Factors that support learner engagement and achievement are vast. School learning environments can promote care for learners. The present year-long study examined the "Designed Caring Classroom Intervention" in 17 s grade classrooms in a large school district. To examine the effect of the intervention on second grade learners'…

In addition to their pedagogical benefits, active learning classrooms constitute an important topic of research and have renewed debates on the impact of the built environment on education. However, this literature sometimes overlooks the experiences of learners by focusing on the design and practice of teaching in active learning classrooms. The…

Active learning has experienced a recent resurgence with the advent of specialized active learning classrooms. While the fundamental theory behind active learning is anything but new, a relatively recent finding is that active learning pedagogies thrive in suitable active learning classrooms. To date, studies of active learning have focused on…

The present educational paradigm, fundamentally unchanged since the 19th century, does not meet 21st-century educational needs. This paradigm shift must be accompanied by a strong educational architecture that fosters the skills needed for 21st-century success including creativity and cultural awareness. The present study investigates the primary…

An historical commitment to child-centred pedagogy notwithstanding, classrooms for an increasing diversity of young people are constituted by their constrained affordances for learning; a single teacher, configurations of tables and chairs, and digital resources. The remit of teaching in such confines perpetuates passivity, a one size fits all…

Active learning classrooms (ALCs) support teaching approaches that foster greater interaction and student engagement. However, a common challenge for instructors who teach in ALCs is to provide adequate assistance to students while implementing collaborative activities. This study examined the impact of teaching assistants in a large ALC. The…

Teaching introductory courses to college freshmen requires innovative pedagogies, which are often powered by new advanced technologies that potentially increase student engagement. In addition, instructors may also plan and deploy active-learning strategies that first consider the physical spaces in which learning will take place. Effective…

Institutions may invest heavily into building and equipping new learning teaching spaces with the intention of encouraging active and collaborative learning to occur. However, there may not be a concomitant shift in teachers' existing pedagogical practices. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of thirty-two tertiary teachers across a…

In an effort to facilitate an environment that values learner-centered artmaking with student-driven outcomes, the author decided to implement a unit that she researched using qualitative methods. In the unit, "Painting Without Paintbrushes," 1st-graders crafted and used nontraditional tools as paint applicators. During the unit,…

Lecture halls, an enduring feature of higher education landscapes, are undergoing a spatial revolution. These materialize pedagogic imaginaries of technology-enhanced, student-centered learning. This article investigates the pedagogic performance of a contemporary lecture theater in regional Australia, distanced from a capital city, presenting…

The rapidly changing workforce of the C21st places increasing demands on higher education institutions to produce graduates who possess sound academic credentials and key skills, and who furthermore demonstrate the ability to transfer knowledge and skills from their studies to the workplace. This paper begins with a definition of key/core skills,…

Background: The characteristics of the classroom environment play an important role in shaping teaching practices and supporting research-based instructional strategies. One instructional strategy that has reimagined the classroom is the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-Down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP). SCALE-UP uses studio-style…

A responsive case study evaluation approach utilizing interviews and focus groups collected student and faculty perspectives on examined how instructors and students utilized a newly redesigned active learning space at Iowa State University and the relationship of this design with environmental and behavioral factors of student engagement. The…

In this article, the authors start with a description of the learner-centered paradigm of education. The key tenets of the paradigm are outlined as: Competency-based student progress, competency-based student assessment and records, personal learning plans, project-based learning, just-in-time instructional support, student as self-directed…

The primary contribution of this paper is the finding that lack of activities and interesting learning areas prepared by the teacher in the classroom may negatively impact children's social behavior. Classroom design and the teacher's careful selection of materials to be displayed in each of the learning areas do engage young children in learning…