Just as the design of an office can have a mental and emotional effect on work productivity, the design of school buildings and classrooms can have its own effect on students’ education.
People of the same age schooled in a drab, spartan early 20th-century brick building can have completely different learning experiences than ones who were educated in colourful yet ageing midcentury modern spaces or tech-driven contemporary schools, and it’s not just matters of school funding or testing methods that contribute to the differences.
Many recent trends in interior classroom design have shown to be noticeably beneficial to students. Just changing seating arrangements from the traditional rows of individual desks to grouped seating has given classmates an increased sense of collaboration and engagement, and creating different specialized spaces — like a large common era suitable for class discussions, and partitioned workstations for individual work — can mean a versatile selection of different ways learn and study. Here are a few ways that higher-educational facilities in British Columbia have approached this philosophy.
Douglas College: When given the opportunity to invest more than $6 million to update their library, the New Westminster Campus of Douglas College took the initiative to parcel out dedicated spaces to collaborations and group projects as well as more traditional quiet areas for study. The desired effect is to create a sense of flexibility, openness, and engagement in a welcoming environment.
Simon Fraser University: A little over 50 years since its establishment in 1965, the Burnaby-based campus of research university SFU received an overhaul to more than 100 classrooms and 20 lecture theatres. And while some of the updates were of the technological variety, changing the lighting to be brighter and warmer while giving seating arrangements more ergonomic and mobile versatility has proven just as beneficial.
University of British Columbia: UBC has been dedicated to keeping its classrooms and learning spaces as up-to-date as possible depending on the various specific needs of a diverse range of study areas. Active Learning spaces can accommodate everything from pen-and-paper brainstorms to state-of-the-art digital A/V presentations, while lecture spaces are arranged so they can transition easily from small group work to a presentation for dozens of students. Space for whiteboards, glass boards, and wirelessly connected presentation-sharing displays encourage collaborative studying on several fronts.
Readying a classroom for modular and versatile flexibility can work wonders for all kinds of study environments. Just contact Aura’s workspace-planning team to learn more about how students can make the most of design-facilitated learning experiences!
