LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH最新文献

School spaces, technologies, and educational activities shape each other reciprocally. This mixed-methods study (i) developed a methodological framework for tracing the interdependence between school spaces, digital instruments, and teachers' practices in their use, and (ii) created practice-based knowledge about the relations of teachers' perceptions of educational activities to school spaces in order to acknowledge architects and educational practitioners in designing learning environments that support educational renewal. We participated in the construction process of a new general upper-secondary school building in Finland, taking into consideration the school's operating culture and teachers' pedagogic needs (social aspects), as well as the mediation of school spaces by digitalization and national curriculum reformation (material aspects). The data were collected through a teacher survey (n = 31), teacher interviews (n = 10), and the analysis of group notes that teachers (n = 39) generated in a participatory workshop. The results revealed that teachers consider it critical in the design of new learning environments to foster a collaborative and multidisciplinary school culture that emphasizes learners' wellbeing and inclusion, as well as utilizing readily-available digital instruments with basic-level functionality. The developed methodological framework appeared suitable for visualizing (with radar charts) the sociomaterial interdependence of school spaces, digital instruments, and teachers' personal and collective pedagogical activities. We argue that teachers' perceptions of school spaces, digital instruments, and pedagogic practices entanglement consolidates learning environments design from an educational point of view and should be taken into consideration when constructing new school buildings.

Taking the 'breakdown' in regular schooling as a result of the Covid pandemic as a catalyst to reimagine education, this article formulates a theoretical framework, using design research, that enables a fundamental reconceptualization and introduction of new actors into the space of schooling, which is a learning environment that traditionally has maintained rigid boundaries. Recommendations are proposed for bridging formal and nonformal education for practitioners and policymakers, bringing together teachers and youth workers to co-construct a learning environment. In creating a prototype for learning that involves a more joined-up and connected paradigm in education, as well as bridging the gap between learning in formal and non-formal contexts, we create a shift towards reimagining and recognising the importance of a holistic view of education by re-evaluating and supporting a broader range of actors who can participate in the education of children and young people.

In 2020, King's College London introduced HyFlex teaching as a means to supplement online and face-to-face teaching and to respond to Covid-19 restrictions. This enabled teaching to a mixed cohort of students (both online and on campus). This article provides an outline of how such an approach was conceptualized and implemented in a higher-education institution during an intense three-month period over that summer and prior to the limited re-opening of the university campus. This was a new approach that offers a number of pointers for reflection and provides key insights in on this novel learning environment and the physical and pedagogical contexts in which learning can occur. Technical implementation factors are detailed, along with both reflections on challenges and solutions. Pedagogical issues such as cognitive load, social presence, and resolving the issues of a cohort spread across two locations are discussed. While we should be mindful of the limitations of this relatively-specific research, and shouldn't therefore over-extrapolate our findings, one key finding is that delivering Hyflex is associated with a higher cognitive load. Further, the audio quality of our implementation enhanced the feeling of presence in the learning environment. We recommend providing appropriate technical and pedagogical training, as well as audio-visual and digital education support.

Cross-sectional research was designed using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) to examine the impact of the educational environment on students' perceptions of learning and teaching in a university offering higher education. Using a Likert scale, 300 participants from various streams were assessed. There were no disparities in the students' judgments in the five DREEM categories of discipline, accommodation, gender, level of study, and disciplines. In general, students judged that the student-teaching environment was satisfactory. To investigate the validity of the DREEM, we conducted Cronbach alpha analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) employing principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Only 44 of the 50 factors were deemed to be significant, with a cumulative explained variance of 46.539%. The total construct dependability of the EFA nine-factor solutions was 0.954. Finally, only five acceptable factors explained 46.539% variance using the criteria of eigenvalue > 1 and Cronbach's alpha > 0.6. Factor analysis was appropriate as evidenced by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy of 0.942. With a Cronbach alpha of 0.955, the revised first domain of "student perception of learning" was the most trustworthy DREEM item, accounting for 20.19% of the variance. The highest factor loading was for the item "Teaching helps me become a more active learner". A redesigned DREEM might be valuable for assessing the educational environment at institutions providing higher education.

Research into the relationship between innovative physical learning environments (PLEs) and innovative psychosocial learning environments (PSLEs) indicates that it must be understood as a network of relationships between multiple psychosocial and physical aspects. Actors shape this network by attaching meanings to these aspects and their relationships in a continuous process of gaining and exchanging experiences. This study used a psychosocial-physical, relational approach for exploring teachers' and students' experiences with six innovative PLEs in a higher educational institute, with the application of a psychosocial-physical relationship (PPR) framework. This framework, which brings together the multitude of PLE and PSLE aspects, was used to map and analyse teachers' and students' experiences that were gathered in focus group interviews. The PPR framework proved useful in analysing the results and comparing them with previous research. Previously-identified relationships were confirmed, clarified, and nuanced. The results underline the importance of the attunement of system aspects to pedagogical and spatial changes, and of a psychosocial-physical relational approach in designing and implementing new learning environments, including the involvement of actors in the discourse within and between the different system levels. Interventions can be less invasive, resistance to processes could be reduced, and innovative PLEs could be used more effectively.

Relationships between learning environment variables and students' approaches to studying have been investigated from many points of view over the last decades. However, few studies have explored whether such relationships are stable over time. In the two consecutive cross-sectional analyses performed in this study, Norwegian occupational therapy students' perceptions of their learning environment and their approaches to studying were assessed in the second (162 students) and third (193 students) year of their study program. Aside from sociodemographic information, the students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, with the aim of exploring whether associations between learning environment variables and study approaches were stable across time. The data were analyzed with hierarchical linear regression analyses. Relatively stable associations with students' study approaches were found for the learning environment variables of 'generic skills' and 'appropriate workload'. The learning environment variables of 'clear goals and standards' and 'student autonomy' were directly associated with study approaches in both study years, but the nature of the associations shifted during the study period. Thus, knowledge of stability and change in these relationships could assist faculty in promoting a well-functioning learning environment throughout the study program.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of critical thinking (CT) teaching involving general, immersion, and mixed approaches on the CT skills and dispositions of high-school students. The study, which had three experimental groups (EG) and one control group, employed a pretest-posttest control-group quasi-experimental design. CT teaching was initiated with a general approach in EG I, an immersion approach in EG II, and a mixed approach in EG III. The Critical Thinking Skill Test and UF/EMI Critical Thinking Disposition Instrument were used to collect the data. General, immersion, and mixed approaches improved CT skills and dispositions, with a large effect size for the improvement of CT skills. CT teaching with general, immersion, and mixed approaches had large, moderate, and small effects, respectively, on improving CT dispositions. In terms of improving CT skills and dispositions, the most effective approach, respectively, was the general, mixed, and immersion approach.

Health science graduate programs are intensive experiences in students' lives which can contribute to perceived symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The consequent impact of these symptoms can have an overall effect on the graduate students' ability to participate in their daily lives, along with their program of study. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of health science graduate students who experience perceived signs and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. An open-ended, qualitative phenomenological survey was used to understand the experiences of 56 Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Doctor of Pharmacy students at a university in the southeastern United States. Three themes were identified from the data: the cyclic effect of symptoms and triggers; the importance of support systems; and the benefit of coping skill utilization. Future research is needed to understand the effects of preventive and rehabilitative measures to address health science graduate students' mental health.