to preparing professionals for the fields of law, medicine, and theology.13 Departments are perceived as efficient and rational, as they group together people who know a lot about a specific field of study. However, it has been observed that this results in academics’ no longer being required to keep their minds open to other perspectives or new experiences unrelated to their interest or field of study.14 This eliminates the motivation for interaction or collaboration with other disciplines to design curricula or conduct joint research.15 Each department follows its own discrete agendas and independently controls the recruitment of faculty and the development of teaching and researching programmes.16 This tribal mentality is further exacerbated by resources and funding being allocated by discipline, which encourages departments to be insular, defensive, competitive and self-governing.17 Departments not only have a detrimental effect on the long-term knowledge creation and its potential societal impact but, also on learners’ intellectual development and problem-solving approach. This type of curriculum presents learners with an inaccurate view of the world and its problems, as it only shows one approach to analysis and problem solving as if it is disconnected to other disciplines when in reality problems are usually complex and interconnected.

Furthermore, within a discipline’s course the teacher’s responsibility is to cover material specified in the syllabus. If learners cannot think critically or communicate effectively, it would posit that new courses about critical thinking and communication need to be developed. This will require a home discipline.

To support phenomenon based degrees and a holistic approach to education, the traditional organisation of courses and academic staff into discrete discipline based departments must be dissolved.

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Dissolution of Discipline Based Departments How it could be

Since learners will determine their education based upon a phenomenon that interests them, it is appropriate for the academic staff to be organised into units according to the academic problems they are teaching or researching. For example, a Phenomenon Unit based on teaching and researching the built environment in cities could include staff from the traditional disciplines of architecture, sociology, psychology, economics, engineering, and politics. Over time this can lead to staff from one discipline moving into different Phenomenon Units depending their specific research or tutoring topic.

This would dissolve the tribal mentality and would encourage productive interdisciplinary collaboration that would lead to holistic curriculum design and research outcomes.

Interdisciplinary Phenomenon Units

Discipline Based Departments

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Precedents

Quest University, Squamish, Canada At Quest University, there are no departments, all staff occupy the same building and are assigned offices through a ‘lottery’ drawn in the beginning of an academic year. The intention is to generate unexpected collaborations. This has led to a mathematics professor sitting next to a music professor who collaborated to deliver a course on the mathematics of music.18 Hampshire College, Massachusetts, United States of America19 Hampshire College was involved in the promotion of interdisciplinary education, based on the idea that questions and issues are best examined from multiple perspectives Instead of traditional, single-discipline departments, Hampshire’s curriculum is organised into five interdisciplinary schools of thought:

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Unit

Phenomenon

Disciplines

Cognitive Science

How the mind and brain work and behave

Psychology Cognitive neuroscience Philosophy Linguistics Animal behaviour Education

Societal Studies

Social and cultural formations and their implications for peoples’ lives

Anthropology Economics Business History Sociology Psychology Politics

Humanities and Culture

How creative arts have affected culture and society

Art history Media Literature Architecture Engineering Religion History Sociology Psychology

Creative Arts

Creative and imaginative pursuits

Theatre Music Visual art Creative writing Design

Natural Science

Understanding of how the world and universe works

Biology Chemistry Physics Mathematics Health Sciences Medicine

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Tell me and I’ll forget.

Show me and I’ll remember.

Involve me and I’ll understand

Confucius, 551 BC- 479 BC Getty Images

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COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING How it is

The way courses are designed and delivered must also be constructivist in approach.

Current university courses are predominately teacher-led, where the curriculum is structured around transferring the course content, rather than facilitating learners’ cognitive development. This is evident as teachers are present to transfer the information, but are not readily available when the learners need to understand, analyse and evaluate that information when they are working on assessments.

Inflexible, rubric marked assessments typically measure learners’ understanding, application, and analysis of information, but provide limited opportunity for developing the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) of evaluation, synthesise, and creation of own knowledge.

HOTS are imperative for autonomous lifelong learning as they are not concerned with the accumulation and recall of facts, but knowing how to use facts in constructive and creative ways. HOTS requires meta-cognition, which leads to continuous contemplation of thoughts and processes to ensure the information is truly understood. Bloom’s modified Taxonomy of Educational Objectives identifies HOTS as being able to apply, analyse, synthesise, and evaluate concepts, processes, procedures, and principles.20 High Order

Create

Produce new or orginal work: design, assemble, construct, develop, formulate, author, investigate

Evaluate

Justify a stand or decision: appraise, argue, defend, judge, select support, value, critique, weigh

Analyse

Draw connections among ideas: differieniate, organise, compare, contrast, distinguise, examine, experiment, question, test

Apply

Use information in new situation: execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch

Understand

Explain ideas or concepts: classify, describe, discuss, identify, explain, locate, recognise, report, select, translate

Remember

Recall facts & basic concepts: define, duplicate, list, memorise, repeat, state

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Low Order

Typically, didactic curricula are structured around a disciplinary approved and inflexible syllabus, with learners’ learning being assessed through examinations.

This rigidity does not allow teachers and learners to use their initiative, or nurture learners’ curiosity through exploration, experimentation, or failure. This is an indication that the aim of education is for learners to conform and be at a similar level to produce similar outcomes during and on completion of their education.

This is dehumanising and does not value diversity, curiosity, or autonomous critical thinking. In terms of learning outcomes, the information presented is rarely retained as the didactic experience is not authentic and the information delivered is not seen to be useful because it is removed from its context and the learners’ everyday functioning or experience.

How it could be

The constructivist approach acknowledges that there are many ways of constructing meaning to form knowledge and imparting skills of how to learn is more important than the information being presented. Therefore, courses should be designed to be student driven with an emphasis on the learning process and the learners’ ability to explain, synthesise the knowledge of others, justify and revise their understandings, and then apply their own integrated knowledge to solve problems.

Research suggests that these learning objectives are most effectively developed through Collaborative Problem-Solving curricula.21 Collaborative Problem-Solving involves working with others who have shared goals to understand and resolve problem situations where the solution or method is not immediately obvious.22 This will involve teachers, or the learners themselves, formulating a topic related, open-ended, real-world challenge to be investigated. In this paradigm, the teachers act as guides or coaches to individually help learners define the problem, identify what they already know, what they need to find out and how they should proceed, using the research approaches and techniques of an appropriate discipline or from multiple disciplines.

This positions learners as the drivers of their learning and empowers them to actively engage in critical thinking and problem solving. It has been observed that this produces deep, authentic learning that leads to more sophisticated levels of intellectual development, not only in regards to the retention of course related content, but also, the development of HOTS.23 Furthermore, it empowers all learners and celebrates their diversity by acknowledging that knowledge is created through the transformation of experiences, and each learners’ experience is different. Therefore, learners will not be assessed by quantitative, standardised rubrics that encourage conformity, but will be given personalised, qualitative feedback about their learning progress.

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Characteristics of learning through Collaborative Problem-Solving:24 • learn through a process of inquiry • work in collaboration with peers towards a common goal • apply principles and practices of academic or professional inquiry, scholarship or research • engage with open-ended real world questions and problems • explore a knowledge-based actively, critically and creatively • actively participate in building new meaning and knowledge • develop process knowledge and skills in inquiry methods, as well as information literacy, reflection and group work Benefits of Collaborative Problem-Solving:25 • more motivated learners26 • encourages autonomous self-direction • encourages exploration and experimentation • allows for failure • develop a deeper understanding of content matter being learned • helps develop HOTS • better retention of information • emphasis on the intrinsic rather than extrinsic value of knowledge • helps learners become better learners and prepare them for lifelong learning • empowers learners • develops interpersonal and team skills • gives learners opportunity to teach and learn from each other • validates knowledge and experiences of all learners

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INCUBATE TEACHING CENTRE TECH.

CURRICULUM DESIGN

Didactic courses are designed and delivered by a subject matter expert who is not responsible for the learners’ cognitiveLIBRARY development.INSTRUCTORS However, a Collaborative STUDENTS Problem-Solving Learning curriculum requires careful design of teaching styles, tasks, and assessments to support self-directed collaborative, and individual autonomous inquiry. The curricula should be designed and supported collaboratively STUDENT by all relevant stakeholders including- teachers, pedagogy experts, IT specialists, SERVICES assessment professionals, administration staff, librarians, and student services- to produce a learning environment that best supports learning and student success.27 This maximises access to a wide range of resources, supports the use of various technologies for learning and teaching, and provides opportunities for creative synergy and collaborate problem-solving.28

INCUBATE INSTRUCTIONAL & ASSESSMENT DESIGN

TEACHING CENTRE

everyone

TECH.

CLASS ROOM INSTRUCTORS

ONLINE LEARNING everyone

Tutors & Librarians

LIBRARY

INSTRUCTORS

COURSE

STUDENTS

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

STUDENT SERVICES

TECHNOLOGY everyone

Tutors and Librarians

ONE ON ONE SUPPORT

Library & Student Services

Collaborative Curriculum Design

Instructor Centred Curriculum Design

Adapted from: Iannuzzi, “Changing learning, changing roles”

INSTRUCTIONAL & ASSESSMENT DESIGN everyone

CLASS ROOM INSTRUCTORS

ONLINE LEARNING everyone

Tutors & Librarians

COURSE CONTENT MANAGEMENT

TECHNOLOGY everyone

Tutors and Librarians

ONE ON ONE SUPPORT

Library & Student Services

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Tutors

The success of collaborative problem solving is highly dependent on the teaching style or tutors. On the one hand, tutors should not be overly directive and undermine the learners’ independence, but on the other hand it also cannot be assumed that self-directed learning will just ‘happen’. Tutors will act as a ‘Socratic mentor’, facilitating, guiding and stimulating learners’ to think for themselves and improve their thinking process through dialogue, not monologue. Tutors should:29 • introduce or collaborate with learners to determine a phenomenon or problem to be investigated • ask open-ended questions to encourage learners to reflect on their experiences and ideas, and those of others • engage in discussions but only to challenge and present alternative perspectives • monitor and mediate group interactions • carefully consider what when, how, and how much information they should provide30

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Tasks

The focus on the tasks should be in the process, as well as the product. They should stimulate and provide a framework for inquiry, reflection, and discussion through the sequencing of tasks and activities that lead to a discovery process. Tasks should be designed to respond to complex, real-world phenomenon, or problems and require learners to:31 • retrieve and apply existing knowledge about the context and problemsolving process • independently gather and process information • establish an understanding of the problem and independently determine the most appropriate plan of action to solve the problem Effective collaboration can be encouraged if tasks are designed so they are not able to be completed by a single group member, but all members must synchronise their efforts for a common goal; and support the development of interpersonal and group skills, as it cannot be assumed that all learners possess them.32

Assessment

Accordingly, learners should be qualitatively, rather than quantitatively assessed, and focus should be on the process, as well as the product of their learning. This is imperative as research has found that learners engage most with what they think they will be assessed on.

Qualitative assessment could be similar to report cards issued to primary school children that qualitatively outline their strengths and weaknesses, without the need of a grade that can be compared with their peers.

56

57

References 22.

“Student Vs. Learner”, Enable Education, accessed 3 November 2017 http:// enableeducation.com/student-vs-learner/

23.

Dewey, John, Experience and education, 1st ed (New York: Kappa Delta Pi, 1938).; Piaget, Jean, The construction of reality in the child, International library of psychology.

24.

Vol. 20: Developmental psychology, (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 1999), Originally Published: 1954.

25.

Kolb, David, “Learning Styles and Learning Spaces: Enhancing Experiential Learning in Higher Education,” Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4 no. 2 (1984), pp.193212.

26.

Ibid.

27.

Barr, Robert B, and John Tagg, “From Teaching to Learning--a New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education,” Change, 27, no.6, (1995). pp. 12-25.

28.

Ibid.

29.

Yager, Robert E, “The constructivist learning model,” The Science Teacher 58 no. 6 (1991), pp. 52-56.

30.

It must be acknowledged that the amount of time needed for each process can differ between subject matter and individuals.

31.

Goldstein, Bruce, Encyclopedia of perception, (SAGE: Los Angeles, 2010), 492.

32.

Steffenhagen, Janet, “Squamish’s Quest University looks forward to first convocation”, Vancouver Sun, 18 February 2011.

33.

Altbach, Philip G, “The Past, Present, and Future of the Research University,” In The Road to Academic Excellence, World Bank Group, (2011) pp: 11-32.

34.

Ibid.

35.

Ibid.

36.

Repko, Allen F, Interdisciplinary research: process and theory, 2nd edn, (SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks: 2012), 6.

37.

Ibid, 261.

38.

Helfand, David, “Designing a university for the new millennium”, TEDxWestVancourver Talk, 19.15, posted on YouTube June 8 2013. Available from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DZQe73IXZtU

39.

“Interdisciplinary School”, Hampshire College, accessed 16 August 2017, https://www. hampshire.edu/academics/interdisciplinary-schools

40.

Anderson, Lorin W, David Krathwohl, Benjamin Bloom, A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, Abridged edition (Longman: New York, 2001).

41.

Luckin, Rose, Ed Baines, Mutlu Cukurova, and Wayne Holmes, “Solved! Making the case for collaborative problem-solving,” (London; Nesta, 2017).

42.

Prince, Michael & Felder, Ricard, ‘The Many Faces of Inductive Teaching and Learning’, Journal of College Science Teaching, vol. 36, no. 5 (2007), pp. 14-20; Luckin et al., “Solved”, 11-12; Mattila, Pasi, and Pasi Silander, “How to create the school of the future”, University of Oulu, Center for Internet Excellence, (Multprint: Oulu, 2015).

43.

Savery, John R, and Thomas Duffy, “Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework,” Educational technology 35, vol. 5 (1995) pp:31-38.

58

References 23.

Healey, Mick and Alan Jenkins, Developing Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, (New York: Higher Education Academy, 2009).

24.

Biggs, John B, Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does, (London: McGraw-Hill Education, 2011).

25.

Brew, Angela, & David Boud, “Teaching and research: Establishing the vital link with learning.” Higher Education, 29 no. 3, (1995), pp:261-273; Johnson, David W, Roger T Johnson, Cary Roseth, Tae Seob Shin, “The relationship between motivation and achievement in interdependent situations,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44, vol.9 (2014), pp.622-633.

26.

Galton, Maurice and John Williamson, ‘Group work in the primary classroom,’ (London: Routledge, 1992), 113.

27.

Iannuzzi, Patricia, “Changing learning, changing roles: Collaboration at every angle”, Presentation for University Libraries, (2007).

28.

Harada, Violet H and Joan M Yoshina, Inquiry Learning Through Librarian Teacher Partnerships, (Worthington: Linworth, 2004).

29.

Luckin et al., “Solved”, 33.

30.

Ibid. 35

31.

Ibid., 34.

32.

Biggs, John, and Catherine Tang, Teaching for Quality Learning, (London: McGraw-Hill Education, 2011), 17.

59

60

2b. ARCHITECTURE

61

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us

Winston Churchill, 1874-1965 Flickr

62

In an era of hyper-mobility enabled by technology, it remains essential to ensure a critical mass of learners, researchers, and professionals have the potential to meet serendipitously, collaborate, and innovate by making the physical environment of the university a places people want to be.

A university’s physical environment reflects its philosophy, pedagogy, and culture.

It influences the mental and emotional state of the people within it and shapes their attitudes and behaviours.1 According to the Constructivist Learning Theory outlined in Shifting from Teaching to Learning, learning is a transaction between the teacher, the learner, and their environment.2 The physical, social and digital environments are important educators themselves, shaping the attitudes and values of the teachers, learners, and all other users.

Shifting the pedagogical paradigm will influence the university’s physical environment as: • Collaborative-Problem solving involves a variety of activities that will require a variety of spaces • changing the role of the teacher from a giver of knowledge to a mentor will reduce the need for lecture theatres but increase the importance of tutorial rooms • focusing on collaboration rather than individualism will require spaces that facilitate group gatherings of different capacity and for different activities • facilitating serendipitous interactions will transform circulation and amenities from leftover service spaces to potential social spaces The Activity Based Learning design patterns in this section describe general learning spaces and do not consider specialised spaces such as science laboratories and technical workshops.

The patterns are underpinned by environmental psychology research and outline the relationships between the details of specific spatial elements and the cognitive processes of learning and their corresponding activities. These patterns are intended to inform and guide universities and designers about what they should include in their briefs. The presented examples of these patterns are not intended to be copied and pasted but should be considered as one possible iteration of the ideas presented. These patterns are prototypes that can be further modified, reapplied, and built upon to suit specific contexts.

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DESIGN PROCESS The intellectual development of learners and the innovation of tutors and researchers is predominately dependent on their behaviours. Behaviour is reinforced by a university’s pedagogical and organisational culture and supported by the physical environment, which in turn reinforces the culture.3

BEHAVIOUR

Reinforces

Supports

Reinforces

SPACE

CULTURE

The physical environment should be approached as a behaviour setting.4 This requires researching, understanding and evaluating the behaviour and cognitive processes involved in learning and innovating.

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Activity Based Learning

Activity-Based Learning is inspired by Veldhoen’s5 concept of Activity-Based Working (ABW) which takes advantage of the advances in wireless computer and communication technologies. ABW allows people to be simultaneously highly mobile, contactable and connected; with the freedom to choose when, how, and where they work from a variety of dedicated facilities for different activities.

The underlying principle of ABW of providing a variety of spaces to choose from depending on people’s tasks and moods can be applied to the learning environment.

This is because learning encompasses several cognitive processes which can be undertaken individually or collaboratively. It is impossible that a single setting could provide the variety of spatial qualities required to adequately facilitate all the behaviours involved in the processes. Therefore, the physical environment of a university must provide a variety of spaces that support each of the cognitive processes and activities of learning. Design Process The cognitive processes of learning described in Part 2a. require learners to experience, understand, process incubate, synthesise, and evaluate as part of the learning and problem-solving approach. These processes require either divergent or convergent thinking, and can be undertaken individually or collaboratively: Divergent:

Convergent:

exploring multiple possibilities and ideas from a single trigger

involves using logic and reason as part of the decision making process

use imagination

use reason

be open minded

be logical

brainstorm ideas

make decisions

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Divergent

INCUBATE

EXPERIENCE

UNDERSTAND

IDEATE

Individual

Collaborative

PROCESS

CREATE

Convergent

These processes and modes of thinking can be broken down to identify their corresponding activities: Divergent

Brainstorm Watch Contemplate Presentation

Watch People

Gather Information

Chat

Discuss Experiences & Ideas

Reveal & Display Info & Ideas

Individual

Collaborative Prototype

Make

Interpret & Evaluate info

Present Ideas & Creations

Prepare Creations

Convergent

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From this information, it is possible to determine the types of spaces needed to accommodate each activity. These spaces include: Circulations, Social Plazas & Amenities, Forums, Tutorial Rooms, Hives, Workshops, Coves, Team Rooms, Nooks, Havens:

Activities Reveal & Display Info & Ideas

Brainstorm Gather Information Discuss Experiences & Ideas

Interpret & Evaluate Info Contemplate

Prepare Creations

Chat

Prototype & Make Creations

Watch People

Present Ideas & Creations

Watch Presentations

Social Plaza

Haven

Circulation

Nooks

Team Room

Amenities

Library

Cove

Forum

Workshop

Tutorial

Spaces

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Hive

User Satisfaction and Well-being

PSYCHOLOGICAL Positive effect on users’ mental state

FUNCTIONAL

Supports users’ to perform activities better

PHYSICAL

Is safe, accessible, and hygienic

DISCOMFORT

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Comfort- Physical, Function, and Pscyhological6 How a person feels about a space is the accumulated sensations of its physical comfort, functional comfort, and psychological comfort. Design of spaces should be informed by the features that would increase each type of comfort.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: the feeling of belonging, ownership, and control over a workplace which is affected by • physical and visual connection to nature - decreases blood pressure, stress, fatigue, and headaches • the perception of privacy and security • users’ autonomy over where and how they work • characteristics of individual workspaces - territory, personalisation, ownership, control • participation in design decisions • the sense of connectedness with others - physically, visually, socially, cognitively - which is an intrinsic human desire • social cohesion- a sense of trust and cooperation between members of a community of people with similar interests and values • the impression of equity- equality of opportunity and transparency FUNCTIONAL: the degree to which the environment supports the users’ activities by the provision of appropriate • technology and tools • ergonomic furniture that caters for a range of postures and uses • adequate and secure storage for personal and group belongings • spaces that facilitate interaction, collaboration, Collaborative Problem-Solving activities, individual contemplation, and relaxation PHYSICAL: the basic human need for safety, hygiene, and accessibility, which can be achieved by complying with building codes and standards • noise - balance between comforting and distracting • lighting qualities - brightness, contrast, and luminance • natural light - access to sunlight regulates the production of melatonin which in turn regulates sleep patterns and digestion, and serotonin which reduces depression • ventilation - airspeed and freshness • thermal comfort- temperature and humidity

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The Importance of Psychological Comfort Psychological comfort is important in enabling people to experience positive emotions towards the spaces they occupy.7 Cognitive psychologists have found that the resulting positive emotions enhances inhabitants’ openness, effective collaboration, inquisitiveness, and resilience.8 Conversely, it was also found that any noticeable discomfort may: • deter the use of the space9 • adverse health effects: stress, sore eyes, fatigue, respiratory issues, illness • increased absenteeism • lessened study and job satisfaction • reduced commitment to education or employment • diminished attraction and retainment of learners and staff • poorer performance and productivity, increased number of errors • reduced creativity and slower production time • diminished teamwork, cooperative, and altruistic behaviours10 • cause users to waste time and energy coping with an adverse environment, for example by using headphones which divert energy and attention that could be used on more productive thoughts11 For users to be psychologically comfortable it is imperative that they perceive a sense of control over their environment. This can be in the form of total control over a single space, or the freedom to choose from a variety of spaces with specific spatial qualities designed for different activities and moods.12 The perceived lack of privacy and territory can also result in spaces not being used to their full capacity due to people’s ingrained tendency to avoid encroaching on another’s territory by leaving excessive, wasted space between them and their neighbour.13 This can be observed in waiting rooms where, if there is a couch, and if the first stranger sits on one end, a second stranger will sit on the other end, and a third stranger will not normally sit in-between them.14 Considering this, social spaces should be arranged to ensure that they cannot be dominated by an individual or single group. This can be achieved by providing a range of seating options so different sized groups and individuals are able to share the space comfortably.15 When learners who are unknown to each other are expected to share desks or benches there should be appropriate provisions for privacy and territory, such as partitions. Although this may seem counter-intuitive to the intention for people to interact and collaborate, behavioural science research has found that trying to force interaction actually has the opposite effect.16

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Herman Miller

alarmy stock images

71

Herman Miller

Wall St Journal

Failure of Open Plan Offices and Hot Desking Over the last century trends in office design has morphed from private rooms, to Robert Propst’s action office, to the soulless cubicle, to open plans, and to hotdesking.

Workplace surveys have found that open-plan offices and hot-desking can cause psychological discomfort and are detrimental to job satisfaction and productivity.17 Open-plan offices that ‘force’ interaction have been found to be visually and auditorily distracting, resulting in users feeling a lack of control and resentment towards their fellow colleagues, thus discouraging constructive interaction, and endangering the social cohesiveness of the office team.18 This is an irrationality of trying to force collaboration through office design.

Hot desking does not provide employees with their own permanent base, but their belongings are stored in lockers at the end of each working day, consequently depriving them of the basic human desire to have a sense of territory and ownership in the form of a permanent personal workstation.19

alarmy stock images

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Spacestor

ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY & SPATIAL QUALITIES The design of learning spaces should be informed by environmental psychology research that has established a relationship between the modes of thinking and the activities involved in the learning process: Views of Nature Exterior Nature:20

Indoor Plants:21

Views of nature have been found to increase workers’ positivity and productivity, and improve their physical health. Therefore, views to nature should be maximised and supplemented by indoor plants.

Research has found that the presence of living indoor plants: • reduces stress • makes people more effective at their tasks • boosts people’s moods • stimulates creativity • enhance concentration • removes pollutants from the air It was determined that the most effective density of potted plants was 10 per 12-meter square of office space. Furthermore, plants with rounded leaves have the most effective influence on comfort and creativity, while plants with sharp and narrow edges are not as valuable.

ROOM SHAPE22

Curved forms create a relaxed ambiance resulting in inhabitants feeling more relaxed and comfortable, making them more likely to learn and express their ideas and ask questions during discussions or brainstorming.

Rectilinear forms generate an impression of action and efficiency.

Subconsciously, people generally prefer curved forms to angular ones and prefer square over rectangular rooms.

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CEILING HEIGHT2

High ceilings exceeding 3 metres are appropriate for divergent thinking as they encourage occupants to think freely, abstractly, and creatively.

Low ceilings facilitate convergent thinking as they encourage occupants to focus on specific details.

LIGHTING QUALITIES Brightness of Light25 Lighting levels affect what people focus on, if a space is brightly lit (1500 lux) inhabitants will focus on the physical space around them.

Colour of Light26

A dimly lit space (150 lux) is relaxing and encourages people to focus on their thoughts and be more creative, focused and efficient in their cognitive processes. Thus, a dimly lit room is best for divergent thinking, while task lighting in a dimly lit room is best optimal convergent thinking as the task lighting mentally focuses learners on the lit material.

Although the colour of light is rarely perceived, it can dramatically influence how people psychologically feel, consequently influencing their behaviour.

Green Efficient Living

Warm Light (3 250 K) take more risks

Cool Light (7 000 K) do not recall new information easily

solve problems more effectively experience more stress more likely to resolve disputes with others

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Natural Light27

Natural daylight helps to regulate circadian rhythms, enhancing mental and physical comfort. It has also been found that this increases office workers’ performance and job satisfaction. Thus, the access the natural daylight should be maximised, but its brightness and glare must be carefully controlled.

VERTICAL SURFACES24 Vertical surfaces should act as white-boards, projection screens, and pin-up boards to allow learners to visually organise information and ideas. .

TEXTURES28

FURNITURE

Matte surfaces are relaxing while shiny surfaces and variations in textures are energises the body. Therefore, textural variations should be limited in spaces for convergent thinking, and carefully considered in spaces for divergent thinking. This includes the textures of walls, floors, and furnishings.

Furniture choices must be ergonomic and appropriate for their required activity. Modular and highly mobile furniture provides flexibility and control, enhancing divergent thinking while static furniture encourages high concentration and convergent thinking.

For collaborative activities, round tables are most appropriate as they allow everyone to view each other easily, and prevent smaller factions from forming.

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COLOURS29

Colours affect one’s energy levels. People learn best if they are moderately energised so they are calm enough to concentrate, but energised enough to still be awake. This means colours of walls in learning spaces should be in the midrange of saturation and brightness.

Cool colours that are bright but moderately saturated, create relaxing and pleasant spaces, while warm colours which are more saturated and less bright are energising but less pleasant.

Cool Colours Green: Blue:

provides a restorative experience, boosting a student’s mental capacity, enhancing efficiency and focus. calms the mind and enhances concentration, logic, communication, and efficiency. it is also an appetite suppressant and should not be used in kitchens or food courts.

Warm Colours

Saturated warm colours such as red should be used in circulation areas as it energises the body. In learning spaces, they should only be used as an accent colour.

Yellow:

Creates a creative, friendly, optimistic and confident atmosphere.

Red:

Energises the body and reduces peoples’ performance of cognitive tasks.

Orange:

stimulates physical comfort, warmth, enthusiasm, and appetite.

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ARCHITECTURAL PATTERNS BASED LEARNING

FOR

ACTIVITY

The following patterns outline the general spatial qualities of the different types of spaces that should be provided to facilitate all the activities and cognitive processes of activity-based learning. These spaces are independent of the building structure and could be retrofitted into existing buildings.

Although these patterns are based on researched design principles, the physical environment of a university should never be considered ‘finished’, but should be allowed to evolve over time and be improved, modified, and embellished according to user feedback, changing needs, and technological advancements. Furthermore, a building’s flexibility should be optimised by maximising the distance between columns and installing a modular raised floor system that enables the electrical and data services to be easily accessed and reconfigured.

The patterns for the spaces identified in Design process are presented below. They include: Circulation, Social Plazas & Amenities, Forums, Tutorial Rooms, Hives, Workshops, Coves, Team Rooms, Nooks, and Havens. The organisation of these spaces should aim to encourage collaboration and serendipitous interaction that could lead to unforeseen innovation. However, active and meaningful forms of interaction not only require geographic proximity, but also social and cognitive proximity.30 Proximities Geographic physical distances between people Social

the level of trust between people based on past interaction experiences, personal and/or professional relationships, and culture of the environment

Cognitive

differences between skills, knowledge, and interests

Rather than these spaces being shared by all users from any Phenomenon Unit, each Phenomenon Unit should have its own physical territory, e.g. a floor of a multistorey building, which contains each of these spaces, while remaining connected to the other neighbourhoods through atriums or internal circulation.

This optimises cognitive proximity as it ensures all the neighbourhoods’ users have relatively compatible interests and exchangeable knowledge. This enables them to communicate and collaborate effectively, while also enhancing their social proximity by providing a greater probability that over time users will recognise and

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get to know each other, form relationships, and ultimately collaborate. Furthermore, this neighbourhood setting provides users with a sense of territory, ownership, and belonging.31 The adjacencies of the different spaces should be determined by their functional relationships and similarity of their spatial qualities - with the noisier, more public spaces located closer to social plazas, and quieter more concentrated spaces further away.

enon Unit Neighbo m o urh n oo Phe d

InterNeighbourhood Circulation

Forum

Social Plaza

Tutorial Amenities

Library

Workshop

Cove

Hive Haven Nooks

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Team Room

enon Unit Neighbo m o urh n oo Phe d

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Circulation- People Watching, Chatting, Contemplating

Circulation between neighbourhoods should be as transparent as possible so learners become familiar with the identity, culture, and expertise of other neighbourhoods. The circulation should also be designed to facilitate social interaction. For example, stairs should be wide enough for two people approaching from opposite directions to be able to stop and chat without blocking the whole thoroughfare.

Social Plazas & Amenities- People Watching, Chatting, Contemplating

A social plaza should be the first place a learner encounters in their Phenomenon neighbourhood. It is the dynamic heart of the neighbourhood, where learners can intuitively take the pulse of the neighbourhood, find out what is happening, see who is around, people watch, experience phenomena, contemplate, be social, and have serendipitous encounters.

These spaces should be directly adjacent to the main circulation path and amenities such as the toilets, kitchens, and libraries, as “the [universal] need to eat and go to the toilet …are two surprisingly powerful tools to force collision.”31

The kitchen should be a warm colour such as orange, to stimulate hunger.

The kitchen should provide seating to accommodate people’s tendency to consume their food as close to the source as possible.

They should include a flexible open area that can be used for temporary activities exhibitions or stalls etc.

Social furniture should cater to small groups, preventing the space being dominated by a single group. A range of furniture should be available to cater for different activities, postures, and levels of commitment: • stools and high tables for short-term engagements as they require less commitment and are easier to walk away from • single-seat lounges for more committed engagements of groups or individuals. Couches are not recommended as unless the people are close, once the two ends are occupied it is unlikely anyone will sit in the middle • reclined lounges for lying down and contemplating The height of the library shelves should be at eye level to preserve the sense of connectedness to the rest of the neighbourhood. This makes people more comfortable, increasing the duration they would spend amongst the books, enhancing the possibility of serendipitously encountering relevant books.

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Forums- Viewing Presentations, Present Ideas, and Creations/People Watching, Chatting, Contemplating Despite the pedagogical shift from the tutor as a giver of information to a mentor, there is still a need for a forum for learners to view presentations or performances, observe and present their learning to others, and for staff to address the whole neighbourhood.

These spaces should be open and located adjacent to the social space and circulation to encourage those who are not directly involved with the presentations to drop in and out without commitment or disruption. This is an example of a cognitively serendipitous encounter, rather than a social one.

The quarter circle shape of the forum provides a clearly defined point of focus, delivers good sight lines and acoustics for a greater proportion of the audience than straight rows.

When these spaces are not being utilised formally for presentations, they can act as social or contemplative spaces for individuals or groups.

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Tutorial Rooms- Viewing Presentations, Discussing Experiences and Ideas, Brainstorming, Revealing and Displaying Information and Ideas, Presenting Ideas and Creations In these spaces learners are in scheduled, formal contact with their tutors and peers. Tutors introduce learners to the questions and problems they will investigate and guide them by posing questions, probing assumptions, helping clarify understandings or misunderstandings, and facilitating discussions about their experiences and ideas, and collaborative teamwork. Since these spaces must accommodate many activities they should be as flexible as possible: The circular shape is psychologically comforting, enhancing the probability of learners actively participating and listening to discussions and group work.21 It is also more inclusive as there is no clear front or back, everyone in the room is involved. The focal point of these rooms can also change depending on the furniture configuration, and there can even be numerous configurations if learners are working in groups.

Trapezoid flip top tables on wheels can be stored away easily, configured as individual tables or combined to form straight lines or hexagons for collaboration.

High ceilings (>3m) provide free, abstract, and creative thinking.22 Plants reduce stress, boost moods, stimulate creativity, and enhance concentration.30 Yellow gives a creative, friendly, optimistic and confident atmosphere.26 Translucent polycarbonate reveals activity but prevents people from making eye contact and being distracted.

Deep wall reveals allow chairs or bags to be stored under them, leaving the floors clear.

The matte, magnetic white-board walls encourage brainstorming and allow learners to visually organise, present, and discuss information and ideas, while also acting as projector screens.

Green provides a restorative experience, boosting the students’ mental capacity, and enhancing efficiency and focus.26 Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes, and creativity.23Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Hives- Information Gathering, Discussing Experiences and Ideas

Hives are the most common learning spaces universities currently offer. They are open-plan spaces where individuals and groups gather information and reflect on experiences and ideas.

Round tables enable everyone in the group to see each other, facilitating effective communication. Furthermore, round tables are psychologically comfortable for individuals and groups of any size, as people do not perceive empty seats at a round table.

Triangular tables for individuals maximise the chance of all positions being used, as they do not require strangers to sit next to one another. Furthermore, the computer screens and partitions define a user’s territory and provide visual privacy.

Task lighting mentally focuses learners on the lit material.23

Indoor plants reduce stress, make people more effective at their tasks, boost people’s moods, stimulate creativity, remove pollutants from the air and enhance concentration.30 Green provides restorative experiences boosting the students’ mental capacity, enhancing efficiency and focus.26 Curved orange-carpet path indicates circulation space.

High ceilings (>3m) promote free, abstract, and creative thinking.22 Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Workshops -

Discussing Experiences and Ideas, Brainstorming, Revealing and Displaying Information and Ideas Workshops are for informal, short term use by individuals and groups. They should be easily accessible, adjacent to circulation routes, and within or on the edges of hives.

High ceilings (>3m) promote free, abstract, and creative thinking.22

The circular shape is psychologically comforting, enhancing the probability of learners actively participating and listening to discussions and group work.

The circular shape makes the interior appear as a single canvas which can be written on.

The retractable walls allow for brainstorming sessions to expand into the surrounding space or provide privacy depending on the learners’ preferences.

Yellow colour creates a creative, friendly, optimistic and confident atmosphere.26 The matte white-board walls act as blank canvasses that encourage brainstorming and allow learners to visually organise, present and discuss information and ideas.

Round tables enable all members of the group to see each other, facilitating effective communication.

Stool height swivel chairs and tables on wheels encourage learners to get up from their seats and participate in organising their thoughts on the wall visually, as well as giving learners freedom to push the furniture out of the way.

Hexagon panels add visual complexity to the space and are natural fractals that stimulate creativity.27 • High and low openings allow light and ambient sound to penetrate the space without the learners being distracted or made uncomfortable by others watching them.

• Textured orange panels provide energising highlights to encourage learners’ movement and stimulate creativity.27 Green colour provides a restorative experience boosting the students’ mental capacity, enhancing efficiency and focus.26 Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Coves -Discussing Experiences and Ideas, Preparing Creations

Coves are technologically enabled spaces that allow learners to assemble and engage with each other to discuss experiences and ideas, and work collaboratively to apply their learning and prepare their creations. They should be in close proximity to the hives and workshops.

Plants reduce stress, make people more effective at their tasks, boost people’s moods, stimulate creativity, remove pollutants from the air and enhance concentration.30

The walls extend past the screens to encompass the chairs, further enhancing privacy by creating a sense of territory.

The matte white-board walls act as blank canvasses that encourage brainstorming and allow learners to visually organise, present and discuss information and ideas.

Blue calms the mind and enhances concentration, logic, communication, and efficiency.26 The semi round tables allow everyone to be able to see each other and the screen, facilitating effective communication and productivity.

Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Team Rooms - Discussing Experiences and Ideas, Revealing and Displaying Information and Ideas, Preparing Creations, Prototyping and Making Creations, Presenting Ideas and Creations, Watching Presentations Team rooms are fully enclosed spaces that should support information sharing, and the collaborative application of learners’ knowledge to create something i.e. a presentation, product, movie, or piece of writing. Information sharing can comprise a single speaker or a group of learners’ discussing their experiences and how to implement their ideas. Team rooms should be located in proximity to the hive.

Rectilinear shapes generate an impression of action and efficiency.21 Low ceilings facilitate convergent thinking as they encourage occupants to focus on specific details.

The matte, magnetic white-board walls encourage brainstorming and allow learners to organise, present, discuss information and ideas visually, while also acting as projector screens.

The glass is translucent at eye level to prevent learners from being distracted by the exterior environment, while still allowing them to be aware of the activity within and without the team room. It also ensures the inhabitants are comfortable psychologically as outsiders are unable to watch them.

The half boat shape of the tables ensures all users are able to see each other and see the screen, facilitating effective communication and productivity.

Blue calms the mind and enhances concentration, logic, communication, and efficiency.26 Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Nooks- Interpreting and Evaluating Information, Preparing Creations

Nooks are semi-enclosed private spaces for individuals and small groups to disengage from distractions and apply themselves to concentrated, convergent tasks such as interpreting and evaluating information and preparing their creations. They should be located in the quietest area of the neighbourhood, away from the social plaza.

Rectilinear shapes generate an impression of action and efficiency.21

Low ceilings facilitate convergent thinking as they encourage occupants to focus on specific details.

Blue calms the mind and enhances concentration, logic, communication, and efficiency.26 Rectangular tables reduce potential eye contact between members of the group, encouraging them to remain focused, while still allowing them to communicate if need be.

Vertical surfaces used as pin-up boards allow learners to organise information and ideas visually, aiding in their understanding and evaluation.

Task lighting mentally focuses learners on the lit material.24 Comfortable ergonomic furniture encourages people to spend extended periods of time in the space.

Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

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Havens- Interpreting and Evaluating Information, Preparing Creations

A haven is a small fully enclosed, private space for individuals to work on concentrated convergent tasks such as interpreting and evaluating information and preparing creations. Each full-time user of the university campus, such as tutors, researchers, and co-working professionals should be allocated a permanent haven to optimise their psychological comfort by enabling them to personalise and have ownership over a space. Others should be available for learners to drop into, book on an hourly or daily basis. They should be easily found, but in the quieter area of the neighbourhood, away from the social plaza.

Rectilinear shapes generate an impression of action and efficiency,21 while the curved corners increase comfort and make the interior walls appear as single canvasses.

Low ceilings facilitate convergent thinking as they encourage occupants to focus on specific details.

Vertical surfaces used as pin-up boards allow learners to organise the information and ideas visually, aiding in their understanding and evaluation, as well as enabling full-time users to personalise their space.

Task lighting mentally focuses learners on the lit material.24 Blue calms the mind and enhances concentration, logic, communication and efficiency.26 Comfortable ergonomic furniture encourages people to spend extended periods of time in the space.

Green provides a restorative experience boosting the students’ mental capacity, enhancing efficiency and focus.26 Translucent glass doors provide connections with the external environment but prevent users from being distracted or feeling like they are being watched by others.

Dim lighting (150 lux) enhances learners’ thoughts, cognitive processes and creativity.23 Warm lighting (3 000 K) encourages students to take more risks, collaborate better, and problem solve more effectively.24

 

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Dewey, John, Experience and education, 1st ed (New York: Kappa Delta Pi, 1938).

Groves, Kathryn and Oliver Marlow, Spaces for Innovation: The Design and Science of Inspiring Environments, (London: Frame Publishers, 2016), 139.

Deasy, C. M. Design for Human Affairs. (New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc, 1974), 92. ”Methodology”, Velhdhoen + Company, accessed 18 September 2017, https://www. veldhoencompany.com/en/methodology/ Groves and Marlow, Spaces for Innovation, 126.

Vischer, Jacqueline, “Towards an Environmental Psychology of Workplace: How People are affected by Environments for Work,” Architectural Science Review, 51 no.2, (2008), pp. 97-108.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Vischer, “Environmental Psychology of Workplace.”

Cohen, Shledon et al.,Behaviour, Health, and Environmental Stress, (New York: Springer Science + Business Media, 1986), 83.

Augustin, Place advantage, 143.

Sommer, Robert, “Personal Space”, in Encylopedia of Applied Psychology, edited by Charles Spielberger, 15-17, (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004).

Deasy, Design for Human Affairs, 62.

Ibid., 86.

Cohen et al., Health and Environmental Stress.

Gensler, 2013 U.S Workplace Survey Key Findings, (New York: Gensler, 2013), 8; Lee, So Young & Brand, Jay L, “Effects of control over office workspace on perceptions of the work environment and work outcomes,” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, vol.3, (2005) 323-333.

Ibid.

Groves and Marlow, Spaces for Innovation, 29.

Augustin, Place advantage, 142.

Ibid., 190.

Ibid. 56.

Meyers-Levy, Joan and Rui Zhu, “The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use,” Journal of Consumer Research, 34 no.2, 2007, pp.174-186.

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Ibid., 13.

Ibid., 142.

Ibid., 62.

Ibid., 190.

Ibid., 56.

Fredrickson, “The role of positive emotions in positive psychology.”Ibid.

Kingdon, Matt, The science of serendipity: how to unlock the promise of innovation in large organisations, (West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2012), 135.

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SENSE OF PURPOSE

Inquirers

Knowlegable

Reflective Critical Thinkers

Principled ABILITIES

DISPOSITIONS Caring

Creative Thinkers

Courageous

Effective Communicators

Balanced

Pedagogy Physical Environment

“Don’t spend your precious time asking, “Why isn’t the world a better place?...the question to ask is “How can I make it better?” To that there is an answer” Leo F. Buscagalia, education academic

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CONCLUSION In order to effect change in the world, the environment of universities has to be cultivated to celebrate and support each and every learners’ diversity and instill in them the abilities and dispositions to make a positive impact on society. The current paradigm is no longer relevant- rewarding conformity over innovation; attempting to prepare students to be effective workers rather than ethical citizens who are lifelong learners.

This is inadequate for the realities of society, and it is detrimental to all concerned: students, educators, society, employers and the state.

There needs to be radical shifts in the prevailing universities’ pedagogy to facilitate learners’ intellectual development. This can be achieved by acknowledging that learning is the main objective of education, and therefore learning, not teaching should be the focus.

Learners should be given the freedom to develop their own interdisciplinary degrees based on their passions and sense of purpose. They should be encouraged to take control of their learning through Collaborative Problem-Solving curricula for all courses, where the tutor acts as a ‘Socratic mentor’ who facilitates learning through dialogue, rather than monologue.

Consequently, the physical learning environment also needs to reflect the functional and psychological requirements of the learners’ activities and cognitive processes, rather than architectural trends or personal preferences.

There is an urgency for decision-makers to review the status quo of university education. Without universities reflecting and revitalising on their intrinsic raison d’etre, the institution and their degrees will continue to lose relevance in an ever informed, rapidly changing, and complex world. Providing a cognitive and physical environment to facilitate learners’ intellectual development celebrates and empowers their diversity and will not only benefit the learners as individuals but also society as a whole, by molding innovative and passionate citizens and leaders who will shape a future we all want to be part of.

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I would like to thank my parents for providing me with all the opportunities in my life and supporting me in everything I do.

I would not have been able to make it through this long year without my studio friends and family.

Thank you to University of Newcastle Architecture School for giving me the freedom to do an unconventional Master’s project.

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About the author

Janai Kim Lemar (1994-) has a Degree in Architectural Studies from the University of South Australia. She is completing her Masters in Architecture Studies at the University of Newcastle in NSW. Her approach to architecture is holistic, focusing on understanding the real, systemic causes and impacts of problems, before assuming a building is the answer.

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