This developmental study explores the process and outcomes of creating an active learning classroom within a higher education setting. To support student success, institutions have increasingly redesigned their learning spaces to promote active learning. Early initiatives often aimed to facilitate collaborative learning and reduce reliance on…

This article describes an evaluation of a campus wide Active Learning initiative to examine instructors' experiences teaching in Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) at a Canadian University. ALCs at this university differ in size, layout, and audio-visual equipment. The participants were 21 instructors from different disciplines who had taught…

The classroom is an important resource for effective teaching and learning. The classroom does not only address the physical structure but also the emotional parameters of the room. However, focus must be placed on the physical aspects of classroom design. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to explore the perceptions of higher…

This research explored the best shapes and layouts of seating arrangements for fostering process performances of students in studio-style learning spaces, which have emerged in the development of collaborative learning environments in higher education. We conducted a design case study to explore both team and individual process performances during…

This study explores the relationship between seating quadrants and student performance, including the role of classroom type in the quadrant effect. Data collected from 131 classes taught at 17 colleges of Northwest A&F University in China were analyzed using the ordinary least squares method. The results revealed that where a student sat in a…

Purpose: Systematic efforts to study students' use of informal learning spaces are crucial for determining how, when and why students use such spaces. This case study provides an example of an effort to evaluate an informal learning space on the basis of students' usage of the space and the features within the space. Design/methodology/approach:…

The main objective of the study was to understand specific ways in which a flexible, technology-enhanced space can create opportunities for student engagement. Despite a few studies that address classroom elements such as furniture, researchers argue for more-holistic attention to the materials of learning environments to better support the…

The aim of this research was to get the opinions of primary school teacher candidates about flexible classrooms in which technology is integrated, the flexibility in the physical arrangement of the classrooms and the modern approach to classroom structuring, as opposed to the traditional classroom structure, and the role of teachers in these…

Students' seating selection is a significant physical variable that has implications for both teachers and students. These seating preferences have been linked to students' personalities, motivation, and academic performance. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the cultural influences on these preferences. In this exploratory qualitative…

Changes in student expectations and attitudes combined with research on the positive relationship between active engagement and student learning have many college administrators and planners in higher education reconsidering classroom design. One element of classroom design that has the potential to address the unique needs of an increasingly…

The purpose of this research is to explore prospective teachers' perspectives on the physical arrangement of an ideal classroom as a learning environment. A phenomenological design was used in this study to reveal the views of prospective teachers about the components and features of an ideal, desired classroom environment. Fifteen teacher…

This paper investigates the process of designing HyFlex classrooms at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), a graduate-level research university located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, underpinned by the application of the EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating System (LSRS). This investigation takes the form of a…

The modeling of a modern preschool curriculum is contextually conditioned and represents a complex process. Each kindergarten has its "own identity," its "DNA," just as children, preschool teachers and other participants in the educational process have their "own individual equations." Contextual learning is at the…

Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an active learning space (ALS) in supporting student development of effective communication as a transferable skill. A fourth-year medical science course was taught in two different settings, an ALS and a fixed-row classroom, by the same instructor. Participants preferred the ALS for…