Since the earliest educational spaces first appeared in Syrian palace schools, Greek amphitheaters,[1] and medieval universities, teaching methods and classroom design have evolved only slightly from an instructor-centric format. However, recent research suggesting that a learner-centric approach could significantly improve students’ experience has launched the next big leap in the evolution of classroom design. This movement to replace an outdated pedagogical system with one that can better serve today’s technologically driven society has prompted the development of classroom design trends–Learner-Centered Pedagogy, Technology, Flexibility, Spaces Outside Classrooms, and Natural Systems[2]–as well as educational mechanisms such as the flipped classroom, blended learning, and the active learning classroom (ALC).
In August 2013, Lawson Reed Wulsin Jr. published a literature review addressing the Special Committee on Classroom Design at Princeton University’s inquiries into “the current trends in learning space design” at peer institutions.[3] Wulsin’s research revealed that a focus on Learner-Centered Pedagogy has emerged as a trend in classroom design. The traditional transference model of teaching, in which instructors “transfer” knowledge to students, was established before the age of mass communication when instructors were among the few available sources from which pupils could acquire information. For this reason, delivering information was a professor’s essential responsibility. In the 21st century, however, information is readily available by means of print and the internet. Thus, a constructivist model, by which students acquire knowledge through facilitated learning, is more appropriate for a complex, interconnected environment. In the words of Eric Mazur, the teacher must become “the guide on the side, instead of the sage on the stage.”[4]
Wulsin also identified Technology and Flexibility as emerging trends, exhibited by the flipped classroom, blended learning, and ALCs. In a study investigating how educational institutions could more efficiently utilize time and physical space in the classroom, Paul Baepler, J. D. Walker, and Michelle Driessen examined the effects of reducing seat time by two-thirds in favor of implementing the flipped and blended classroom model.[5]While the study’s control group attended lectures three times a week, the experimental groups’ schedule was reduced to just one class a week. In order to compensate for lost face-to-face time, the professor introduced the flipped classroom, according to which information presentation occurs prior to class while classroom time is used to develop conceptual understanding and cognitive skills. Didactic lectures were moved online to be viewed independently. Conversely, time spent in class was reserved for learning activities such as problem solving that both encouraged group collaboration and increased interaction with the instructor, who was more available to “answer questions, give feedback, and prompt reexamination of key ideas.” This combination of online teaching with time spent in a physical classroom is known as blended learning.[6]
In addition to meeting only once a week, each of the experimental groups was one-third the size of the control group and, thus, able to be placed in scaled-down ALCs rather than in a traditional theater-style lecture hall. Pioneered by North Carolina State University’s Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs, known as SCALE-UP,[7] ALCs are generally characterized by round tables with moveable seating that, like the flipped and blended classroom model, support active small group work. Rather than maximizing seats-per-square-foot, this smaller, more personal setting fosters learning-per-square-foot.[8]
ALC design satisfies most of Paul Cornell’s functional requirements for classroom furniture. Free wireless internet allows students to “plug-n-play” digital devices quickly and efficiently. Electronic devices such as cameras, video recorders, and microphones as well as physical tools such as whiteboards, blackboards, and projectors enable users to “say-n-see” information and media. While seated at round tables, students are encouraged to “relate-n-reflect” with each other. Finally, the modern classroom design that differentiates it from traditional classrooms is intended to “inspire-n-invite.”[9] The fulfillment of this criteria demonstrates that ALCs follow the trend of Flexibility. By utilizing online lectures as well as electronic classroom features, flipped and blended ALCs also illustrate the trend of Technology both inside and outside the classroom.
Additionally, Wulsin cites Spaces Outside Classrooms and Natural Systems as current classroom design trends, which can be integrated as supplements to the flipped and blended ALC model. Spaces Outside Classroom extend across campus to include a student’s commute to and from class, study spaces, corridors, lobbies, courtyards, dormitories, and dining halls.[10] Natural Systems refers to the use of natural materials such as wood and stone as well as an abundance of natural light.[11] Connecting students to the world outside the classroom, from campus property to the natural environment, helps extend learning across all aspects of their lives.
Baepler et al. acknowledge that initially students can find the unfamiliar nature of alternative teaching methods disconcerting despite evident gains.[12] However, the research of Baepler et al., Wulsin, and their contemporaries demonstrates that these revolutionary concepts generally improve both students’ performance and attitudes. In the near future, flipped and blended ALCs influenced by Learner-Centered Pedagogy, Technology, Flexibility, Spaces Outside Classrooms, and Natural Systems will be the norm.
[1] Wulsin, Lawson Reed Jr. “Classroom Design – Literature Review.” Paper prepared for the Special Committee on
Classroom Design at Princeton University. August 8, 2013. Accessed March 16, 2015. https://www.princeton.edu/provost/space-programming-plannin/SCCD_Final_Report_Appendix_B.pdf
[2] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 6.
[3] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 2.
[4] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 7.
[5] Baepler, Paul, J. D Walker, and Michelle Driessen. “It’s not about seat time: Blending, flipping, and efficiency in
active learning classrooms.” Computers and Education 78 (September 2014): 227-236. ScienceDirect. Web. March 16, 2015. http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0360131514001390/1-s2.0-S0360131514001390-main.pdf?_tid=5615381e-d81b-11e4-a850-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1427857445_b62c27226ff629b80b3a588c924d65f5
[6] Baepler, 3.
[7] Baepler, Walker, Driessen, “It’s not about seat time,” 2.
[8] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 13.
[9] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 14-15.
[10] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 12.
[11] Wulsin, “Classroom,” 10-11.
[12] Baepler, Walker, Driessen, “It’s not about seat time,” 3.
The Classroom Experience 