If university students can do many of their activities anywhere, how do students decide what is best done at different locations? This paper introduces the concept of 'epistemic placemaking' as a capability to understand how to best equip and arrange places for knowledge work. Epistemic placemaking involves making choices based on the…

The majority of college students were largely disappointed by remote learning this past spring, with many reporting a strong preference for in-person instruction. Bearing in mind the low expectations that many students carried into online courses this fall, what advice can be given to help them succeed in this final month? As colleges across New…

The design of a classroom space can make a big difference in student behavior and learning. The use of color, sound, light, furniture arrangements and more can help foster community and culture and promote understanding. Dillon discusses some easy ways to transform the classroom space that can help with classroom management.

Every institution is different, so educators should explore the concept of spatial cues at their institutions. Without serious consideration of space, many students' needs (and desires) will remain unknown and unaddressed. More than any time before, campuses must develop strategies to better understand students' diverse experiences and…

Sufficient space is integral to high-quality music instruction, but what makes our space "sufficient"? This article provides historical and theoretical background about the role of space in learning and the use of movement as a tool for learning music. When their input is sought, children order space as a high priority within a school…

In April 2007 Butler Community College made learning spaces one of its five strategic priorities. The college had just completed a major renovation of the work spaces for the IT division and had started a project to build a student union and create informal learning spaces at the Andover campus. With learning spaces becoming a strategic priority,…

This article explores how young children can play active roles as researchers, explorers, and designers of their outdoor environment. It introduces the Mosaic approach, a framework for listening and responding to young children's perspectives, first developed in a study in a London preschool in 1999 (Clark & Moss 2001). The author used this…

This report describes the physical and educational transformation of South East Essex College of Arts and Technology in England. It focuses on how the institution's two seedy, dilapidated council buildings from the 1940s have been renovated and remodeled in pursuit of a modern aesthetic work environment for students, faculty, and staff. The report…

A college reading laboratory was designed and furnished to maximize flexibility in space use. To determine the effectiveness of the design and use of space, a two-part study was conducted that examined students' learning preferences and collected instructors' observations. Responses indicated student preferences for sound, light, warmth, and…

Describes the Youth Art Month exhibit in Howard County (Maryland) where students submitted their art focusing on school buildings and their interiors. Their art reveals concerns and desires about overcrowding, space utilization, school building height, outside lighting, solitude needs, and visual stimulation. The artwork is discussed in terms of…

This issue focuses on practices that can help improve reading instruction and includes two announcements from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL). It begins with a look at study groups, the practice of teachers getting together to focus on instructional practices and student learning. Stacey Joyner, a staff member of SEDL's Texas…