Presentation at the NGLS conference held at the ILEC conference centre in London. 22nd to 23rd March 2016.

1. Maximising learning spaces: technology and
design approaches
Professor Steven Warburton,
Head of Department of Technology Enhanced Learning.
Department of Technology Enhanced Learning
Next Generation Learning Spaces Conference
22nd to 23rd March, ILEC, London.

2. Why are we concerned with
learning and teaching spaces?

3. Physical estate and student numbers
Student
numbers
14,000 FTE

4. Effective use – teaching through the timetable

5. Value proposition – is it still meaningful?
http://cultivatingcreativeminds.com/sir-ken-robinson-calls-for-a-revolution-in-education/

6. Disappointing news!
Lectures are ineffective, when
compared to other methods, for
teaching values, inspiring interest,
developing personalities, or
instilling behavioral skills.
(Bligh, D. 1998)

7. (Bligh, 2000)
Attention and retention – growing discomfort

8. (Mazur, 1997)
Being in class is simply not stimulating

9. If the purpose is solely to transmit information, then lecturing
can be an effective method (Bligh, 2000), and it would behoove
instructors to follow the suggestions of the many books on
teaching (e.g., Forsyth, 2003; McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006).
However, if the objective is critical thinking,
then teachers probably should be doing more than just
lecturing.
Wilson, K., & Korn, J. H. (2007). Attention during lectures: Beyond ten
minutes. Teaching of Psychology, 34(2), 85-89.
Appetite for different approaches – from tutors,
academics and students

10. End of the lecture?
The trend toward "active learning" may
overthrow the style of teaching that has
ruled universities for 600 years.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/twilight-
of-the-lecture

11. Active Learning and the Flipped Classroom
‘Students gain first exposure to new material outside of class […] and then use
class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge’ (Brame 2013).
This assimilation typically takes the form of ‘active learning’:
 Collaborative group work
 Problem and inquiry based learning
 Cooperative and peer learning
Evidence of effectiveness:
Meta-study results of active learning interventions (Hake, 1998):
 traditional courses = average gain* [of] 0.23 ± 0.04 (std dev)
 active methods = average gain* [of] 0.48 ± 0.14 (std dev)
 active methods are almost two standard deviations […] above that of the
traditional courses (* gains verses pre-test score)

12. A melting pot of technologies - disruptive of understandings
of the traditional physical space?
BYOD SSO/IAM
Lecture
capture
Extended
VLE
Learning
analytics
Colborative
smartboard /
touchscreens
Click-share
SharePod

13. Still something …

14. New spaces - reimagined for collaboration and
participation
“With the boss or a
professor standing at the
head of the room, it feels
like a ‘sage on the stage’ -
people are reluctant to
share their ideas.
Reconfiguring the
physical relationship is
a powerful signal that
participation is
welcome. The result is
you get better ideas out
in the open, where they
can, grow.”
(David Kelly, p.5 in Doorley, S.,
Witthoft, S. (2012)

15. Space and affordance
“Consciously or not, we feel and internalize what space tells us
about how to work. When you walk into most offices, the space
tells you that it’s meant for a group of people to work alone.
Closed-off desks sprout off lonely hallways, and in a few
obligatory conference rooms a huge table ensures that people
are safely separated from one another. Most work spaces were
designed according to an industrial labour model, from a time
when our work was tethered to big machines and our status
was rooted in the size of our office space.”
(David Kelly p.5 in Doorley & Witthoft 2012)

17. Q.1 How many teaching spaces at your institution would
you classify as ALS? (n=32)
89% indicated that they anticipated creating
active learning spaces in the next five years. Of
the institutions that already have ALS, only one
indicated that they had no plans for any more.

18. But …
Only 40% of HEIs
mention ALS in any
strategy document.

19. • 2020 Vision statement
• Teaching and Learning Strategy
• Technology Enhanced Learning Strategy
• Library and Learning Services Support Strategy
• IT Services Strategy
Interpretation Implementation
Coherent of competing?

20. Bringing harmony …
Digital Learning Strategy – a direction
setting document.
• Short and visionary – key
messages
• Sign-off at senior level …
• University Learning and Teaching
Committee with high level buy-in

21. Two critical messages in the strategy:
Physical Virtual
Student Tutor
1. Seamless
2. Active

22. flagship project …
reinvigoration of
learning spaces

24. Benefits of active learning and the flipped classroom
• Reduced demand for large, raked lecture theatres.
• Improved academic performance
• Lower drop out rates
• Lower failure rates
• Improved student well-being (decreased levels of stress)
• Increased sense of community
(Baepler et al. 2014)
Case-study: flipped classroom video tutorials were introduced for 1st year
microbiology students, for use prior to lab classes. The group that had
access to the videos performed (on average) 10% better in the lab tests.

25. Still something …

26. First order barriers: [incremental, institutional] extrinsic
obstacles to implementation such as access to equipment,
technical training, and support.
Second order barriers: [fundamental, personal] intrinsic
obstacles rooted in underlying beliefs about the student teacher
role and persistence in traditional practices of teaching and
assessment.
Ertmer, P. (1999). Addressing first and second order barriers to change:
strategies for technology integration ETR&D, Vol. 47: 47-61.
Ertmer (1999): Technology integration in education

27. Third order barrier: design thinking
“Be able to reorganise and create learning activities and materials that are
adapted to the instructional needs of different contexts and learners.”
Tsai and Chai (2012):

28. Discover
Prototype
DesignIdentify
Evaluate
Seven stage
Learning Design
Studio model
3
1
ShareReflect7
4
56
2
A way of working …
based on
participatory design
principles

29. Context:
– Heterogeneous communities of educational;
stakeholders;
– Distributed expertise;
– Extract tacit intuitive knowledge.
Aims:
– Enable critical collaborative reflection on design experiences;
– Enable small scale risk taking;
– Promote and implement co-designed solutions.
LDS participatory design approach

30. Goal: new learning
environment
configurations where
space, pedagogy and
technology converge
Space
Pedagogy
Seamless
Technology
Active
Innovative

31. 1. Comfort
Currently most students have a great deal to carry
around with them including, chargers for: phones,
tablet PCs and laptops; books, bags to carry them in
(often more than one) and coats. They would like
somewhere to store all these things so that they were
free to move around and work in an uncluttered
environment.
2. Connectivity
This featured in two ways for every student in the
group, firstly they wanted to be able to easily plug-in
chargers to recharge their smartphones, tablet PCs
and laptops. Secondly they wanted consistent and
reliable wireless access across campus but
specifically in classrooms.
3. Coherence
They wanted consistency on terms of classroom
facilities and teaching methods, interestingly their
expectations went beyond that, to the provision of a
more joined up and holistic approach across their
learning experience. So that each learning
experience makes sense both in isolation, but also as
part of a coherent whole.
1. Flexibility
Staff expressed a strong preference for flexibility in
teaching spaces which would allow them to quickly
and easily rearrange desk and chairs to suit the
planned teaching session. This echoes the literature
which suggest that there is a ‘clear preference for
furniture that is easily moveable’ (Morrone, Ouimet,
Siering, et al., 2014).
2. Consistency
There was some overlap with the students criticism of
connectivity, but equally important to them was
consistency across campus as they teach in many
different rooms and can never be sure what
equipment will be in each lecture theatre or if it will
work reliably.
3. Reliability
Issues of reliability mean that even well-equipped
teaching spaces are underutilised because staff fear
technology failure and ‘looking stupid’ in front of their
students. There is a perception amongst some staff
that technology failure is the rule rather than the
exception.
Early stages: focus groups
Student themes Staff themes

32. 1) Use TPCK approach
2) Embedded in the Graduate Teaching Certificate
3) Mapped to HEA UKPSF (UK Professional Standards
Framework) https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/recognition-accreditation/uk-
professional-standards-framework-ukpsf
Sensitivity to nurturing and enhanced academic skill-set

33. Koehler and Mishra (2005). To integrate ICT successfully teachers need to have knowledge about
Technology, Pedagogy and Content and there should be balance between these three topics.

34. Conclusions: success?
• Direction of travel – feels right –
feedback on the ground very
positive.
• Vertical - senior management
aware: on the agenda at Estates
Planning, SESC, ULTC and
Timetabling TFG.
• Horizontal - whole sector engaged
with learning space and responding
to pressures on physical estate.
• Shared practice and community
engagement e.g. ALT-SIG
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/learnings
pace
Recent reports: UK Higher Education Learning
Space Toolkit & NMC Horizon report.

35. The active learning dilemma
• Students enjoy passive modes more than
active.
• But … active learning and teaching modes
are more effective.
Therefore we need to consider how we might blend
these approaches.
1. Toetenel, L., Rienties, B. (2016). Analysing 157 Learning Designs using Learning
Analytic approaches as a means to evaluate the impact of pedagogical decision-
making. British Journal of Educational Technology.DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12423.
2. Rienties, B., Toetenel, L. (2016). The impact of learning design on student behaviour,
satisfaction and performance: a cross-institutional comparison across 151
modules. Computers in Human Behavior, (60). 333-341.

36. Goldilocks Principle Katz and Rath (1985)
Getting the balance right …
All active learning
All passive transmission A complementary mix