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…

As spaces, physical or virtual, are change agents and can have an impact on learning, the power of built pedagogy is being acknowledged in Higher Education. Emphasis is being placed on the design of Active Learning Spaces (ALS) and its impact on pedagogy, by fostering active learning. However, the field is fragmented, due to a profusion of terms…

One outcome of the increasing interest from philosophy of education circles in the work of Giorgio Agamben has been the possibility of apparently small alterations to enact a radical emancipatory change. This 'weak utopianism' (Lewis, 2013) found in Agamben's work means that traditionally radical changes are viewed with skepticism, as grand…

Current educational research and practice urge the reconceptualization of learning spaces' design, development, and usage. However, only some research studies address the formation of innovative learning spaces in higher education. This systematic mapping review (Grant & Booth. "Health Information & Libraries Journal," 26,…

Faculty and student perception of engagement in two (mobile desks or mobile tables and chairs) low-tech active learning classroom (ALC) designs were compared. Student (n = 413) perceptions of engagement were measured with the Engaged Learning Index (ELI) and the Social Context and Learning Environments (SCALE) instruments at the beginning and end…

A growing diversity of classroom designs, broadly labeled as active learning classrooms, is a rising development across higher education institutions. Along with the construction of these new spaces, stakeholders have developed new vocabularies and concepts for articulating and identifying the impact of new classroom designs for teaching and…

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…

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…

An "active learning" classroom design recognizes the importance of students becoming engaged in their own learning. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study compared student-reported data (n = 219) and used the "community of inquiry" framework to evaluate the impact of environmental features on students' experience. Students…

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…

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…

Three student engagement measures were collected for a class taught by an experienced instructor in two active learning classrooms with dissimilar seating arrangements. Student perception of engagement was similar between the learning spaces. However, instructor perception and researcher observation indicated greater engagement in the classroom…

The goal of this study was to contribute to research on active learning by addressing the problem of disentangling the effects of classroom architecture, student characteristics, and pedagogical design as they relate to student achievement. The study utilized a quasiexperimental design where data was collected on student perceptions of their…

While the interior design of classroom spaces has evolved to support active learning methods, few studies have isolated environment changes from curriculum changes to understand the impact of space on behavior (Brooks, Walker, & Baepler, 2014). Adapting an observation instrument from the Brooks (2012) study, "Space and Consequences",…

Success in the field of recreation management requires a variety of 21st-century skills including the abilities to solve complex problems, think creatively, and collaborate with peers. Research suggests that instructor contribution through active learning pedagogy, incorporation of technology, and maximization of classroom design can foster…