On September 13, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, commonly known as the 1994 crime bill. The most far-reaching piece of criminal justice legislation Congress ever passed, the bill incentivized states to pass harsher sentencing laws and build more prisons. Among a slate of punitive and…

Discusses how experts on classroom design say that comfortable conditions--temperature, sight lines, acoustics, chairs--allow students to learn more; few colleges have taken the advice, however. (EV)

Major ideas and implications discussed in the volume are used to pose a series of critical considerations regarding learning environment construction in the future. (EV)

Offers a rationale for increasing attention to learning space design, providing an overview of relevant literature and highlighting implications for learning spaces suggested by modern learning theory. (EV)

Focuses on the present learning space planning process at most campuses and proposes a new vision for how planning can work more effectively and collaboratively. (EV)

Simple strategies employed by the campus in this case study (the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point) illustrate how limited budgets need not prevent renovation of learning environments. (EV)

Details characteristics of good learning spaces and provides an overview of innovative models from campuses around the country. (EV)

This case study of a model facilities planning process used at the University of Guelph shows how engagement of users and sound principles can lead to effective action. (EV)

An architect and educational facilities consultant talks about the roles of architect and user in a building process, suggesting how educators can make best use of partnerships with architects. (EV)

The verbal behavior, physical locations, and seat preferences of members of large groups assembled in row-and-column seating arrangements were investigated. Research procedures revealed that location significantly affected the verbalization rate of certain categories of experimental subjects. The findings confirmed previous observations that there…

Discusses the seven popular Wingspread Principles (principles for good practice in undergraduate education) in terms of their implications for learning spaces, both physical and virtual. (EV)

A group of 20 students studied chemistry with the same lecturer in three different physical environments: (1) computers on lab benches; (2) computers around the walls; and (3) computers in cluster groups of four. Students preferred the cluster groups, suggesting that physical features of learning environments should be considered in learning with…

A project to redesign an elementary school classroom was undertaken by 14 architecture students at the University of Buffalo (New York). Six basic steps are listed which any class can take to make its living space better meet its needs. (KC)

Described are the procedures utilized to design and implement the conversion of a traditional college classroom into a softer, aesthetically more pleasing room. (BT)

A project was undertaken at two state universities to investigate the physical dimensions of college classroom environments and their effects on student attitudes and the determining factors of such attitudes. The attitudes of 789 undergraduate, introductory psychology students toward 11 college classrooms were surveyed through administration of…